Who are gynandromorphophilic men? Characterizing men with sexual interest in transgender women

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 819-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Hsu ◽  
A. M. Rosenthal ◽  
D. I. Miller ◽  
J. M. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Sexual Attraction ◽  
Sexual Interest ◽  
Transgender Women ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Homosexual Men ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Erotic Stimuli ◽  
Subjective Sexual Arousal

BackgroundGynandromorphophilia (GAMP) is sexual interest in gynandromorphs (GAMs; colloquially, shemales). GAMs possess a combination of male and female physical characteristics. Thus, GAMP presents a challenge to conventional understandings of sexual orientation as sexual attraction to the male v. female form. Speculation about GAMP men has included the ideas that they are homosexual, heterosexual, or especially, bisexual.MethodWe compared genital and subjective sexual arousal patterns of GAMP men with those of heterosexual and homosexual men. We also compared these groups on their self-ratings of sexual orientation and sexual interests.ResultsGAMP men had arousal patterns similar to those of heterosexual men and different from those of homosexual men. However, compared to heterosexual men, GAMP men were relatively more aroused by GAM erotic stimuli than by female erotic stimuli. GAMP men also scored higher than both heterosexual and homosexual men on a measure of autogynephilia.ConclusionsResults provide clear evidence that GAMP men are not homosexual. They also indicate that GAMP men are especially likely to eroticize the idea of being a woman.

scholarly journals Gender dysphoria and sexual euphoria - A Bayesian perspective on the influence of gender-affirming hormone therapy on sexual arousal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Klöbl ◽  
Murray Bruce Reed ◽  
Patricia Handschuh ◽  
Ulrike Kaufmann ◽  
Melisande Elisabeth Konadu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Hormone Therapy ◽  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Erotic Stimuli ◽  
Trans Men ◽  
Subjective Sexual Arousal ◽  
In Trans ◽  
Trans Women ◽  
In Cis

While the concept of sexual orientation is more clearly defined in cisgender, this is less so in transgender individuals. Both experienced gender and sex hormones have a relation to sexual preferences, arousal in response to erotic stimuli, and thus sexual orientation. In transgender individuals sexual orientation occasionally changes before or during transition, which may involve gender-affirming hormone therapy. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated whether the neuronal and behavioral patterns of sexual arousal in transgender individuals moved from the given (before) to their chosen gender after 4.5 months of hormone therapy. To this aim, trans women and men as well as age-matched cisgender controls rated visual stimuli showing heterosexual, lesbian or gay intercourse for subjective sexual arousal. Utilizing a Bayesian framework allowed us to incorporate behavioral findings in cisgender individuals of different sexual orientations. The hypothesized changes in response patterns could indeed be observed in the behavioral responses to the single but not the differentiation between stimulus categories with the strongest results for trans men and lesbian scenes. Activation of the ventral striatum supported our hypothesis only for lesbian scenes in trans women. This prominent role of lesbian stimuli might be explained by their differential responses in cis women and men. We show that correlates of sexual arousal in transgender individuals might change in direction of the chosen gender. Future investigations longer into transition might resolve the discrepancy on behavioral and neuronal levels.

Openness to Sexuality as a Predictor of Gender Non-Specificity of Visual Sexual Interest in Heterosexual Women

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Persall
Keyword(s):  
Gender Difference ◽  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Sexual Attitudes ◽  
Sexual Interest ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Tracking Data ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Heterosexual Women ◽  
Sexual Arousability

Past research has indicated that there is a gender difference in regards to sexual arousal; such that heterosexual men typically show a pattern of gender-specificity, whereas women show a pattern of gender non-specificity. Although this is a robust finding, there is little research examining the predictors of this finding. The current study uses eye-tracking data (i.e., gaze time to male and female images) to examine the effect of openness to sexuality on visual sexual interest. Openness to sexuality is assessed using three factors: sexual attitudes, sexual desire, and sexual arousability. I predict that greater openness to sexuality (i.e., more positive sexual attitudes, greater sexual desire, and greater sexual arousability) is correlated with greater gender non-specificity of visual sexual interest.

