View source for Blanchard's transsexualism typology

{{Short description|Controversial psychological typology}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
The American-Canadian sexologist [[Ray Blanchard]] proposed a [[psychological typology]] of [[gender dysphoria]], [[transsexualism]], and [[fetishistic transvestism]] in a series of academic papers through the 1980s and 1990s. Building on the work of earlier researchers, including his colleague [[Kurt Freund]], Blanchard categorized [[trans women]] into two groups: ''homosexual transsexuals'' who are attracted exclusively to men and are feminine in both behavior and appearance; and ''autogynephilic transsexuals'' who experience sexual arousal at the idea of having a female body (''{{pslink|autogynephilia}}''). Blanchard and his supporters argue that the typology explains differences between the two groups in childhood [[gender nonconformity]], sexual orientation, history of [[sexual fetishism]], and age of transition.

Blanchard's typology has attracted significant controversy, especially following the 2003 publication of [[J. Michael Bailey]]'s book ''[[The Man Who Would Be Queen]]'', which presented the typology to a general audience. Scientific criticisms commonly made against Blanchard's research include that the typology is [[unfalsifiable]] because Blanchard and other supporters regularly dismiss or ignore data that challenges the theory, that it failed to properly control against [[cisgender]] women rather than against cisgender men in rating levels of autogynephilia, and that when such studies are performed they show that cisgender women have similar levels of autogynephilic responses to transgender women.

The American Psychiatric Association includes ''with autogynephilia'' as a specifier to a diagnosis of [[transvestic disorder]] in the fifth edition of the ''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]]'' (2013); this addition was objected to by the [[World Professional Association for Transgender Health]] (WPATH), who argued that there was a lack of scientific consensus on and empirical evidence for the concept of autogynephilia.

== History ==

===Background===
Beginning in the 1950s, clinicians and researchers developed a variety of classifications of transsexualism. These were variously based on sexual orientation, age of onset, and fetishism.<ref name="lawrence10">{{cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=Anne A. |title=Sexual orientation versus age of onset as bases for typologies (subtypes) for gender identity disorder in adolescents and adults |url=https://rdcu.be/dkJBK |journal=[[Archives of Sexual Behavior]] |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=514–545 |date=April 2010 |issn=1573-2800 |pmid=20140487 |s2cid=23271088 |doi=10.1007/s10508-009-9594-3|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Prior to Blanchard, these classifications generally divided transgender women into two groups: "homosexual transsexuals" if sexually attracted to men and "heterosexual fetishistic transvestites" if sexually attracted to women.<ref name="Pfeffer 2016">{{cite book |last=Pfeffer |first=Carla A. |editor-last=Goldberg |editor-first=Abbie E. |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, Volume 3 |date=2016 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |isbn=978-1-4833-7129-0 |doi=10.4135/9781483371283.n439 |chapter=Transgender Sexualities |pages=1249–1250 |quote=The term autogynephilia was first used in 1989 by Ray Blanchard, a sexologist, to describe a purported class of transgender women. Classifications of transgender women prior to this time tended to divide this group into those who were sexually and romantically interested in men as 'homosexual transsexuals,' and those who were sexually and romantically interested in women were classified as 'heterosexual fetishistic transvestites.'}}</ref> These labels carried a [[social stigma]] of mere sexual fetishism, and contradicted trans women's self-identification as "heterosexual" or "homosexual", respectively.{{r|Pfeffer 2016}}

In 1982, [[Kurt Freund]] and colleagues argued there were two distinct types of trans women, each with distinct causes: one type associated with childhood femininity and [[androphilia]] (sexual attraction to men), and another associated with fetishism and [[gynephilia]] (sexual attraction to women).<ref name=lawrence10/>{{rp|533}}<ref name="Blanchard 2005">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blanchard R |date=August 2005 |title=Early history of the concept of autogynephilia |url=https://rdcu.be/b57bu |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=439–446 |citeseerx=10.1.1.667.7255 |doi=10.1007/s10508-005-4343-8 |pmid=16010466 |s2cid=15986011}}</ref>{{rp|443}} Freund stated that the sexual arousal in this latter type could be associated, not only with crossdressing, but also with other feminine-typical behaviors, such as applying make-up or shaving the legs.<ref name="Blanchard1985">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blanchard R |date=June 1985 |title=Typology of male-to-female transsexualism |url=https://rdcu.be/dkJCA |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=247–261 |doi=10.1007/bf01542107 |pmid=4004548 |s2cid=23907992|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Freund, four of his colleagues, and two other sexologists had previously published papers on "feminine gender identity in homosexual males" and "Male Transsexualism" in 1974.<ref name="freund1974">Freund K, Nagler E, Langevin R, Zajac A, Steiner B (1974). [https://rdcu.be/dkJDl Measuring feminine gender identity in homosexual males]. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', Volume 3, Number 3 / May, 1974, pp. 249–260.)</ref><ref name="person1974">Person ES, Ovesey L (1974), "The Psychodynamics of Male Transsexualism". In Friedman RC, Richart RM, and Vande Wiele LR (eds.) ''Sex Differences in Behavior'', pp. 315-331. John Wiley & Sons, {{ISBN|978-0-471-28053-8}}</ref> They occasionally also used the term ''homosexual transsexual'' to describe transgender men attracted to women.<ref name="chivers2000">{{cite journal |last1=Chivers |first1=ML |last2=Bailey |first2=JM |title=Sexual orientation of female-to-male transsexuals: A comparison of homosexual and non-homosexual types |url=http://www.elspethbrown.org/sites/default/files/imce/art3a10.10232fa3a1001915530479.pdf |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=259–278 |year=2000 |pmid=10992981 |s2cid=10707797 |doi=10.1023/A:1001915530479}}</ref> Blanchard credited Freund with being the first author to distinguish between erotic arousal due to dressing as a woman ([[transvestic fetishism]]) and erotic arousal due to fantasizing about being female (which Freund called ''cross-gender fetishism'').<ref name="Blanchard 2005" />{{rp|443}}

=== Early research ===
Blanchard conducted a series of studies on people with [[gender dysphoria]], analyzing the files of cases seen in the Gender Identity Clinic of the [[Clarke Institute of Psychiatry]] and comparing them on multiple characteristics.<ref name="Lawrence 2013">{{cite book |title=Men Trapped in Men's Bodies: Narratives of Autogynephilic Transsexualism |last=Lawrence |first=Anne |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4614-5181-5}}</ref>{{rp|10–15}} These studies have been criticized as bad science for being [[unfalsifiable]]<ref name="Serano 2010" /> and for failing to sufficiently [[operationalize]] their definitions.<ref name="Bevan">{{cite book |last=Bevan |first=Thomas E. |title=The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism: A New View Based on Scientific Evidence |date=2015 |publisher=Praeger |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=978-1-4408-3126-3}}</ref> They have also been criticized for lacking [[reproducibility]], and for a lack of a control group of cisgender women.<ref name="Serano 2010" />{{r|Winters}} Supporters of the typology deny these allegations.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=Anne A. |date=2010 |title=Sexual orientation versus age of onset as bases for typologies (subtypes) for gender identity disorder in adolescents and adults |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20140487/ |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=514–545 |issn=1573-2800 |pmid=20140487 |s2cid=23271088 |doi=10.1007/s10508-009-9594-3}}</ref><ref name="Lawrence 2013"/>{{Rp|page=26}}

Studying patients who had felt like women at all times for at least a year, Blanchard classified them according to whether they were attracted to men, women, both, or neither.<ref name="Blanchard 2005"/>{{rp|444}} He then compared these four groups regarding how many in each group reported a history of sexual arousal together with cross-dressing. 73% of the gynephilic, asexual, and bisexual groups said they did experience such feelings, but only 15% of the androphilic group did.<ref name="Lawrence 2013"/>{{rp|10}} He concluded that asexual, bisexual, and gynephilic transsexuals were motivated by erotic arousal to the thought or image of themself as a woman, and he coined the term ''autogynephilia'' to describe this.<ref name="Blanchard 2005"/>{{rp|444}}

Blanchard and colleagues conducted a study in 1986 using [[phallometry]] (a measure of blood flow to the penis), demonstrating arousal in response to cross-dressing audio narratives among trans women. Although this study is often cited as evidence for autogynephilia, the authors did not attempt to measure subjects' ideas of themselves as women.{{r|Bevan}}{{rp|193}}{{r|Moser 2010}} The authors concluded that gynephilic gender identity patients who denied experiencing arousal to [[cross-dressing]] were still measurably aroused by autogynephilic stimuli, and that autogynephilia among non-androphilic trans women was negatively associated with tendency to color their narrative to be more socially acceptable.<ref name="Lawrence 2013"/>{{rp|12–13}} However, in addition to having methodological problems, the reported data did not support this conclusion, because the measured arousal to cross-dressing situations was minimal and consistent with subjects' self-reported arousal.<ref name="Moser 2010" /> This study has been cited by proponents to argue that gynephilic trans women who reported no autogynephilic interests were misrepresenting their erotic interests.{{r|Moser 2010}}

