The Cuckoo's Nest

I am doing a lot of searches for academic papers on autogynephilia, transsexualism, transvestitism and the like, in order to see if there is anything that can be of help.

Sometimes I come over the most amazing research.

I think the following abstracts could speak for themselves.

Still, just to make sure: The original papers were published in the seventies, at a time when the experts continued to believe that crossdressers could be treated with aversion therapy.

At the time these papers were written behaviorism was big in the US. One highly influential psychologist Burrhus Frederic Skinner held that since you could not (and should not) read the minds of people, you should only do research on displayed behavior.

He believed that all behavior was the result of reinforcement processes, stimuli and responses. Throughout your life your behavior was punished (negative reinforcement) or rewarded (positive reinforcement) by the environment, which led to specific behavioral patterns. The doctors used conditioning to encourage behavior they deemed good and productive.

Much of the theory was based on research on rats and pigeons. Behaviorism is an extreme example of how useful observations of some aspects of animal life, can be turned into a complete theory of life, love, art, and human values, killing our very humanity in the process.

Skinner followed the scientific methods of the day, and a majority of American psychiatrists and psychologist considered this kind of research as objective and sound as it could get. Based on that world view they went on to torturing their patients with various forms of aversion therapy, including the use of induced vomiting and electroshocks.

At the time nearly all of them were convinced that it could also be used to cure what they considered "sexual perversions", including homosexuality. For a while it seemed they were right. It turned out most of the "cured" gay patients were bisexual, however. Gay men were never "cured", as there was no disease to cure.

Crossdressers were asked to dress up and stand barefooted on a wire mat. A series of electric shocks were delivered to his/her feet, until the "patient" had removed all of the offensive clothing. Again, there therapy did not work, simply because the "transvestitism" was not the result of conditioning.

Anyone who believes that science always gives you the truth and nothing but the truth, should say 25 Ave Marias and go back to Start. There is no reason to believe that modern scientists are less caught up in their theories and prejudices than the scientists of the 1960s and 70s.

Penile plethysmography and biofeedback in the treatment of a transvestite-exhibitionist

Describes an innovative application of penile plethysmography and analog biofeedback procedures for the successful direct modification of chronic deviant sexual arousal.

The target of treatment was the compulsive transvestite-exhibitionistic sexual behavior of a 45-yr-old married male. Preliminary clinical interviews and laboratory assessment (baseline) sessions were followed by 12 treatment sessions while the patient was hospitalized in a psychiatric inpatient facility.

Sexual arousal was monitored during treatment by a mercury-in-rubber strain gauge. The patient's response to a videotape of the target behavior (transvestite-exhibitionist videotape) was gradually eliminated through the use of analog biofeedback procedures.

The posttreatment and 4 follow-up laboratory assessments provided direct evidence of lasting treatment effects. Assessment of appropriate heterosexual arousal revealed a consistent specific treatment effect not attributable to habituation or generalized suppression of sexual arousal.

After 2 yrs of apparently successful follow-up, the client's wife disclosed that he had resumed cross-dressing and exposure and had deliberately deceived the therapists during the greater part of the follow-up period. This is a dramatic example of the unreliability of self-report as a treatment-outcome measure.

Raymond C. Rosena and Steven A. Kopela

Rutgers Medical School, Coll of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Volume 45, Issue 5, October 1977, Pages 908-916

The experiment was a total failure. There is no reason to believe that crossdressing can be cured with aversion therapy.

And here is one from 1970:

Case conference: A transvestite fantasy treated by thought-stopping, covert sensitization and aversive shock

Abstract: The subject of this case conference is a 22-year-old college senior with a transvestite fantasy whose origin dated back to preschool days. It was successfully treated in six sessions using the behavioral techniques of thought-stopping, covert sensitization and aversive shock. Questions concerning goals, procedures, timing of approaches, and practical issues are discussed.

Louis GershmanVillanova University and Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, USAReceived 21 January 1970.

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Volume 1, Issue 2, June 1970, Pages 153-161

Another one from 1973 shows us how they regarded homosexuals.

Aversion therapy for sexual deviation: Contingent shock and covert sensitization

Studied 2 different aversion therapy approaches to the treatment of sexual deviation (e.g., homosexuality) in 6 clinical referrals.

Covert sensitization, which provides an imagined aversive event following imagined sexual behavior, was compared with contingent shock, which provides a physical aversive event following erection to slides depicting sexually deviant material. Replicated, counterbalanced within-S presentations of each technique were used.

Treatment effects were monitored by measurement of penile circumference changes during slides presented prior to treatment sessions, and by daily subjective recording of sexual urges and fantasies as well as masturbation and sexual acts. No clear difference was found between the treatments on the penile circumference measure.

