-
The Journal of Sexual Medicine Jun 2020One of the most prominent etiological theories of gender incongruence in trans women proposes a paraphilic erotic target location error (ie, autogynephilia) as a causal...
BACKGROUND
One of the most prominent etiological theories of gender incongruence in trans women proposes a paraphilic erotic target location error (ie, autogynephilia) as a causal factor in gynephilic (ie, exclusively gynephilic and bisexual) trans women. We hypothesized that a paraphilic erotic target location should manifest itself in various aspects of sexual behavior, solitary and dyadic sexual desire, and psychosexual experience.
AIM
To compare sexual behavior, sexual desire, and psychosexual experience of exclusively gynephilic and bisexual trans women with that of androphilic trans women to explore whether their sexuality differs substantially.
METHODS
Trans women diagnosed with gender dysphoria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5) were recruited at 4 transgender healthcare centers in Germany. The present study analyzed items on sexual behavior, desire, and experience of a self-report questionnaire, collected as part of a cross-sectional multicenter study.
MAIN OUTCOMES
Multiple aspects of sexuality were examined using self-constructed items. Sexual desire was measured using the Sexual Desire Inventory and psychosexual experience using the Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire.
RESULTS
Significantly more exclusively gynephilic than androphilic trans women reported a history of sexual arousal in relation to cross-dressing. However, little evidence was found that gynephilic and androphilic sexual desire, behavior, and psychosexual experience differ profoundly. Interestingly, a statistically non-significant trend indicated that gynephilic trans women who had not yet undergone gender affirming surgery showed the highest levels of sexual desire (solitary and dyadic), whereas the opposite was the case for androphilic trans women.
CLINICAL TRANSLATION
Data of this study indicate that sexual orientation does not appear to be a good predicator for sexual behavior, desire, and psychosexual experience in trans women.
STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS
We investigated sexual desire and experience using standardized and evaluated measures such as the Sexual Desire Inventory and Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire. Future studies with a larger sample size should investigate how different gender affirming medical intervention might have diverging influences on sexual behavior, desire, and experience.
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, this study found little evidence for the hypothesis that sexual behavior, sexual desire, and psychosexual experience differ substantially in gynephilic (exclusively gynephilic and bisexual) and androphilic trans women. Laube JS, Auer M, Biedermann SV, et al. Sexual Behavior, Desire, and Psychosexual Experience in Gynephilic and Androphilic Trans Women: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Study. J Sex Med 2020;17:1182-1194.
Topics: Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Gender Identity; Germany; Humans; Male; Sexual Behavior; Surveys and Questionnaires; Transsexualism
PubMed: 32147311
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.01.030 -
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin Apr 2022Does strong gender identity help or harm one's well-being? Previous research suggests that acceptance of one's social group and feelings of belongingness to the group...
Does strong gender identity help or harm one's well-being? Previous research suggests that acceptance of one's social group and feelings of belongingness to the group are positively related to well-being, regardless of the group's social status. However, there are inconsistent findings about the relation between well-being and how central the group is to one's identity (centrality), especially among disadvantaged groups (e.g., women). In Studies 1 to 10 (total = 5,955), we clarified these relations by controlling for shared variance between distinct gender identity aspects. Acceptance and belongingness were related to a range of well-being variables. Centrality was related to well-being. These results were consistent across genders. Studies 11 to 14 (total = 2,380) found that the negative relation between gender centrality and well-being might be mediated by perceived pressure to conform to the masculine role among men and perceived gender inequality among women. These results uncover a burden of strong gender identity.
Topics: Female; Gender Identity; Humans; Male
PubMed: 33858256
DOI: 10.1177/01461672211002362 -
Journal of Homosexuality Oct 2022The most commonly used curricula for teaching gender and sexual difference come from white, middle-class, public school contexts. Little is available for community-based...