=== Popularization ===
Blanchard's research and conclusions came to wider attention with the publication of popular science books on transsexualism, including ''The Man Who Would Be Queen'' (2003) by sexologist [[J. Michael Bailey]] and ''[[Men Trapped in Men's Bodies]]'' (2013) by sexologist and trans woman [[Anne Lawrence]], both of which based their portrayals of male-to-female transsexuals on Blanchard's taxonomy.<ref name="Bancroft 2009">{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=John |author-link=John Bancroft (sexologist) |title=Human Sexuality and its Problems |date=2009 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-443-05161-6 |pages=290–291 |edition=3rd |chapter=Transgender, gender nonconformity and transvestism |quote=Controversy over [Blanchard's] division into two types peaked with Bailey's publication of his book ''The Man who would be Queen: the Science of Gender Bending and Transsexualism'' (2003), which caused anger and outrage in the transgender community and disapproval among some clinicians working in this field.}}</ref>{{r|Sánchez & Vilain|Ekins}} The concept of autogynephilia in particular received little public interest until Bailey's 2003 book, though Blanchard and others had been publishing studies on the topic for nearly 20 years.<ref name="Sánchez & Vilain">{{cite book |last1=Sánchez |first1=Francisco J. |last2=Vilain |first2=Eric |editor1-last=Patterson |editor1-first=Charlotte J. |editor2-last=D'Augelli |editor2-first=Anthony R. |title=Handbook of Psychology and Sexual Orientation |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1997-6521-8 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765218.003.0004 |chapter=Transgender Identities: Research and Controversies |pages=47–48}}</ref> Bailey's book was followed by peer-reviewed articles critiquing the methodology used by Blanchard.{{r|Sánchez & Vilain}}
Both Bailey and Blanchard have since attracted intense criticism by some clinicians and by many transgender activists.{{r|Bancroft 2009|Sánchez & Vilain}}<ref name="Lawrence 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Lawrence |first1=Anne A. |title=Autogynephilia and the Typology of Male-to-Female Transsexualism |journal=European Psychologist |date=2017 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=39–54 |doi=10.1027/1016-9040/a000276 |issn=1016-9040 |quote=Autogynephilia became a controversial topic after it was discussed in a contentious book by psychologist Bailey (2003). Autogynephilia and the ideas associated with it, including transsexual typologies based on sexual orientation, have subsequently been criticized by some clinicians and researchers and by many transsexual activists.}}</ref><ref name="Dreger 2008">{{cite journal |last=Dreger |first=Alice D. |title=The controversy surrounding 'The man who would be queen': a case history of the politics of science, identity, and sex in the Internet age |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=366–421 |date=June 2008 |pmid=18431641 |pmc=3170124 |doi=10.1007/s10508-007-9301-1}}</ref>{{rp|366}}

=== Measures of orientation ===
Sexologists may measure sexual orientation using [[Psychological testing#Personality tests|psychological personality test]]s, self reports, or techniques such as [[photoplethysmography]]. Blanchard argues that self-reporting is not always reliable.<ref name="classicBlanchard">{{cite journal |last=Blanchard |first=Ray |author2=Leonard H. Clemmensen |author3=Betty W. Steiner |title=Social desirability response set and systematic distortion in the self-report of adult male gender patients |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=505–516 |publisher=Springer |location=Netherlands |date=December 1985 |doi=10.1007/BF01541751 |pmid=4084050 |s2cid=24970286 |id=1573-2800}}</ref><ref name="lawrence2005"/> Morgan, Blanchard and Lawrence have speculated that many reportedly "non-homosexual" trans women systematically distorted their life stories because "non-homosexuals" were often screened out as candidates for surgery.<ref name="morgan1978">Morgan AJ Jr (1978), "Psychotherapy for transsexual candidates screened out of surgery". ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 7: 273-282.|</ref>

Blanchard and Freund used the Masculine Identity in Females (MGI) scale and the Modified Androphilia Scale.<ref>{{cite book |last=Blanchard |first=Ray |author2=Kurt Freund |title=Gender Roles |editor=Carole A. Beere |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1990 |page=35 |isbn=978-0-313-26278-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5X84NFiHXcwC&q=transsexuals+homosexual&pg=PA36 |access-date=2009-04-21}}</ref> Lawrence writes that homosexual transsexuals averaged a [[Kinsey scale]] measurement of 5–6 or a 9.86 ± 2.37 on the Modified Androphilia Scale.<ref name="lawrence2005">{{cite journal |last1=Lawrence |first1=Anne |last2=Latty |first2=Elizabeth M |title=Measurement of sexual arousal in postoperative male-to-female transsexuals using vaginal photoplethysmography. |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=135–145 |date=April 2005 |doi=10.1007/s10508-005-1792-z |id=1573-2800 |pmid=15803248 |last3=Chivers |first3=ML |last4=Bailey |first4=JM |s2cid=8356885}}</ref><ref name="Leavitt 1990">{{cite journal |vauthors=Leavitt F, Berger JC |date=October 1990 |title=Clinical patterns among male transsexual candidates with erotic interest in males |url=https://rdcu.be/dkJEF |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=491–505 |doi=10.1007/BF02442350 |pmid=2260914 |s2cid=21588827|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==== Neurological differences ====
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The concept that androphilia in trans women is related to homosexuality in cisgender men has been tested by MRI studies.<ref name="Kozak">{{cite journal |last=Simon |first=Lajos |author2=Lajos R. Kozák |author3=Viktória Simon mail |author4=Pál Czobor |author5=Zsolt Unoka |author6=Ádám Szabó |author7=Gábor Csukly |title=Regional Grey Matter Structure Differences between Transsexuals and Healthy Controls—A Voxel Based Morphometry Study |journal=PLOS ONE |date=December 31, 2013 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0083947 |volume=8 |issue=12 |pages=e83947 |pmid=24391851 |pmc=3877116 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...883947S |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Cantor2011>{{cite journal |last=Cantor |first=James M |title=New MRI Studies Support the Blanchard Typology of Male-to-Female Transsexualism |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |date=July 8, 2011 |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=863–864 |doi=10.1007/s10508-011-9805-6 |pmc=3180619 |pmid=21739338}}</ref> Cantor interprets these studies as supporting Blanchard's transsexualism typology.<ref name=Cantor2011 /> These studies show neurological differences between trans women attracted to men and cis men attracted to women, as well as differences between androphilic and gynephilic trans women. The studies also showed differences between transsexual and nontranssexual people, leading to the conclusion that transsexuality is "a likely innate and immutable characteristic".<ref name=Cantor2011 />

According to a 2016 review, structural [[neuroimaging]] studies seem to support the idea that androphilic and gynephilic trans women have different brain [[phenotype]]s, though the authors state that more independent studies of gynephilic trans women are needed to confirm this.<ref name="Guillamon 2016">{{cite journal |vauthors=Guillamon A, Junque C, Gómez-Gil E |title=A Review of the Status of Brain Structure Research in Transsexualism |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=45 |issue=7 |pages=1615–1648 |date=October 2016 |pmid=27255307 |pmc=4987404 |doi=10.1007/s10508-016-0768-5 |quote=Untreated MtFs and FtMs who have an early onset of their gender dysphoria and are sexually oriented to persons of their natal sex show a distinctive brain morphology, reflecting a brain phenotype....the available data seems to support two existing hypotheses: (1) a brain-restricted intersexuality in homosexual MtFs and FtMs and (2) Blanchard's insight on the existence of two brain phenotypes that differentiate "homosexual" and "nonhomosexual" MtFs. |doi-access=free}}</ref> A 2021 review examining transgender neurology found similar differences in brain structure between cisgender homosexuals and heterosexuals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Frigerio |first1=Alberto |last2=Ballerini |first2=Lucia |last3=Valdes-Hernandez |first3=Maria |year=2021 |title=Structural, Functional, and Metabolic Brain Differences as a Function of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation: A Systematic Review of the Human Neuroimaging Literature |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=50 |issue=8 |pages=3329–3352 |doi=10.1007/s10508-021-02005-9 |pmc=8604863 |pmid=33956296 |hdl-access=free |hdl=20.500.11820/7258d49f-d222-4094-a40f-dc564d163ea7 |s2cid=233870640}}</ref>

