Scientist who specialize in sex and sexuality tested a sample of
men using a device that measures the reaction of a mans privates to various
visual stimuli. Men who are attracted
to transgender women were not turned on by porn featuring two gay men, but they
were turned on by porn featuring women only, and three kinds of “shemale” porn
(“Man on Shemale”, “Shemale on Female”, and “Shemale on Shemale”). So a man who likes transgender women (people
born essentially biologically male who are sociologically more like women) does
not have to be “at least” bisexual, or really gay but hiding it, or any such
thing. What studies like this hi-lite
is the sparse vocabulary most of us have in the USA. Words for people who are into anything other than
straight, heteronormative relationships but are not gay exist. Most people don’t use them. The reason for this is a deep need in US
culture to have everything follow a nice neat binary classification. (Consider our "two party system".)
In their study Hsu et al (K. J. Hsu 2015) recruited men in
search of NSA sexual activity off various websites (such as Craig’s list). They had to fill out a questionnaire about
their sexual identities and histories as well as a psychological screening was
done. Then using an electronic strain
gauge changes in the circumference of their penises were measured. They were shown porn featuring the groups
mentioned earlier. There were 21 gay
men, 21 straight men, and 21 men who are attracted to transwomen. (The term they use for people attracted to
transwomen is gynandromorphophilic or a
GAMP. A gynandromorph GAM is a biological male who through various
means is feminized.) Small sample size
means this study can only be suggestive but not conclusive. This was the result.
1
Reactions of gay men, straight men, and trans-attracted men to various erotic
stimuli.
The data of figure 1 show that in clear objective terms the
reactions of the selected homosexual men were very different from the
heterosexual men or the GAMP’s. Men who
are attracted to transwomen are MUCH closer to heterosexual men in their
anatomical response.
Societal
Implications.
For all transgender people on of the big life problems is
finding a mate. This is not easy for
anyone as the proliferation of dating services, matchmakers, etc shows. However, for transgender people this is extra
challenging since we bring up issues of sexual identity for whoever finds us
attractive. Straight men and women
fear that liking a transwoman or transman makes them gay or lesbian. Lesbians and gay men fear that liking a
transwoman or transman might mean they are straight… and every possible combination. Very
often transgender women and transgender
men (people born basically biologically female who are sociologically more like
men) face this stigma in their personal lives.
Since a picture is worth 1000 words I have come up with a
combination flow chart and Venn diagram showing all the interrelationships I
can think of. Like any map of a place,
no finite number of elements can perfectly capture all the relief and details
of the real world. Certainly I have
missed something.
2 Click
for a larger version The images were taken from a similar
chart made regarding Thailand which inspired this one. I also took care to
include people who are intersex. The
idea of variations in biological male and femaleness is also coded in the two
blue and pink boxes. Relationships indicated by big solid gold arrows indicate
those which US culture finds most acceptable. They are what most people here
think of as “straight” in some form due to reproductive potential. (Pew Research 2013). According to the research a het man attracted
to a transwoman is more like a straight man than a gay man. Notice how heteronormativity is baked into
even homosexual relationships.
As figure 2 shows, in the United States of America we like
heteronormative relationships which will produce children much more than all
others. So you can find Christian conservatives
who would be against gay marriage but OK with marriage of a transwoman to a
transman, or a gender queer male to a gender queer female, or between bisexuals
of the opposite biological sex. All
other pairings, ones that can’t produce children without outside medical help
are the ones that are taboo or gay by that standard. The conservative Christian
standard is by no means universal in the United States of America but it does
predominate. Very often those who will
say they don’t judge others apply that standard to their own personal associations. A sort of “not in my back yard” effect where
in theory they are ok with LGBTQQAI etc. people as long as they are at arm’s
length. Yet, it has been my personal
observation that relationships with a potential for procreation no matter the
lifestyle and gender identities involved get a pass.
TL:DR; If you are
a man or woman attracted to transgender men and women it does not undermine or change your core identity as straight or
lesbian or gay. Liking a transgender man
or woman or someone genderqueer just means that you can find attractive one
more very small group of people.
FYI: On figure two I would be in the area where transgender woman and genderqueer male overlap. Somewhere between David Bowie and Caroline Cossey.
Reference(s)
K. J. Hsu, Rosenthal A. M., Miller D. I., Bailey J. M.
2015. "Who are gynandromorphophilic men? Characterizing men with sexual
interest in transgender women." Psychological Medicine.
doi:10.1017/S0033291715002317.
Pew Research. 2013. A Survey of LGBT Americans.
Accessed November 10, 2015.
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/06/13/a-survey-of-lgbt-americans/.