Ready or Not: Exploring Sexual Arousal with Women who Report Sexual Arousal Difficulties

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Zadorozny
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Doppler Imaging ◽  
Erotic Stimuli ◽  
Heterosexual Women ◽  
Subjective Sexual Arousal ◽  
First Time ◽  
Subjective Arousal ◽  
Report Measure

The purpose of this study is to examine possible differences in genital and subjective components of sexual arousal between women with and without sexual arousal/desire difficulties (SADD). Previous research has focused on physiological differences with women who have SADD, in particular, genital response to erotic stimuli. The pattern of results in the literature indicates that women with SADD exhibit similar genital responses to controls (Meston, Rellini, & McCall, 2010), yet women with SADD typically report a decrease in intensity of genital sensation in sexual situations (Laan, van Driel, & van Lunsen, 2008; Giraldi, Rellini, Pfaus, & Laan, 2013), calling into question the method of measurement employed to assess genitalresponse. In the current study, genital and subjective arousal, along with genital-subjective agreement (i.e., sexual concordance), will be investigated to determine if there is a difference between women with SADD and controls. Participants will include 30 self-identified heterosexual women who will complete a validated self-report measure of sexual function and a session in which they rate their subjective sexual arousal while their genital blood flow is measured in response to various films. Laser Doppler Imaging will be used to measure genital blood flow for the first time in this population. This study could lead to a better understanding of sexual arousal in women with SADD, which will assist with diagnosis, as well as identify areas to focus on when trying to develop treatments for sexual dysfunction.

scholarly journals Kisspeptin Expression in the Human Infundibular Nucleus in Relation to Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

2016 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 2380-2389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Taziaux ◽  
Annemieke S. Staphorsius ◽  
Mohammad A. Ghatei ◽  
Stephen R. Bloom ◽  
Dick F. Swaab ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Sex Difference ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Outcome Measure ◽  
Sex Reversal ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Homosexual Men ◽  
Brain Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Male To Female

Abstract Context: Since the discovery of its central role in reproduction, our functional neuroanatomical knowledge of the hypothalamic kisspeptin system is predominantly based on animal studies. Although sex differences in kisspeptin expression have been shown in humans in adulthood, the developmental origin of this sex difference is unknown. Objectives: Our objectives were to determine the following: 1) when during development the sex difference in kisspeptin expression in the infundibular nucleus would emerge and 2) whether this sex difference is related to sexual orientation or transsexuality. Design and Setting: Postmortem hypothalamic tissues were collected by The Netherlands Brain Bank, and sections were stained for kisspeptin by immunohistochemistry. Patients: Hypothalami of 43 control subjects were categorized into three periods: infant/prepubertal (six girls, seven boys), adult (11 women, seven men), and elderly (six aged women, six aged men). Eight male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals, three HIV+ heterosexual men, and five HIV+ homosexual men were also analyzed. Main Outcome Measure: We estimated the total number of kisspeptin-immunoreactive neurons within the infundibular nucleus. Results: Quantitative analysis confirmed that the human infundibular kisspeptin system exhibits a female-dominant sex difference. The number of kisspeptin neurons is significantly greater in the infant/prepubertal and elderly periods compared with the adult period. Finally, in MTF transsexuals, but not homosexual men, a female-typical kisspeptin expression was observed. Conclusions: These findings suggest that infundibular kisspeptin neurons are sensitive to circulating sex steroid hormones throughout life and that the sex reversal observed in MTF transsexuals might reflect, at least partially, an atypical brain sexual differentiation.