== Autogynephilia ==
''Autogynephilia'' (derived from Greek for "love of oneself as a woman"{{r|Moser 2010}}{{efn|Greek ''autos'' 'self'; ''gyne'' 'woman'; ''philia'' 'love'{{r|Milner}}}}) is a term coined by Blanchard{{r|Bancroft 2009|Milner}}<ref name="Sánchez & Vilain" /> for "a male's propensity to be [[sexual arousal|sexually aroused]] by the thought of himself as a female",{{r|Moser 2010|Blanchard1989}} intending for the term to refer to "the full gamut of erotically arousing cross-gender behaviors and fantasies".{{r|Moser 2010}} Blanchard states that he intended the term to subsume ''[[transvestism]]'', including for sexual ideas in which feminine clothing plays only a small or no role at all.<ref name="Blanchard1991">{{cite journal |last1=Blanchard |first1=R |year=1991 |title=Clinical observations and systematic studies of autogynephilia |journal=Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=235–251 |doi=10.1080/00926239108404348 |pmid=1815090}}</ref> Other terms for such cross-gender fantasies and behaviors include ''automonosexuality'', ''[[eonism]]'', and ''[[sexo-aesthetic inversion]]''.<ref name="Milner">{{cite book |last1=Milner |first1=Joel S. |last2=Dopke |first2=Cynthia A. |last3=Crouch |first3=Julie L. |editor1-last=Laws |editor1-first=D. Richard |editor2-last=O'Donohue |editor2-first=William T. |title=Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment |date=2008 |publisher=[[Guilford Press]] |isbn=978-1-59385-605-2 |page=408 |chapter=Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified: Psychopathology and Theory}}</ref>

Autogynephilic sexual arousal has been reported by some transsexual women and some cisgender men.{{r|Moser 2010}}<ref name="Serano 2010"/>{{r|Blanchard 2005}} The disputed aspects of Blanchard's theories are the theory that autogynephilia is the central motivation for non-androphilic MtF transsexuals while being absent in androphilic ones, and his characterisations of autogynephilia, including as a [[paraphilia]]. Blanchard writes that the accuracy of these theories needs further empirical research to resolve,{{r|Blanchard 2005}}{{rp|445}} while others such as the transfeminist [[Julia Serano]] characterise them as incorrect.<ref name="Serano 2010"/>

=== Subtypes ===
Blanchard identified four types of autogynephilic sexual fantasy,{{r|Milner}} but stated that co-occurrence of types was common.<ref name="Lawrence04">{{cite journal |last1=Lawrence |first1=Anne A. |date=26 August 2004 |title=Autogynephilia: A Paraphilic Model of Gender Identity Disorder |url=http://www.annelawrence.com/autogynephilia,_a_paraphilic_model_of_GID.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy |volume=8 |issue=1–2 |pages=69–87 |citeseerx=10.1.1.656.9256 |doi=10.1080/19359705.2004.9962367 |issn=0891-7140 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923172314/http://www.annelawrence.com/autogynephilia,_a_paraphilic_model_of_GID.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=24 November 2019}}</ref>{{rp|72–73}}<ref name="Lawrence 2013" />{{rp|19–20}}
* Transvestic autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of wearing typically feminine clothing
* Behavioral autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of doing something regarded as feminine
* Physiologic autogynephilia: arousal to fantasies of body functions specific to people regarded as female
* Anatomic autogynephilia: arousal to the fantasy of having a normative woman's body, or parts of one<ref name="Lawrence04" />{{rp|72–73}}<ref name="Lawrence 2013" />{{rp|19–20}}

=== Relationship to gender dysphoria ===
The exact proposed nature of the relationship between autogynephilia and [[gender dysphoria]] is unclear, and the desire to live as a woman often remains as strong or stronger after an initial sexual response to the idea has faded.{{r|Cantor & Sutton}} Blanchard and Lawrence argue that this is because autogynephilia causes a female gender identity to develop, which becomes an emotional attachment and something aspirational in its own right.<ref name="Lawrence 2013" />{{rp|20–21}}

Many transgender people dispute that their gender identity is related to their sexuality,<ref name="Tosh">{{cite book |last=Tosh |first=Jemma |title=Psychology and Gender Dysphoria: Feminist and Transgender Perspectives |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-13-801392-6 |pages=114–115 |quote=Much like feminists who challenged psychology for its poor representation of women, so too have trans individuals and allies examined and criticized the profession for failing to understand their experiences [...] The autogynephilia theory in particular has been framed as 'incorrect, offensive, and potentially politically damaging to a marginalized group' [...] Most state that transition is related to their gender identity not their sexuality}}</ref> 
and have argued that the concept of autogynephilia unduly sexualizes trans women's gender identity.<ref name="Sojka 2017">{{cite book |last=Sojka |first=Carey Jean |editor-last=Nadal |editor-first=Kevin L. |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender, Volume 4 |date=2017 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif. |pages=1727 ff |isbn=978-1-4833-8427-6 |doi=10.4135/9781483384269.n588 |chapter=Transmisogyny}}</ref>{{rp|1729}}<ref name="Lev 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Lev |first1=Arlene Istar |title=Gender Dysphoria: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back |journal=Clinical Social Work Journal |date=September 2013 |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=288–296 |doi=10.1007/s10615-013-0447-0 |s2cid=144556484 |url=http://tigrisinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Gender-Dysphoria-Two-Steps-Forward-One-Step-Back-FINAL.pdf}}</ref> Some fear that the concept of autogynephilia will make it harder for gynephilic or "non-classical" MtF transsexuals to receive sex reassignment surgery.<ref name="LeVay p166">{{cite book |last1=LeVay |first1=Simon |last2=Valente |first2=Sharon M. |title=Human sexuality |date=2003 |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass. |isbn=978-0-8789-3454-6 |page=166 |url=https://archive.org/details/humansexuality0000leva/page/166/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}</ref> Lawrence writes that some transsexual women identify with autogynephilia, some of these feeling positively and some negatively as a result, with a range of opinions reflected as to whether or not this played a motivating role in their decision to transition.<ref name="Lawrence 2013" />{{rp|55}}

In the first peer-reviewed critique of autogynephilia research, [[Charles Allen Moser]] found no substantial difference between "autogynephilic" and "homosexual" transsexuals in terms of gender dysphoria, stating that the clinical significance of autogynephilia was unclear.{{r|Bevan}}{{rp|193}} According to Moser, the idea is not supported by the data, and that despite autogynephilia existing, it is not predictive of the behavior, history, and motivation of trans women. {{r|Moser 2010}} In a re-evaluation of the data used by Blanchard and others as the basis for the typology, he states that autogynephilia is not always present in trans women attracted to women, or absent in trans women attracted to men, and that autogynephilia is not the primary motivation for gynephilic trans women to seek [[sex reassignment surgery]].<ref name="Moser 2010">{{cite journal |vauthors=Moser C |title=Blanchard's Autogynephilia Theory: a critique |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=790–809 |date=July 2010 |pmid=20582803 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2010.486241 |s2cid=8765340 |edition=6|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In a 2011 study presenting an alternative to Blanchard's explanation, Larry Nuttbrock and colleagues reported that autogynephilia-like characteristics were strongly associated with a specific [[generational cohort]] as well as the ethnicity of the subjects; they hypothesized that autogynephilia may become a "fading phenomenon".{{r|Sánchez & Vilain}}<ref name="Nuttbrock 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Nuttbrock |first1=Larry |display-authors=etal |title=A Further Assessment of Blanchard's Typology of Homosexual Versus Non-Homosexual or Autogynephilic Gender Dysphoria |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |date=2011 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=247–257 |doi=10.1007/s10508-009-9579-2 |pmid=20039113 |pmc=2894986}}</ref>