On suppression of subjective measures of sexual arousal, however, covert sensitization appeared to be more effective than contingent shock. Follow-up of 4-18 mo. is reported for the individual cases. (37 ref.)

Edward J. Callahana and Harold LeitenbergaaCarmarillo State Hosp., Calif

Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Volume 81, Issue 1, February 1973, Pages 60-73

So who were the real perverts here: the crossdressers and the homosexuals or the doctors treating them?

Source: Science Direct

The image is from the movie A Clockwork Orange, which came out in 1971.

A survey of crossdressers

Image: Jude Law as crossdresser in Rage.

There is an overlap between this group and the crossdressers. Not all crossdreamers are crossdressers. But a lot of crossdressers get erotically turned by dressing up as a woman.

Knowing more about the crossdressers will help us get a better insight into erotic crossdreaming.

My online friend Colin has set up some tables based on an interesting survey of cross-dressers in 1992 compared to a similar sample from 1972. Some of the questions relate to gender identity. Colin suspects a lot of crossdressers fantasize about having a woman's body.

SURVEY OF 1032 CROSS-DRESSERS

Demographic, Childhood, and Family Variables: 1992 and 1972 data

Note the large number of married crossdressers, and the fact that most of them believe their fathers provided a good masculine image. They were not raised as crossdressers, if anyone suspects that.

TABLE I	(%)	(%)
Age	1992	1972
20-30	10	20
30-40	33	34
40-50	28	28
>50	29	18
Religion	1992	1972
Catholic	24	23
Protestant	38	57
Jewish	3	4
Agnostic/Athiest	10	13
Other	25	3
Education past BA	1992	1972
yes	65	63
Occupation	1992	1972
Unskilled	12	17
Skilled	16	21
Business	26	24
Arts	4	7
Technical	21	14
Professional	21	17
Marital Status	1992	1972
Married now	60	64
Separated, Divorced, widowed	23	14
Never married	17	22
--	--	--
Ever been married	83	78
Fathered children	69	74
Raised by both parents	76	82
Father provided good masculine image	76	72
Raised just as a boy	86	83

Sexual and Cross-dressing variables: 1992 and 1972 Data

The fact that most identify as heterosexual, should not come as a surprise. That as many as 29 percent some kind of homosexual experiences probably points to a desire to have sex as a woman.

72 percent report that crossdressing brings sexual excitement and orgasm occasionally to nearly always. It is fair to say that these probably are autogynephiliacs.

66 percent began cross-dressing before the age of 10. If most of these crossdressers truly are crossdreamers, this means that crossdreaming appears before puberty and is not the result of increased testosterone production in puberty.

A large majority of them believe that they express a different part of themselves when crossdressing, i.e. they believe they have an innate feminine side.

71 percent have crossdressed in public, although they do not necessarily do this often. Note that most of the respondents are members of crossdresser clubs. This may influence their tendency towards going out dressed as women.

Their wives are normally aware of their habit. Only a minority was told about it before marriage though, even if the number of crossdressers revealing their condition at an early stage is increasing. Their wives have mixed views about their men's crossdressing.

The authors draw attention to the "purges" of crossdressers:

"There appears to be pervasive guilt associated with transvestism, for we found three quarters of our subjects reported a purge of their feminine attire at some time in their history (75 vs. 69%). This is invariably described as a product of intense feelings of wrongdoing and shame."

TABLE II	(%)	(%)
Sexual Orientation	1992	1972
Heterosexual	87	89
Bisexual	7	9
Homosexual	1	1
Asexual	5	1
Some homosexual experiences	29	28
Sexual Interest in women	1992	1972
Above average	17	24
Average	57	62
Below average	26	14
Age began cross-dressing	1992	1972
Before age 10	66	54
Between 10 and 20	29	37
After age 20	5	8
View of self when cross-dressed	1992	1972
Express different part of myself	80	78
Just myself with different clothes	20	22
Cross-dressing brings sexual excitement and orgasm	1992	1972
Nearly always	21
Often	19
Occasionally	32
Rarely	12
Never	9
Enjoy feminine clothes when orgasm is not feasible	1992	1972
Frequently	41
Often	24
Occasionally	24
Rarely	8
Never	2
--	--	--
Prefer complete cross-dressing	93	85
Frequency of public cross-dressing	1992	1972
Frequently	14	8
Occasionally	48	23
Rarely	38	69
--	--	--
Have appeared cross-dressed in public	71
Activities while cross-dressed	1992	1972
Ride on bus, train, etc.	10
Eat in restaurants	28
Plays, lectures church	18
Tried on feminine clothes in stores	22
Used ladies' room	26
Seen by acquaintances who knew me	17
--	--	--
Experienced a "purge" of cross-dressing	75	69
Wife is aware of cross-dressing	83	80
Wife's acceptance or antagonism	1992	1972
Completely accepting	28	23
Mixed view	47	57
Completely antagonistic	19	20
--	--	--
Wife knew of your cross-dressing before marriage	32	27

Cross-gender Identity, Hormones, and Sexual Reassignment

Colin points to the fact that 60% of current cross-dressers prefer their masculine and feminine selves equally. This means that their gender identity is male and female.

