Models of Androphilic Transwomen Etiology

There are several models of how androphilic males become gay men or transwomen.  The three most common are shown above.  Homosexual Transsexuals (HSTS = androphilic transwomen) share many traits with gay men as populations.

Model 3 is very unlikely, but is very popular with autogynephilic transwomen because it allows them to claim that they are on the same “spectrum” as androphilic transwomen, they would just be on the far left, showing very little femininity.  The problem with that is that pesky autogynephilic sexuality which HSTS and non-transwomen don’t share, on top of the well documented issue of late onset of their gender dysphoria, or even awareness of any gender issues in most until adolescence or later.  There is no evidence that supports Model 3 in HSTS.

Model 2 is problematic given the very strong evidence of greater femininity, both in early adolescence, and in a range of adult sexual behaviors, that correlate highly with each other in gay men and that HSTS transwomen show up as being on the far feminine end of that spectrum.  So, a variance in femininity definitely correlates with the likelihood of being HSTS vs. a gay man.

This leaves Model 1 as being the most likely, with lots of evidence to support it.

I did not create this graphic and I’m not certain of its origin, though given the text, I suspect it comes from a sexologist.  Indeed, I must take exception to the comment regarding non-Western cultures.  We have evidence, data, that shows that even in Samoa, there are non-fa’afine androphilic males.  In southern Mexico, where famously, muxe who live as HSTS and are respected rather than stigmatized as in the Anglo-sphere, there are two forms of “muxe”… one that is HSTS and one that is essentially male identified, masculine behaving, to wit, gay men.  My point?  That when cultures are less femmiphobic and homophobic, both HSTS and gay men coexist.  Our own culture has been slowly coming to the same point.  While the line between HSTS and gay men may not be one that is strictly taxonic, it cannot be said that it is strictly cultural either.  The likelihood that one will self identify and take a cultural position as HSTS / transwoman may vary by culture – as individuals have to find a place in their given culture as best they can.  (Consider that in the US prior to 1961, homosexual or transgendered males were both criminalized and medically stigmatized in all fifty states, driving gays into the closet and HSTS underground, but both existed.)  But, even in the least to the most transphobic cultures, both gay men and HSTS transwomen coexist.

Further Reading:

Essays on Etiological Conjectures concerning HSTS

Essay on correlations in gay men and HSTS

Essay on “passability” of HSTS vs. AGP transwomen

 

Fraternal Birth Order Effect Applies to First Born Male Children Too

A while back, I wrote an essay that showed that androphilic Male-To-Female transwomen had a greater Fraternal Birth Order Effect (FBOE) than gay men as populations.  This is evidence that gender atypical androphilic males are more likely to have a FBOE etiology than more gender typical androphilic males.  But I saw pushback from some in the transgender community that didn’t understand the science, didn’t understand that there could be, and is strong evidence that there are, other etiological factors that can cause gender atypical androphilia in males.  There was anecdotal comments about, and even a long list of, first born androphilic transwomen (at least one included me), as “proof” that the FBOE had nothing to do with androphilic transwomen’s etiology.

Sigh…

This reminds me of the type of argument that goes like this, “I had a large lunch today… so clearly there is no hunger problem in the world.”

But, in any event, we now have evidence that the underlying cause of the FBOE can and has operated in some first born androphilic males, including transwomen.  One of the chief hypothesis of the cause of the FBOE is the ‘Maternal Immune Response’ in which key proteins in male only development during a pregnancy enters the mother’s blood stream where the mother’s immune system creates antibodies to fight off a mistaken “infectious agent”… the male child.  This in turn passes back to the male fetus where it interferes with normal male sexually dimorphic brain development, leading to a feminized brain.  The FBOE effect would then come about because each male pregnancy increases the amount and strength of the immune response.  Each male pregnancy increases the chances of the next male pregnancy resulting in an androphilic gender atypical male child, including the chance of an androphilic MTF transkid.

We now have what may be the ‘smoking gun’ and at the same time strong evidence that it may also operate in first born males, not just subsequent male children.  Testing for a specific antibody suspected to be the cause has shown that mothers of gay sons have more than those who have had only straight sons.  What’s more interesting, is that mothers of only first born gay sons and androphilic MTF transkids showed the same effect, as this graph shows, though not as strong as those mothers of gay sons who had older brothers… indicating a progressive effect leading to the progressive FBOE.

Let me state that again, the underlying cause of the FBOE can and does operate in some first borns !

So, Please.  No more bad logic regarding potential FBOE etiologies in androphilic transwomen?

Further Reading:

Essay on FBOE being a stronger effect in androphilic transwomen

Reference:

Bogeart, et al, “Male homosexuality and maternal immune responsivity to the Y-linked protein NLGN4Y” (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1705895114

Autopedophilia

The Love of One’s Self as a Child

With the release of Leaving Neverland documenting the experiences of two men who were sexually abused by Michael Jackson, now seems a good time to talk about how Erotic Target Identity Inversions motivate otherwise difficult to understand behavior.  Some time back, I read a comment by Dr. Bailey suggesting that Jackson’s behavior fit the theoretical description of an autopedophilic androphilic pedophile.  That is to say, a pedophile, attracted to little boys, who also finds the thought of being a little boy himself sexually arousing and rewarding.  Jackson saw himself as Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, one of the lost boys of Neverland who in his innocence has sex with other little boys.  This wasn’t just a metaphor.  It was central to his sexual identity.

Hsu and Bailey conducted research to test the hypotheses that pedophiles, who are sexually aroused at the thought of being a child, autopedophiles, will be most aroused by imagining themselves to be the type of child that they are most sexually attracted towards as the Erotic Target Identity Inversion theory would predict.  That is to say, if he is attracted to nine-year old boys, he will be most aroused by the thought of being a nine year old boy.  Likewise, if he is most attracted to little girls, he will be most aroused by the thought of being a little girl.  This prediction was supported by the data gathered.

Interestingly, the data suggests that autopedophilia is COMMON among hebepedophilic men.

This result is important because it adds to the evidentiary support for Erotic Target Identity Inversion theory to explain heterosexual male adults who are aroused at the thought of being or becoming women, to wit, autogynephilic transwomen.  It also helps to explain the phenomena of adult men whose gender dysphoria is accompanied by “age dysphoria”… and attempt to live as little girls or young teenaged girls, much to the embarrassment of the transcommunity, as Stephanknee W. shown here has.

But there has also been worse than simple embarrassment caused by others.  About little over a decade ago, a young transwoman related to me a set of incidences she witnessed about an individual who showed up in the transcommunity in a mid-western state.  This individual first caused consternation in a transgender support group in which some members clearly felt uncomfortable with an individual claiming to be a little girl trapped in the body of an adult man, wearing very age inappropriate female clothing.  This individual then caused an even greater upset by showing up in said inappropriate young girl’s clothing at an LGBT Pride event and entering a child-care space, insisting on being treated as a child and allowed to play with the “other children” there.  But was ejected when it became impossible to ignore that “she” was very sexually aroused and was rocking back and forth in a manner to add to the self-stimulation and arousal.

Morally, ethically, an autopedophile who wishes to play out one’s fantasies in private or with consenting adults is fine.  But the moment that one crosses the line to include minors, as Jackson did, we should all seek to have them prosecuted to the full extent of the law… and to believe the victims.

Further Reading:

Erotic Target Location Errors

References:

Kevin J. Hsu, J. Michael Bailey, “Autopedophilia: Erotic-Target Identity Inversions in Men Sexually Attracted to Children”
https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616677082