=== As a sexual orientation ===
Blanchard and Lawrence have classified autogynephilia as a [[sexual orientation]].{{r|Moser 2010}}<ref name="Blanchard Partial">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blanchard R |title=Partial versus complete autogynephilia and gender dysphoria |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=301–307 |year=1993 |pmid=8308916 |doi=10.1080/00926239308404373}}</ref> Blanchard attributed the notion of some cross-dressing men being sexually aroused by the image of themselves as female to [[Magnus Hirschfeld]].<ref name="Hirschfeld1948">Hirschfeld, M. (1948). ''Sexual anomalies.'' New York: Emerson.</ref><ref name="Blanchard1989">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blanchard R |date=October 1989 |title=The concept of autogynephilia and the typology of male gender dysphoria |journal=The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease |volume=177 |issue=10 |pages=616–623 |doi=10.1097/00005053-198910000-00004 |pmid=2794988}}</ref> (The concept of [[Classification of transsexuals|a taxonomy based on transsexual sexuality]] was refined by endocrinologist [[Harry Benjamin]] in the [[Benjamin Scale]] in 1966,<ref name="benjamin1966-ijt">Benjamin H (1966). ''[http://www.symposion.com/ijt/benjamin/ The Transsexual Phenomenon.]'' The Julian Press ASIN: B0007HXA76 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821093538/http://www.symposion.com/ijt/benjamin/ |date=August 21, 2006}}</ref><ref name="Benjamin1966b">{{Cite web|url=https://shop.weka.de/qualitaetsmanagement|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109132054/http://www.symposion.com/ijt/benjamin/chap_02table.htm|url-status=dead|title=Qualitätsmanagement &#124; WEKA Shop|archive-date=January 9, 2009|website=shop.weka.de}}</ref> who wrote that researchers of his day thought attraction to men while feeling oneself to be a woman was the factor that distinguished a transsexual from a [[transvestite]] (who "is a man [and] feels himself to be one").<ref name="benjamin1966-ijt" />) Blanchard and Lawrence argue that just like more common sexual orientations such as heterosexuality and homosexuality, it is not only reflected by penile responses to erotic stimuli, but also includes the capacity for pair bond formation and romantic love.<ref name="Lawrence04" />{{rp|73, 75}}<ref name="Lawrence 2013" />{{rp|20–21}}<ref name="LawrenceBecoming">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lawrence AA |title=Becoming what we love: autogynephilic transsexualism conceptualized as an expression of romantic love |journal=Perspectives in Biology and Medicine |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=506–520 |date=2007-10-24 |pmid=17951885 |doi=10.1353/pbm.2007.0050 |url=http://www.annelawrence.com/becoming_what_we_love.pdf |publisher=Elsevier |s2cid=31767722 |access-date=2011-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205003321/http://www.annelawrence.com/becoming_what_we_love.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-05 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Later studies have found little empirical support for autogynephilia as a [[sexual identity]] classification,{{r|Pfeffer 2016}} and sexual orientation is generally understood to be distinct from gender identity.<ref name="Galupo">{{cite journal |last1=Galupo |first1=M. Paz |last2=Henise |first2=Shane B. |last3=Mercer |first3=Nicholas L. |display-authors=1 |title='The labels don't work very well': Transgender individuals' conceptualizations of sexual orientation and sexual identity |journal=International Journal of Transgenderism |date=2016 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=93–104 |doi=10.1080/15532739.2016.1189373 |s2cid=148318373 |issn=1553-2739}}</ref>{{rp|94}} Elke Stefanie Smith and colleagues describe Blanchard's approach as "highly controversial as it could erroneously suggest an erotic background" to transsexualism.<ref name="Smith 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Elke Stefanie |last2=Junger |first2=Jessica |last3=Derntl |first3=Birgit |last4=Habel |first4=Ute |display-authors=1 |title=The transsexual brain – A review of findings on the neural basis of transsexualism |journal=Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews |date=2015 |volume=59 |pages=251–266 |doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.008 |pmid=26429593 |s2cid=23913935 |issn=1873-7528}}</ref>{{rp|262}}

Serano says the idea is generally disproven within the context of [[gender transition]] as [[trans women]] who are on [[feminizing hormone therapy]], especially on [[anti-androgen]]s, experience a severe drop and in some cases complete loss in [[libido]]. Despite this the vast majority of transgender women continue their transition.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Serano |first=Julia |title=Autogynephilia: A scientific review, feminist analysis, and alternative 'embodiment fantasies' model |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038026120934690 |journal=The Sociological Review |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=763–778 |date=July 3, 2020 |s2cid=221097198 |doi=10.1177/0038026120934690|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Erotic target location errors ===
{{further|Erotic target location error}}
Blanchard conjectured that sexual interest patterns could have inwardly instead of outwardly directed forms, which he called ''erotic target location errors'' (ETLE). Autogynephilia would represent an inwardly directed form of gynephilia, with the attraction to women being redirected towards the self instead of others. These forms of erotic target location errors have also been observed with other base orientations, such as pedophilia, [[Acrotomophilia|attraction to amputees]], and attraction to [[plush animals]]. [[Anne Lawrence]] wrote that this phenomenon would help to explain an autogynephilia typology.{{r|Lawrence 2013}}{{rp|26}}

=== Cisgender women ===
The concept of autogynephilia has been criticized for implicitly assuming that cisgender women do not experience sexual desire mediated by their own gender identity.{{r|Pfeffer 2016}} Research on autogynephilia in cisgender women shows that cisgender women commonly{{Clarify|date=August 2023}} endorse items on adapted versions of Blanchard's autogynephilia scales.<ref name="veale2008">{{cite journal |vauthors=Veale JF, Clarke DE, Lomax TC |date=August 2008 |title=Sexuality of male-to-female transsexuals |url=https://rdcu.be/dkKld |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=586–597 |doi=10.1007/s10508-007-9306-9 |pmid=18299976 |s2cid=207089236|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="pmid19591032">{{cite journal |vauthors=Moser C |title=Autogynephilia in women |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=539–547 |year=2009 |pmid=19591032 |doi=10.1080/00918360903005212 |s2cid=14368724}}</ref>

Moser created an ''Autogynephilia Scale for Women'' in 2009, based on items used to categorize MtF transsexuals as autogynephilic in other studies. A questionnaire that included the ASW was distributed to a sample of 51 professional cisgender women employed at an urban hospital; 29 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis. By the common definition of ever having erotic arousal to the thought or image of oneself as a woman, 93% of the respondents would be classified as autogynephilic. Using a more rigorous definition of "frequent" arousal to multiple items, 28% would be classified as autogynephilic.<ref name="pmid19591032" />

Lawrence criticized Moser's methodology and conclusions and stated that genuine autogynephilia occurs very rarely, if ever, in cisgender women as their experiences are superficially similar but the erotic responses are ultimately markedly different.{{r|Sánchez & Vilain}}<ref name="pmid20069491">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lawrence AA |title=Something resembling autogynephilia in women: comment on Moser (2009) |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=1–4 |year=2010 |pmid=20069491 |s2cid=205469176 |doi=10.1080/00918360903445749}}</ref> Moser responded that Lawrence had made multiple errors by comparing the wrong items.<ref name="PMID20582797">{{cite journal |vauthors=Moser C |title=A rejoinder to Lawrence (2010): it helps if you compare the correct items. |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=693–696 |year=2010 |pmid=20582797 |s2cid=31285118 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2010.485859}}</ref> Lawrence argues that the scales used by both Veale et al. and Moser fail to differentiate between arousal from wearing provocative clothing or imagining that potential partners find one attractive, and arousal merely from the idea that one is a woman or has a woman's body.<ref name="Lawrence 2013" />{{rp|176}}

In a 2022 study, Bailey and Kevin J. Hsu dispute that "natal females" experience autogynephilia based on an application of Blanchard's original Core Autogynephilia Scale to four samples of "autogynephilic natal males", four samples of "non-autogynephilic natal males" and two samples of "natal females".<ref name="Bailey 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Bailey |first1=J. Michael |last2=Hsu |first2=Kevin J. |title=How Autogynephilic Are Natal Females? |url=https://rdcu.be/dkKlx |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=51 |issue=7 |pages=3311–3318 |date=2022 |pmid=35759067 |s2cid=250071413 |doi=10.1007/s10508-022-02359-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Serano and Veale argue that Bailey and Hsu's results do not support their conclusion, because most "natal females" in their research reported at least some autogynephilic fantasies. Furthermore, Bailey and Hsu's "autogynephilic natal male" samples 1, 2, and 4 do not apply to trans people as the majority of the sample were cis crossdressers, not trans women. Sample 3, which was majority trans women, did not have high rates of autogynephilia compared to the other two samples. Serano and Veale also criticize Bailey and Hsu for leaving out two scales that played a central role in Blanchard's original conception of autogynephilia, saying that this implies a much narrower definition of autogynephilia which would have excluded many of Blanchard's original trans subjects.<ref name="Serano 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Serano |first1=Julia M. |last2=Veale |first2=Jaimie F. |title=Autogynephilia Is a Flawed Framework for Understanding Female Embodiment Fantasies: A Response to Bailey and Hsu (2022). |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |date=6 September 2022 |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=473–477 |doi=10.1007/s10508-022-02414-4 |pmid=36066682 |s2cid=252088801 |url=https://www.juliaserano.com/av/SeranoVeale22-autogynephilia-FEFs.pdf |via=Juliaserano.com}}</ref>

