Male-to-Female Transsexuals’ Impressions of Blanchard's Autogynephilia Theory

ABSTRACT

Ray Blanchard presented a theory of male-to-female (MtF) transsexualism based on a typology, classifying MtF transsexuals as autogynephilic or homosexual. This theory has produced much debate, and many transsexuals have disagreed with it. In this research, comments about Blanchard's theory were collected through an anonymous questionnaire from a convenience sample of 170 mostly White/European Internet-using MtF transsexuals. Positive responses to the theory were given by 15.9% of participants, 31.9% gave neutral responses, and 52.2% gave negative responses. The most common theme of the responses was that the theory was too narrow and restrictive. Other common themes were that the theory was simply wrong, did not apply to the participant's experience, was not acceptable, was not important, only applied to cross-dressers, and suggested underlying motives of the researcher. Some participants reported that they had experienced autogynephilia, and some reported changes of their sexual orientation. Given the anonymity of the participants, transsexual participants were unlikely to consciously distort their responses. Although there were sampling limitations, this study lends insight into the proportion of MtF transsexuals who are supportive of/opposed to Blanchard's typology and the reasons why some are opposed to it. The findings are of interest as transsexuals' reactions to the theory can be and have been used to theorize about the nature of autogynephilia.

KEYWORDS:

• Autogynephilia
• transsexual
• sexuality
• cross-gender eroticism; qualitative research