The most commonly used curricula for teaching gender and sexual difference come from white, middle-class, public school contexts. Little is available for community-based efforts with LGBTQ+ youth and adults who are people of color, immigrants, Indigenous, and working-class. This article explores the development, practices, and impacts of a queer-decolonial pedagogy, focusing on a unique after school program created by queer and trans educator-researchers. This program focused on preventing intimate partner and sexual violence, social justice, solidarity across difference, and peer mentorship. Through queer and trans adult leadership, this program demonstrated the benefits that come to all students when queerness and decoloniality are made central. Grounded in dialectical practices integrating teaching and research, this work illustrates six tenets of queer-decolonial pedagogy: naming place, time-play, body and lifeway self-determination, experience as personal and intergenerational, learning for healing and responsibility, and living the host-guest role. In such a practice, pedagogy lives in generative tension across distinct cultural and epistemological legacies of queer and decolonial politics and pedagogies. Taking LGBTQ+ educational research beyond inquiries into school climate, policy debates, and standardized curricula, the author takes us through a journey of collaborative innovation, exploring the possibilities of learning for diverse queer and trans students within a context of intergenerational care. Such teaching and research demonstrate how principled practices of queer-decolonial creativity transform potentials not just for education, but for undoing the binary foundations of colonial knowledge transmission itself.
Topics: Adolescent; Gender Identity; Humans; Learning; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Students; Transsexualism
PubMed: 34647860
DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2021.1987750 -
Archives of Sexual Behavior Oct 2023
Topics: Humans; Gender Identity
PubMed: 37415026
DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02650-2 -
AMA Journal of Ethics Jul 2021Tension between naming to render an important kind of suffering among transgender people more visible and avoiding pathologizing experiences of transgender people in a...
Tension between naming to render an important kind of suffering among transgender people more visible and avoiding pathologizing experiences of transgender people in a gender-binary world can be keenly felt among patients seeking gender-affirming services. This article suggests why clinical "verification" of a patient's need for gender-affirming care is likely less important than clinicians' expressions of empathy and respect for patients' autonomy. This article also suggests that fostering transgender patients' sense of agency should be prioritized.
Topics: Emotions; Gender Dysphoria; Gender Identity; Humans; Transgender Persons; Transsexualism
PubMed: 34351266
DOI: 10.1001/amajethics.2021.557 -
Psychiatria Hungarica : a Magyar... 2022In the recent research and interpretation of the genetical-biological and environmental-social factors shaping psychosexual development, in addition to scientific...
INTRODUCTION
In the recent research and interpretation of the genetical-biological and environmental-social factors shaping psychosexual development, in addition to scientific arguments, more and more ideological and political aspect have received unfortunate emphasis.
OBJECTIVE
Since the literature investigating the development of gender identity and gender orientation has not only increased, but also polarized, it is timely to look at the scientific exchange of ideas and debates among the differing positions.
METHOD
Exploring the significance of genetic, biological and social factors involved in the development of gender identity and gender orientation based on international literature data.
RESULTS
Based on the current state of science it can be concluded that, in addition to the indisputably marked genetic-biological factors, education and social patterns, as well as the extremely complex environmental and media-related influence with its variable intensity and diverse emotional content also play a significant role in the psychosexual development. This is supported, among other observations, by the data indicating that homoerotic behavior is more common in people raised by same-sex couples.
CONCLUSION
As psychosexual development is determined jointly by both genetic-biological and social factors (like education, media etc), belonging to a sexual minority group is not a choice, not the result of a personal decision. Therefore, any kind of discrimination in this regard is unacceptable. Further scientific studies are necessary to answer a large number of questions that still remain open.