Similar to Serano and Veale, Moser also criticizes Bailey and Hsu for mainly comparing the scores of cisgender women with cisgender male crossdressers instead of transgender women.<ref name="Moser 2022">{{cite journal |last=Moser |first=Charles |title=A Response to Bailey and Hsu (2022): It Helps If You Stop Confusing Gender Dysphoria and Transvestism. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363429868 |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=469–471 |date=9 September 2022 |pmid=36085213 |s2cid=252181797 |doi=10.1007/s10508-022-02418-0 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref>

=== Transfeminist critique ===
Critics of the autogynephlia hypothesis include [[transfeminist]]s such as [[Julia Serano]] and Talia Mae Bettcher.{{r|Pfeffer 2016}} Serano describes the concept as flawed, unscientific, and needlessly stigmatizing.<ref name="Serano 2020">{{cite journal |last=Serano |first=Julia |date=2020 |title=Autogynephilia: A scientific review, feminist analysis, and alternative 'embodiment fantasies' model |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/share/TYEYDTW3TTJDUJTMYM6F?target=10.1177/0038026120934690 |journal=The Sociological Review |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=763–778 |doi=10.1177/0038026120934690 |issn=0038-0261 |s2cid=221097198 |url-access=limited |via=Sage}}</ref> According to Serano, "Blanchard's controversial theory is built upon a number of incorrect and unfounded assumptions, and there are many methodological flaws in the data he offers to support it."<ref name="Serano p178">{{cite book |last=Serano |first=Julia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fR5ji5h5g1MC&pg=PT178 |title=Whipping girl: a transsexual woman on sexism and the scapegoating of femininity |publisher=Seal Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58005-154-5 |page=178 |quote=While Blanchard's controversial theory is built upon a number of incorrect and unfounded assumptions, and there are many methodological flaws in the data he offers to support it, it has garnered some acceptance in the psychiatric literature...}}</ref> She argues that flaws in Blanchard's original studies include: being conducted among overlapping populations primarily at the [[Clarke Institute]] in Toronto without nontranssexual controls; subtypes not being empirically derived but instead "[[begging the question]] that transsexuals fall into subtypes based on their sexual orientation"; and further research finding a non-deterministic correlation between cross-gender arousal and sexual orientation.<ref name="Serano 2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Serano |first1=J. M. |title=The Case Against Autogynephilia |url=http://www.juliaserano.com/av/Serano-CaseAgainstAutogynephilia.pdf |doi=10.1080/15532739.2010.514223 |journal=International Journal of Transgenderism |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=176–187 |year=2010 |s2cid=16456219 |quote=There are few concepts within the fields of transgender studies and human sexuality that are more controversial than autogynephilia.}}</ref> She states that Blanchard did not discuss the idea that cross-gender arousal may be an effect, rather than a cause, of gender dysphoria, and that Blanchard assumed that [[correlation does not imply causation|correlation implied causation]].<ref name="Serano 2010" />

Serano also states that the wider idea of cross-gender arousal was affected by the prominence of [[sexual objectification]] of women, accounting for both a relative lack of cross-gender arousal in transsexual men and similar patterns of autogynephilic arousal in non-transsexual women.<ref name="Serano 2010" /> She criticised proponents of the typology, claiming that they dismiss non-autogynephilic, non-androphilic transsexuals as misreporting or lying while not questioning androphilic transsexuals, describing it as "tantamount to [[cherry picking|hand-picking which evidence counts]] and which does not based upon how well it conforms to the model",<ref name="Serano 2010" /> either making the typology unscientific due to its unfalsifiability, or invalid due to the nondeterministic correlation that later studies found.<ref name="Serano 2010" /> Serano says that the typology undermined lived experience of transsexual women, contributed to pathologisation and sexualisation of transsexual women, and the literature itself fed into the stereotype of transsexuals as "purposefully deceptive", which could be used to justify discrimination and violence against transsexuals.<ref name="Serano 2010" /> According to Serano, studies have usually found that some non-androphilic transsexuals report having no autogynephilia.<ref name="Serano 2010" />

Bettcher, based on her own experience as a trans woman, has critiqued the notion of autogynephilia, and "target errors" generally, within a framework of "erotic structuralism," arguing that the notion conflates essential distinctions between "source of attraction" and "erotic content," and "(erotic) interest" and "(erotic) attraction," thus misinterpreting what she prefers to call, following Serano, "female embodiment eroticism." She maintains that not only is "an erotic interest in oneself as a gendered being," as she puts it, a non-pathological and indeed necessary component of regular sexual attraction to others, but within the framework of erotic structuralism, a "misdirected" attraction to oneself as postulated by Blanchard is outright nonsensical.<ref name="Bettcher2014">{{cite journal |vauthors=Bettcher TM |title=When selves have sex: what the phenomenology of trans sexuality can teach about sexual orientation |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=61 |issue=5 |pages=605–620 |date=2014 |pmid=24295078 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2014.865472 |s2cid=24098739 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5300966}}</ref>
Activist and law professor [[Florence Ashley]] writes that the autogynephilia concept has been "discredited", and that Bailey's and Blanchard's work "has long been criticised for perpetuating stereotypes and prejudices against trans women, notably suggesting that LGBQ trans women's primary motivation for transitioning is sexual arousal."<ref name="ashley_2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Ashley |first1=Florence |date=10 August 2020 |title=A critical commentary on 'rapid-onset gender dysphoria' |url=https://files.core.ac.uk/pdf/86/328754676.pdf#page=106 |format=PDF |journal=The Sociological Review |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=779–799 |doi=10.1177/0038026120934693 |s2cid=221097476}}</ref>

== Terminology ==

The concept that trans people with different sexual orientations are etiologically different goes back to the 1920s,<ref name="wahng">{{cite book |last=Wahng |first=SJ |title=Violence and the Body: Race, Gender, and the State |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=0-253-34171-X |editor=Aldama AJ |pages=292; 307n8 |chapter=<!--Double Cross: -->Transmasculinity and Asian American Gendering}}</ref><ref name="bagemihl">{{cite book |last=Bagemihl |first=B |title=Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1997 |isbn=0-19-510471-4 |editor=Livia A |page=380 |chapter=Surrogate phonology and transsexual faggotry: A linguistic analogy for uncoupling sexual orientation from gender identity |editor2=Hall K}}</ref><ref name="benjamin1966-ijt" /><ref name="diamond1980">Diamond M, Karlen A (1980). ''Sexual Decisions''. Little, Brown, {{ISBN|978-0-316-18388-8}}</ref> but the terms used have not always been agreed on.<ref name="bagemihl" /><ref name="benjamin1966-ijt" />

Blanchard said that one of his two types of gender dysphoria/transsexualism manifests itself in individuals who are almost if not exclusively attracted to men, whom he referred to as ''homosexual transsexuals''.<ref name="Blanchardetal1987">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blanchard R, Clemmensen LH, Steiner BW |date=April 1987 |title=Heterosexual and homosexual gender dysphoria |url=https://rdcu.be/dkJDT |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=139–152 |doi=10.1007/BF01542067 |pmid=3592961 |s2cid=43199925|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Blanchard uses the term "homosexual" relative to the person's [[sex assigned at birth]], not their current gender identity.{{r|Moser 2010}} This use of the term "homosexual" relative to the person's birth sex has been heavily criticized by other researchers.<ref name="Bancroftcomment">{{cite journal |author-link=John Bancroft (sexologist) |vauthors=Bancroft J |date=June 2008 |title=Lust or identity? |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |publisher=Springer |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=426–428; discussion 505–510 |doi=10.1007/s10508-008-9317-1 |pmid=18431640 |s2cid=33178427}}</ref><ref name="bagemihl" /><ref name="lane2008">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lane R |date=June 2008 |title=Truth, lies, and trans science |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=453–456; discussion 505–510 |doi=10.1007/s10508-008-9336-y |pmid=18431622 |s2cid=45198200}}</ref><ref name="shefer">{{cite book |last1=Shefer |first1=Tamara |title=The Gender of Psychology |last2=Boonzaier |first2=Floretta |publisher=Juta and Company Limited |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-919713-92-2 |edition=Illustrated |pages=273–274; 282 |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref><ref name="diamond2006">Diamond M (2006). Biased-Interaction theory of psychosexual development: "how does one know if one is male or female?" ''Sex Roles''</ref><ref name="benjamin1966-ijt" /> It has been described as archaic<ref name="wahng" /> confusing,<ref name="Leavitt 1990" /><ref name="diamond1980" /><ref name="diamond2002a">{{cite journal |last1=Diamond |first1=M |year=2002a |title=Sex and gender are different: Sexual identity and gender identity are different |journal=Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=320–334 |doi=10.1177/1359104502007003002 |s2cid=144721800}}</ref> demeaning,<ref name="leiblum2000">Leiblum SR, Rosen RC (2000). ''Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy'', Third Edition. {{ISBN|1-57230-574-6}},Guilford Press of New York, c2000.</ref> pejorative,<ref name="Leavitt 1990" /> offensive,<ref name="lane2008" /><ref name="james2006">James A (2006), "A defining moment in our history: Examining disease models of gender identity". ''Gender Medicine''. 3:56 {{ISSN|1550-8579}}</ref> and [[heterosexist]].<ref name="bagemihl" /> Benjamin states that trans women can only be "homosexual" if anatomy alone is considered, and psyches are ignored; he states that after sex-reassignment surgery, calling a male-to-female transsexual "homosexual" is pedantic and against "reason and common sense".<ref name="benjamin1966-ijt-two">{{cite book |last=Benjamin |first=Harry |chapter=Transvestism, Transsexualism, and Homosexuality |chapter-url=http://www.symposion.com/ijt/benjamin/chap_02.htm |url-status=dead |title=The Transsexual Phenomenon |date=1966 |access-date=December 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106091520/http://www.symposion.com/ijt/benjamin/chap_02.htm |archive-date=January 6, 2009}}</ref> Many authorities, including some supporters, criticize Blanchard's choice of terminology as confusing or degrading because it emphasizes trans women's assigned sex, and disregards their sexual orientation identity.{{r|Guillamon 2016|pp=}} Leavitt and Berger write that the term is "both confusing and controversial" and that trans women "vehemently oppose the label and its pejorative baggage."<ref name="Leavitt 1990" />