The authors add:

"A marked change from 1972 data was seen when our subjects were asked whether they preferred their masculine selves, feminine selves, or both selves equally. Sixty percent of our sample preferred 'both selves equally,' compared to only 12% in 1972. This unusually great change may be a reflection of a theme strongly advocated in transvestite magazines and newsletters--that it is healthy and desirable to have an integration of the masculine and feminine components of one's personality. Personality integration, of course, is also a major objective in many forms of counseling and psychotherapy."

Only a minority consider themselves "women trapped in a man's body", although this percentage increased from 1972 to 1992. It is interesting to note that as many as 43 percent would like to use female hormones, although only 9 percent had done so.

Colin adds: "Also interesting is that 17% want a sex-change if money and partner were not a factor."

As many as 45 percent of the 1992 sample had sought counselling.

TABLE III	(%)	(%)
I feel myself to be a	1992	1972
Woman trapped in a man's body	17	12
Man with feminine side	74	69
Fetishist, favor women's clothing	9	12
Preferred gender identity	1992	1972
Masculine self	11	29
Feminine self	28	56
Equally	60	12
Female Hormones	1992	1972
Not interested in using	48	41
Would like to use	43	50
Using hormones now	4	5
Used hormones in the past	5	4
--	--	--
If I were single and financially able at the present time, I would have a sex change operation even now	17	14
Consulted psychologist or psychiatrist	45	24
Helped by counseling	67	47

An important research objective of the project was to identify variables discriminating between so-called "Nuclear" (stable, periodic cross-dressers) and "Marginal transvestites" (more transgendered or transsexually inclined).

The authors say:

"We divided the present sample into two groups using the following question: "I feel myself to be: (a) awoman trapped in a man's body (b) a man who has a feminine side that seeks expression occasionally (c) a man with a sexual fetish for feminine clothing."

"Group 1 was defined as the 747 cross-dressers who selected item (b); Group 2 was defined as the 172 cross-dressers who selected item (a). (...)

"No difference between Groups 1 and 2 were seen for the following variables: married now, ever married, fathered children, parents divorced, separated, or deceased, parents overprotective, parents discouraged rough-and-tumble play, hugged and stroked as child, sexually aroused by specific items of women's clothing, enjoy cross-dressing even when sexual release is not feasible, age of first cross-dressing, prefer complete cross-dressing, experienced a "purge" of cross-dressing, consulted psychologist concerning cross-dressing, and belong to cross-dressing, organization."

10 strongly discriminating parameters were found. The most important were, according to the authors: cross-gender identity, commitment to live entirely as a woman, taking steps toward body feminization, low sexual arousal to cross-dressing.

"Neither age nor experience as a cross-dresser were found to be correlates of cross-gender identity. Although the present generation of transvestites describe themselves much as did similar subjects 20 years ago, the percentage migrating toward full-time living as a woman is greater."

If you do crossdess, please feel free to add a comment on where you stand on this map, and the challenges you are facing!

Reference

Richard F. Docter , Virginia Prince: "Transvestism: a survey of 1032 cross-dressers."

The authors says this about the sample:

"Our subjects were 1032 self-defined periodic cross-dressers, all of whom were biological males, ranging in age from 20 to 80. This volunteer nonrandom sample was acquired from throughout the United States by announcements at transvestite club meetings, conventions of cross-dressers, and in magazines and newsletters for cross-dressers. Nearly all subjects received the self-responsive survey form at one of these events; a small percentage were mailed to individuals who volunteered to participate. An unknown number of survey forms were reproduced by support groups and distributed to interested members. Our best estimate of the overall response rate is that roughly 30 to 35% were completed and returned. The data were collected over a 2-year span ending in 1992. All participation was anonymous. ... Eighty percent said they were affiliated with either a cross-dressers' club or national organization."

UPDATE ON TERMINOLOGY

Since this blog post was written I have stopped using the terms "autogynephilia" and "autoandrophilia" to describe people. The reason for this is that the terms implicitly communicates an explanation for why some people get aroused by imagining themselves as the opposite sex . This explanation, that this is some kind of autoerotic paraphilia,  is both wrong and stigmatizing. Instead I use the neutral term "crossdreamers".


Click here for a discussion of the dark side of the autogynephilia theory.

See also our own Crossdreamer Gender Variance Survey of 2014!