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Gender Identity; Socialization; Psychosexual Development; Sexual Behavior
PubMed: 36524803
DOI: No ID Found -
Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 2021This article is a historical review of the medical and psychiatric diagnoses associated with transgender people across epochs. Ancient Greek and Roman writings already... (Review)
Review
This article is a historical review of the medical and psychiatric diagnoses associated with transgender people across epochs. Ancient Greek and Roman writings already mention gender change. Before a diagnosis even existed, historical documents described the lives of numerous people whom we would consider transgender today. The development of medical classifications took off in the nineteenth century, driven by the blooming of natural sciences. In the nineteenth century, most authors conflated questions of sexual orientation and gender. For example, the psychiatrist Krafft-Ebing reported cases of transgender people but understood them as paranoia, or as the extreme degree of severity in a dimension of sexual inversion. In the early 1900s, doctors such as Magnus Hirschfeld first distinguished homosexual and transgender behaviour. The usual term for transgender people was transvestite, before Harry Benjamin generalised the term transsexual in the mid-20th century. The term transgender became common in the 1970s. This article details the evolution of diagnoses for transgender people from DSM-III and ICD-10 to DSM-5 and ICD-11.
Topics: Female; Gender Dysphoria; Gender Identity; Humans; International Classification of Diseases; Male; Transgender Persons; Transsexualism
PubMed: 35860172
DOI: 10.1080/19585969.2022.2042166 -
American Journal of Public Health Mar 2022
Topics: Adolescent; Gender Identity; Humans; Transgender Persons; Transsexualism
PubMed: 35196055
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306690 -
Alcohol Research : Current Reviews 2023This narrative review of research conducted during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic examines whether alcohol use among cisgender women and transgender and... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
This narrative review of research conducted during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic examines whether alcohol use among cisgender women and transgender and nonbinary people increased during the pandemic. The overarching goal of the review is to inform intervention and prevention efforts to halt the narrowing of gender-related differences in alcohol use.
SEARCH METHODS
Eight databases (PubMed, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Gender Studies Database, GenderWatch, and Web of Science) were searched for peer-reviewed literature, published between March 2020 and July 2022, that reported gender differences or findings specific to women, transgender or nonbinary people, and alcohol use during the pandemic. The search focused on studies conducted in the United States and excluded qualitative research.
SEARCH RESULTS
A total 4,132 records were identified, including 400 duplicates. Of the remaining 3,732 unique records for consideration in the review, 51 were ultimately included. Overall, most studies found increases in alcohol use as well as gender differences in alcohol use, with cisgender women experiencing the most serious consequences. The findings for transgender and nonbinary people were equivocal due to the dearth of research and because many studies aggregated across gender.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol use by cisgender women seems to have increased during the pandemic; however, sizable limitations need to be considered, particularly the low number of studies on alcohol use during the pandemic that analyzed gender differences. This is of concern as gender differences in alcohol use had been narrowing before the pandemic; and this review suggests the gap has narrowed even further. Cisgender women and transgender and nonbinary people have experienced sizable stressors during the pandemic; thus, understanding the health and health behavior impacts of these stressors is critical to preventing the worsening of problematic alcohol use.
Topics: Humans; Female; United States; Transgender Persons; Pandemics; COVID-19; Gender Identity; Transsexualism
PubMed: 38170029
DOI: 10.35946/arcr.v43.1.05 -
MSystems Oct 2023Microbiology conferences can be powerful places to build collaborations and exchange ideas, but for queer and transgender (trans) scientists, they can also become...
Microbiology conferences can be powerful places to build collaborations and exchange ideas, but for queer and transgender (trans) scientists, they can also become sources of alienation and isolation. Many conference organizers would like to create welcoming and inclusive events but feel ill-equipped to make this vision a reality, and a historical lack of representation of queer and trans folks in microbiology means we rarely occupy these key leadership roles ourselves. Looking more broadly, queer and trans scientists are systematically marginalized across scientific fields, leading to disparities in career outcomes, professional networks, and opportunities, as well as the loss of unique scientific perspectives at all levels. For queer and trans folks with multiple, intersecting, marginalized identities, these barriers often become even more severe. Here, we draw from our experiences as early-career microbiologists to provide concrete, practical advice to help conference organizers across research communities design inclusive, safe, and welcoming conferences, where queer and trans scientists can flourish.
Topics: Humans; Transgender Persons; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Gender Identity; Transsexualism
PubMed: 37800938
DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00433-23