In 1987, this terminology was included in the American Psychiatric Association's ''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]]'' (DSM-III-R) as "transsexual, homosexual subtype".<ref name="wahng" /><ref name="shefer" /> The later DSM-IV (1994) and DSM-IV-TR (2000) stated that a transsexual was to be described as "attracted to males, females, both or neither".<ref name="shefer" />

Blanchard defined the second type of transsexual as including those who are attracted almost if not exclusively to females (gynephilic), attracted to both males and females (bisexual), and attracted to neither males nor females (asexual); Blanchard referred to this latter set collectively as the ''non-homosexual transsexuals''.<ref name="Blanchard1989class">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blanchard R |date=August 1989 |title=The classification and labeling of nonhomosexual gender dysphorias |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=315–334 |doi=10.1007/BF01541951 |pmid=2673136 |s2cid=43151898}}</ref><ref name="Blanchard1988">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blanchard R |date=January 1988 |title=Nonhomosexual gender dysphoria |journal=Journal of Sex Research |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=188–193 |doi=10.1080/00224498809551410 |pmid=22375647}}</ref> Blanchard says that the "non-homosexual" transsexuals (but not the "homosexual" transsexuals) exhibit ''autogynephilia'',<ref name="Blanchardetal1987" /> which he defined as a [[paraphilic]] interest in having female anatomy.<ref name="Blanchard1989" /><ref name="Blanchard1991" />
<!--
Benjamin, Leavitt, and Berger have all used the term ''homosexual transsexual'' in their work.<ref name="benjamin1966"/><ref name="Leavitt 1990"/> Sexologist John Bancroft expressed regret for having used this terminology, which was standard when he used it, to refer to transsexual women, and had said he now tries to choose his words more sensitively.<ref name="Bancroftcomment">{{cite journal |last=Bancroft |first=John |title=Lust or Identity? |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=426–428 |publisher=Springer |year=2008 |doi=10.1007/s10508-008-9317-1 |pmid=18431640 |s2cid=33178427}}</ref>
-->

=== Alternative terms ===
Professor of anatomy and reproductive biology [[Milton Diamond]] proposed the use of the terms ''androphilic'' (attracted to men) and ''gynephilic'' (attracted to women) as neutral descriptors for sexual orientation that do not make assumptions about the [[sex]] or gender identity of the person being described, alternatives to ''homosexual'' and ''heterosexual''.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} Frank Leavitt and Jack Berger state that the label ''homosexual transsexual'' seems to have little clinical merit, as its referents have "little in common with homosexuals, except a stated erotic interest in males"; they too suggest "more neutral descriptive terms such as androphilia".<ref name="Leavitt 1990" /><ref name="morgan1978" /> Sexological research has been done using these alternative terms by researchers such as Sandra L. Johnson.<ref name="Johnson1990">Johnson SL, Hunt DD (1990), "The relationship of male transsexual typology to psychosocial adjustment". ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', Volume 19, Number 4 / August 1990, 349-360.</ref> Both Blanchard and Leavitt used a psychological test called the "modified androphilia scale" to assess whether a transsexual was attracted to men or not.<ref name="Blanchard1985" /><ref name="Leavitt 1990" /> Sociologist [[Aaron Devor]] wrote, "If what we really mean to say is attracted to males, then say 'attracted to males' or androphilic ... I see absolutely no reason to continue with language that people find offensive when there is perfectly serviceable, in fact better, language that is not offensive."<ref name="lane2008" />

== Other traits ==
According to the typology, ''autogynephilic transsexuals'' are attracted to femininity while ''homosexual transsexuals'' are attracted to masculinity. However, a number of other differences between the types have been reported. Cantor states that "homosexual transsexuals" usually begin to seek [[sex reassignment surgery]] (SRS) in their mid-twenties, while "autogynephilic transsexuals" usually seek clinical treatment in their mid-thirties or even later.<ref name="Cantor & Sutton">{{cite book |last1=Cantor |first1=James M. |title=Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology |last2=Sutton |first2=Katherine S. |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-981177-9 |editor1-last=Blaney |editor1-first=Paul H. |pages=593, 602–604 |chapter=Paraphilia, Gender Dysphoria, and Hypersexuality |editor2-last=Krueger |editor2-first=Robert F. |editor3-last=Millon |editor3-first=Theodore}}</ref> Blanchard also states that homosexual transsexuals were younger when applying for sex reassignment, report a stronger cross-gender identity in childhood, have a more convincing cross-gender appearance, and function psychologically better than "non-homosexual" transsexuals.<ref name="Blanchardetal1987" /> A lower percentage of those described as homosexual transsexuals report being (or having been) married, or report sexual arousal while cross-dressing.<ref name="psychology Research">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Yolanda L.S. |author2=Stephanie Van Goozen |author3=Aj Kupier |author4=Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis |date=2005-12-15 |title=Transsexual subtypes: Clinical and theoretical significance |url=http://akikos-planet.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/files/psychiatry_research__transsexual_subtypes_clinical_and_theoretical_significance.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Psychiatry Research |publisher=Elsevier |volume=137 |issue=3 |pages=151–160 |doi=10.1016/j.psychres.2005.01.008 |pmid=16298429 |s2cid=207445960 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227130826/http://akikos-planet.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/files/psychiatry_research__transsexual_subtypes_clinical_and_theoretical_significance.pdf |archive-date=2008-02-27 |access-date=2007-06-26}}</ref> Bentler reported that 23% of homosexual transsexuals report a history of sexual arousal to cross-dressing, while Freund reported 31%.<ref name="freund1982">{{cite journal |last1=Freund |first1=K |last2=Steiner |first2=BW |last3=Chan |first3=S |year=1982 |title=Two types of cross-gender identity |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=49–63 |doi=10.1007/bf01541365 |pmid=7073469 |s2cid=42131695}}</ref><ref name="Leavitt 1990" /><ref name="bentler1976">{{cite journal |last=Bentler |first=P M |year=1976 |title=A typology of transsexualism: Gender identity theory and data |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=567–584 |doi=10.1007/bf01541220 |pmid=1008701 |s2cid=22830472}}</ref><ref name="blanchard1985">{{cite journal |last=Blanchard |first=R |year=1985 |title=Typology of male-to-female transsexualism |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=247–261 |doi=10.1007/bf01542107 |pmid=4004548 |s2cid=23907992}}</ref> <!-- cut?: -->In 1990, using the alternative term "androphilic transsexual", Johnson wrote that there was a correlation between social adjustment to the new gender role and androphilia.<ref name="Johnson1990" />