Testing the McBeath Hypothesis: Relation of Sexual Orientation and Belief in the Paranormal

1997 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 890-890
Author(s):  
Michael A. Thalbourne
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Homosexual Men ◽  
Australian Sheep

According to McBeath, the incidence of homosexuality among experients of paranormal phenomena exceeds that which would be expected by chance. Therefore, 50 homosexual men and 50 heterosexual men were administered the forced-choice version of the 18-item Australian Sheep-Goat Scale as a measure of belief in and alleged experience of the paranormal. As no differences were found in scores on belief/experience, there was no evidence for McBeath's hypothesis.

scholarly journals Sexual Orientation and Neuroanatomy: An MRI Study of Gray Matter Differences in Homosexual, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Women and Men

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Klimaj ◽  
Adam Safron ◽  
David Sylva ◽  
A.M. Rosenthal ◽  
Meng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Homosexual Men ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Heterosexual Women ◽  
Subcortical Volumes

In this study, we attempted to replicate past work focusing on differences in neuroanatomical structures between heterosexual and homosexual men and women. We also performed the first analyses of sexual orientation and neuroanatomy to include bisexual men and women. Sex differences in raw subcortical volumes were consistent with past work and a broader literature on sex differences, showing larger raw subcortical volumes in male groups than female groups. However, we did not confirm past findings showing larger raw volumes in heterosexual than in homosexual men in the left thalamus or right thalamus. Additionally, we did not confirm past findings showing thicker cortices in heterosexual men than in homosexual men in visual/occipital areas (right cuneus, right lingual gyrus, right pericalcarine cortex) or a frontal area (right pars triangularis). Exploratory whole-brain analyses revealed several areas of difference between women that may be of interest for future confirmatory research. Bisexual women had smaller volumes in a region of the olfactory tubercule than heterosexual women as well as a thicker right anterior insula region than homosexual women. Homosexual women had smaller volumes in regions of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) than both heterosexual women and bisexual women. The functional relevance of these brain areas in terms of understanding female sexual orientation is unclear. However, based on these areas, future work may wish to consider the potential social, emotional, attentional, interoceptive, or general reward-related characteristics that may differentiate women with different attraction patterns. In contrast to previous work, no differences were found between groups of men (heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual) in any of our analyses. Finally, in terms of whole-brain analyses of sex differences, heterosexual women had both thicker cortices and larger (relative to the whole brain) gray matter volume than heterosexual men in the superior frontal gyrus, in contrast to large-scale studies of sex difference. Although statistically significant at a stringent threshold (FWE-corrected), our whole-brain findings should be interpreted and generalized with caution. The heterogeneity of patterns across analyses of sexual orientation and brain structure (and even across studies of sex/gender and brain structure) suggests that findings may potentially depend upon particular sample characteristics, and potentially Type 1 error due to the testing of many different brain areas.

Formation of homosexual orientation of men in adolescence

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grażyna Katra
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Homosexual Men ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Homosexual Orientation ◽  
Personal Attitudes ◽  
Interview Questionnaire

Abstract The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of homosexual men connected with the formation of their sexual orientation in adolescence. A comparative study of 27 young adult homosexual men and 28 heterosexual men of similar age used a categorised interview questionnaire consisting of two parts: the first with questions regarding sexual dreams, fantasies and erotic encounters; the second with questions on family and social circumstances. The study yielded an abundance of interesting data on the psychological circumstances of homosexual men during the formation of sexual orientation and its awareness as well as differences and similarities in that area between homosexual and heterosexual men. For instance, it revealed experience patterns concerning the formation of sexual identity and personal attitudes toward one’s sexual orientation characteristic of homosexual persons. The study verified the main hypothesis that mental-internal experiences precede behavioural-external ones both in homosexual and heterosexual persons.

Birth Order among Homosexual Men

2003 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Zucker ◽  
Ray Blanchard ◽  
Marvin Siegelman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Homosexual Men ◽  
Null Finding

Nicolosi and Byrd in 2002 summarized empirical research on birth order and sexual orientation in men, which research has documented that homosexual men have a later birth order than heterosexual men. They did not, however, note a more refined analysis of an earlier null finding by Siegelman. This 1998 reanalysis by Blanchard, Zucker, Siegelman, Dickey, and Klassen also confirmed the later birth order of homosexual men.

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