Anne Lawrence, a proponent of the concept,<ref name="Ekins">{{cite book |last1=Ekins |first1=Richard |last2=King |first2=Dave |title=The Transgender Phenomenon |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=London |date=2006 |pages=86–87 |isbn=0-7619-7163-7}}</ref><ref name="Davy">{{cite journal |last=Davy |first=Zowie |date=9 June 2015 |title=The DSM-5 and the Politics of Diagnosing Transpeople |url=https://rdcu.be/dkKkl |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=44 |issue=5 |pages=1165–1176 |doi=10.1007/s10508-015-0573-6 |pmid=26054486 |s2cid=9627776|url-access=subscription }}</ref> argues that homosexual transsexuals pursue sex reassignment surgery out of a desire for greater social and romantic success.{{r|Moser 2010}} Lawrence has proposed that autogynephilic transsexuals are more excited about sexual reassignment surgery than homosexual transsexuals. She states that homosexual transsexuals are typically ambivalent or indifferent about SRS, while autogynephilic transsexuals want to have surgery as quickly as possible, are happy to be rid of their penis, and proud of their new genitals.<ref name="LawrenceBecoming" /> Lawrence states that autogynephilia tends to appear along with other paraphilias.<ref name="Lawrence04" />{{rp|79}} J. Michael Bailey argued that both "homosexual transsexuals" and "autogynephilic transsexuals" were driven to transition mainly for sexual gratification, as opposed to gender-identity reasons.{{r|Bancroft 2009}}

=== Birth order ===
Blanchard and Zucker state that birth order has some influence over sexual orientation in [[Assigned male at birth|male-assigned]] people in general, and androphilic trans women in specific.<ref name="Blanchardbrothers">{{cite journal |last1=Blanchard |first1=Ray |last2=Zucker |first2=Kenneth J. |last3=Cohen-Kettenis |first3=PT |last4=Gooren |first4=LJ |last5=Bailey |first5=JM |title=Birth order and sibling sex ratio in two samples of Dutch gender-dysphoric homosexual males |url=https://rdcu.be/dkKkS |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=495–514 |date=October 1996 |pmid=8899142 |s2cid=41147086 |doi=10.1007/BF02437544|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Zuckerbrothers">{{cite journal |last1=Zucker |first1=Kenneth J |last2=Blanchard |first2=Ray |title=Birth order and sibling sex ratio in homosexual transsexual South Korean men: Effects of the male-preference stopping rule |journal=[[Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences]] |volume=61 |issue=5 |pages=529–533 |date=October 2007 |pmid=17875032 |s2cid=22175314 |doi=10.1111/j.1440-1819.2007.01703.x |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Greenbrothers">{{cite journal |last=Green |first=Richard |title=Birth order and ratio of brothers to sisters in transsexuals |journal=[[Psychological Medicine]] |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=789–795 |date=July 2000 |pmid=11037086 |s2cid=42713566 |doi=10.1017/S0033291799001932|doi-broken-date=December 14, 2024 }}</ref> This phenomenon is called the "[[fraternal birth order]] effect".<ref name="Zuckerbrothers" /> In 2000, Richard Green reported that androphilic trans women tended have a later-than-expected{{clarify|reason="expected" based on and relative to what?|date=April 2023}} birth order, and more older brothers than other subgroups of trans women. Each older brother increased the odds that a trans woman was androphilic by 40%.<ref name="Greenbrothers" />

== Transgender men ==
Blanchard's typology is mainly concerned with transgender women.<ref name=Ekins/> Richard Ekins and Dave King state that female-to-male transsexuals ([[trans men]]) are absent from the typology,<ref name=Ekins/> while Blanchard, Cantor, and Katherine Sutton distinguish between gynephilic and androphilic trans men. They state that gynephilic trans men are the counterparts of androphilic trans women, that they experience strong childhood gender nonconformity, and that they generally begin to seek sex reassignment in their mid-twenties. They describe androphilic trans men as a rare but distinct group who say they want to become gay men, and, according to Blanchard, are often specifically attracted to gay men. Cantor and Sutton state that while this may seem analogous to autogynephilia, no distinct paraphilia for this has been identified.<ref name="Cantor & Sutton"/>{{rp|603–604}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Blanchard |first=Ray |title=Clinical Management of Gender Identity Disorders in Children and Adults |chapter=Gender Identity Disorders in Adult Women |publisher=American Psychiatric Press |pages=77–91 |chapter-url=http://individual.utoronto.ca/ray_blanchard/GID_Women.pdf}}</ref>
<!--
Relatively little research has been done on gender variance in assigned females, although the prevalence of [[trans men|female-to-male]] [[gender dysphoria]] is comparable to that of male-to-female GD.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bockting |first1=Walter |last2=Coleman |first2=Eli |last3=Deutsch |first3=Madeline B. |last4=Guillamon |first4=Antonio |last5=Meyer |first5=Ilan |last6=Meyer |first6=Walter |last7=Reisner |first7=Sari |last8=Sevelius |first8=Jae |last9=Ettner |first9=Randi |date=April 2016 |title=Adult Development and Quality of Life of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People |journal=Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=188–197 |doi=10.1097/MED.0000000000000232 |issn=1752-296X |pmc=4809047 |pmid=26835800}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Leinung |first1=Matthew |last2=Joseph |first2=Jalaja |date=December 2020 |title=Changing Demographics in Transgender Individuals Seeking Hormonal Therapy: Are Trans Women More Common Than Trans Men? |journal=Transgender Health |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=241–245 |doi=10.1089/trgh.2019.0070 |issn=2380-193X |pmc=7906237 |pmid=33644314}}</ref>
-->

=== Gynephilic transgender men ===
<!--moved from HSTS article, may need trimming:-->
In 2000, [[Meredith L. Chivers]] and Bailey wrote, "Transsexualism in genetic females has previously been thought to occur predominantly in homosexual (gynephilic) women." According to them, Blanchard reported in 1987 that only 1 in 72 trans men he saw at his clinic were primarily attracted to men. They observed that these individuals were so uncommon that some researchers thought that androphilic trans men did not exist, or misdiagnosed them as homosexual transsexuals, attracted to women. They wrote that relatively few studies had examined childhood gender variance in trans men.<ref name="chivers2000"/>

In a 2005 study by Smith and van Goozen, their findings in regards to trans men were different from their findings for trans women.<ref name="psychology Research"/> Smith and van Goozen's study included 52 female-to-male transsexuals, who were categorized as either homosexual or non-homosexual. Smith concluded that female-to-male transsexuals, regardless of sexual orientation, reported more GID symptoms in childhood, and a stronger sense of gender dysphoria. Smith wrote that she found some differences between homosexual and non-homosexual female-to-male transsexuals. Smith says that homosexual female-to-males reported more gender dysphoria than any group in her study.<ref name="psychology Research"/>

== Inclusion in the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' ==
In the third edition of the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' ([[DSM-III]]) (1980), the diagnosis of "302.5 Transsexualism" was introduced under "Other Psychosexual Disorders". This was an attempt to provide a diagnostic category for [[gender identity disorder]]s.<ref name="Lothstein p60">{{cite book |last=Lothstein |first=Leslie Martin |title=Female-to-male Transsexualism: Historical, Clinical, and Theoretical Issues |url=https://archive.org/details/femaletomaletran0000loth/page/60/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Routledge & Kegan Paul]] |location=Boston, MA |page=60 |date=1983 |isbn=0-7100-9476-0}}</ref> The diagnostic category, ''transsexualism'', was for [[gender dysphoric]] individuals who demonstrated at least two years of continuous interest in transforming their physical and social gender status.<ref>{{cite web |first=Walter |last=Meyer |author2=Walter O. Bockting |author3=Peggy Cohen-Kettenis |title=The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association's Standards Of Care For Gender Identity Disorders, Sixth Version |version=6th |publisher=Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association |date=February 2001 |url=http://www.wpath.org/Documents2/socv6.pdf |access-date=22 April 2009 |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610012909/http://www.wpath.org/Documents2/socv6.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2007}}</ref> The subtypes were asexual, homosexual (same "biological sex"), heterosexual (other "biological sex") and unspecified.<ref name="Lothstein p60"/> This was removed in the [[DSM-IV]], in which gender identity disorder replaced transsexualism. Previous taxonomies, or systems of categorization, used the terms ''classic transsexual'' or ''true transsexual'', terms once used in [[differential diagnoses]].<ref name="benjamin1966-mut">{{cite journal |vauthors=Benjamin H |author-link=Harry Benjamin |title=The Transsexual Phenomenon |url=http://www.mut23.de/texte/Harry%20Benjamin%20-%20The%20Transsexual%20Phenomenon.pdf |journal=Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences |publisher=The Julian Press |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=428–430 |year=1966 |pmid=5233741 |doi=10.1111/j.2164-0947.1967.tb02273.x}}</ref>

The [[DSM-IV-TR]] included autogynephilia as an "associated feature" of gender identity disorder<ref name="Winters">{{cite journal |last=Winters |first=Kelley |title=Gender Dissonance: Diagnostic Reform of Gender Identity Disorder for Adults |journal=Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality |date=2005 |volume=17 |issue=3–4 |page=76 |doi=10.1300/J056v17n03_04 |s2cid=147607818}} Simultaneously published in: {{cite book |editor1-last=Karasic |editor1-first=Dan |editor2-last=Drescher |editor2-first=Jack |title=Sexual and Gender Diagnoses of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM): A Reevaluation |date=2005 |publisher=The Haworth Press |isbn=0-7890-3213-9}}</ref> and as a common occurrence in the [[transvestic fetishism]] disorder, but does not classify autogynephilia as a disorder by itself.<ref name="Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR: 4th Edition Text Revision">{{cite book |title=Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR: 4th Edition Text Revision |page=574 |publisher=[[American Psychiatric Association]] |isbn=978-0-89042-025-6 |date=January 2000}}</ref>

{{anchor|Autoandrophilia}}The paraphilias working group on the [[DSM-5]], chaired by Ray Blanchard, included both ''with autogynephilia'' and ''with autoandrophilia'' as specifiers to [[transvestic disorder]] in an October 2010 draft of the DSM-5. This proposal was opposed by the [[World Professional Association for Transgender Health]] (WPATH), citing a lack of empirical evidence for these specific subtypes.<ref name="wpath1">{{cite journal |vauthors=Gijs L, Carroll RA |doi=10.1080/15532739.2010.550766 |title=Should Transvestic Fetishism Be Classified in DSM 5? Recommendations from the WPATH Consensus Process for Revision of the Diagnosis of Transvestic Fetishism |journal=International Journal of Transgenderism |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=189–197 |year=2011 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="wpath2">{{cite journal |vauthors=Knudson G, De Cuypere G, Bockting W |title=Second Response of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to the Proposed Revision of the Diagnosis of Transvestic Disorder for DSM5 |doi=10.1080/15532739.2011.606195 |journal=International Journal of Transgenderism |volume=13 |pages=9–12 |year=2011 |s2cid=143808776}}</ref><ref name="Bevan"/>{{rp|201}} WPATH argued that there was no scientific consensus on the concept, and that there was a lack of [[longitudinal studies]] on the development of transvestic fetishism.{{r|wpath1}} ''With autoandrophilia'' was removed from the final draft of the manual. Blanchard later said he had initially included it to avoid criticism: "I proposed it simply in order not to be accused of sexism [...] I don't think the phenomenon even exists."<ref name="Drabek p93">{{cite book |last=Drabek |first=Matt L. |title=Classify and Label: The Unintended Marginalization of Social Groups |date=2014 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-7391-7976-5 |page=93}}</ref> When published in 2013, the DSM-5 included ''With autogynephilia'' (sexual arousal by thoughts, images of self as a female) as a specifier to ''302.3 Transvestic disorder'' (intense sexual arousal from cross-dressing fantasies, urges or behaviors); the other specifier is ''With [[fetishism]]'' (sexual arousal to fabrics, materials or garments).<ref name="DSM-5-paraphillic">{{cite book |last=American Psychiatric Association |year=2013 |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders |edition=Fifth |publisher=American Psychiatric Publishing |location=Arlington, VA |pages=685–705 |isbn=978-0-89042-555-8}}</ref>

== Societal impact ==
=== Litigation ===
{{further|O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner}}
In the 2010 U.S. Tax Court case ''O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner'', the Internal Revenue Service cited Blanchard's typology as justification for denying a transgender woman's [[tax deduction]]s for medical costs relating to treatment of her gender identity disorder, claiming the procedures were not medically necessary.<ref name="Pratt 2016">{{cite journal |last=Pratt |first=Katherine |title=The Tax Definition of 'Medical Care:' A Critique of the Startling IRS Arguments in O'Donnabhain V. Commissioner |journal=Michigan Journal of Gender & Law |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=313–389 |date=2016 |issn=1095-8835 |s2cid=151576703 |doi=10.36641/mjgl.23.2.tax |doi-access=free}}</ref> The court found in favor of the plaintiff, Rhiannon O'Donnabhain, ruling that she should be allowed to deduct the costs of her treatment, including sex reassignment surgery and [[Transgender hormone therapy|hormone therapy]].<ref name="Lavoie 2010a">{{cite web |title=Woman says sex-change tax battle also helps others |last=Lavoie |first=Denise |date=3 February 2010 |work=Montgomery Advertiser |agency=Associated Press |publication-place=Montgomery, Ala. |url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SEX_CHANGE_TAXES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-02-02-18-19-55 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205082123/http://hosted.ap.org:80/dynamic/stories/U/US_SEX_CHANGE_TAXES?SITE=ALMON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT |archive-date=2010-02-05}}</ref> In its decision, the court declared the IRS's position "at best a superficial characterization of the circumstances" that was "thoroughly rebutted by the medical evidence".<ref name="Lavoie 2010b">{{cite news |last1=Lavoie |first1=Denise |title=Case backs need for sex-change surgery |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/03/case_backs_need_for_sex_change_surgery/ |access-date=27 April 2023 |work=Boston Globe |agency=Associated Press |date=3 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="O'Donnabhain">{{cite court |litigants=O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner |court=T.C. |reporter=T.C. |vol=134 |opinion=34 |date=2010) |url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/intco20100202a85 |access-date=2017-11-28}}</ref>

=== Anti-LGBT groups ===
According to the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC), autogynephilia has been promoted by [[List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBT hate groups|anti-LGBT hate groups]].<ref name="splc_20181003" /><ref name="splc_20160407">{{Cite web |author=<!--staff author(s)--> |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/04/07/anti-lgbt-hate-group-releases-anti-trans-position-statement |title=Anti-LGBT Hate Group Releases Anti-Trans Position Statement |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |work=Hatewatch |date=7 April 2016 |access-date=21 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="splc_20180515">{{Cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/05/15/10-things-you-need-know-about-tony-perkins-and-family-research-council |title=10 things you need to know about Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |work=Hatewatch |date=15 May 2018 |access-date=21 October 2022}}</ref> These include the [[Family Research Council]] (FRC), [[United Families International]] (UFI), and the [[American College of Pediatricians]] (ACPeds).<ref name="splc_20181003" /><ref name="splc_20160407" /><ref name="splc_20180515" />
Both Blanchard and Bailey have written articles for ''4thWaveNow'', which the SPLC describes as an anti-trans website.<ref name="splc_20181003">{{Cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/03/roundup-anti-lgbt-activities-1032018 |title=Roundup of anti-LGBT activities 10/3/2018 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |work=Hatewatch |date=3 October 2018 |access-date=17 October 2022}}</ref>

Nic Rider and Elliot Tebbe characterize Blanchard's theory of autogynephilia as an [[anti-trans]] theory that functions to invalidate and delegitimize transgender individuals.<ref name="goldberg_2021_41">{{cite book |last1=Rider |first1=G. Nic |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies |last2=Tebbe |first2=Elliot A. |date=2021 |publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1544393810 |editor-last1=Goldberg |editor-first1=Abbie E. |edition=1st |volume=1 |pages=41–42 |chapter=Anti-Trans Theories |editor-last2=Beemyn |editor-first2=Genny}}</ref>

=== Feminists ===
Serano writes that [[trans-exclusionary radical feminists|trans-exclusionary]] or [[gender-critical]] feminists have embraced the idea of autogynephilia beginning in the 2000s.<ref name="Serano 2020"/> One early proponent of autogynephilia was radical feminist [[Sheila Jeffreys]].<ref name="Serano 2020"/> The concept has been used to imply that trans women are sexually deviant men.<ref name="Serano 2020"/><ref name="compton_20191122">{{cite web |last=Compton |first=Julie |title='Frightening' online transphobia has real-life consequences, advocates say |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/frightening-online-transphobia-has-real-life-consequences-advocates-say-n1089456 |publisher=NBC News |date=22 November 2019 |access-date=17 October 2022}}</ref> The concept of autogynephilia became popular on gender-critical websites such as ''4thWaveNow'', [[Mumsnet]], and the [[Reddit]] community [[/r/GenderCritical]].<ref name="Serano 2020"/>

== See also ==
* [[Classification of transsexual and transgender people]]
* [[Autoeroticism]]
* [[Partialism]]
* [[Transgender sexuality]]
* [[List of transgender-related topics]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary inline|autogynephilia}}

{{Transgender|state=collapsed}}
{{Crossdressing footer}}

[[Category:1980s introductions]]
[[Category:Paraphilias]]
[[Category:Sexology]]
[[Category:Gender identity]]
[[Category:Sexual fetishism]]
[[Category:Sexual orientation]]
[[Category:Sexuality and society]]
[[Category:Transgender sexuality]]
[[Category:Transgender women-related topics]]
[[Category:LGBTQ-related controversies in the United States]]