Ray Blanchard’s “autogynephilia” theory states that lesbian trans women are men who are sexually attracted to their own inner female. The hypothesis is used actively by transphobes to invalidate trans women as “paraphiliacs” or sexual perverts. The fact is, however, that the theory has been thoroughly debunked by both trans people and science.
On this page, we give you a selection of articles and papers that gives you the history of Blanchard’s model of “transsexuality”, documentation on why it is misleading, information on how it hurts trans women and how it is used by transphobes today.
We also presents links to articles that covers J. Michael Bailey’s book on the topic: The Man who would be Queen.
We hope this resource page may be of help to trans and nonbinary people who reach for this theory when trying to explain their own sexuality and gender variance. The theory is based on 19th century concepts of sexuality and gender, so it feeds easily into internalized transphobia and homophobia among those who have been raised in a traditionalist culture.
From our network
All you need to know about “autogynephilia”
Trans woman: Am I a woman or is it just “autogynephilia”?
New Study Dismisses the Autogynephilia Approach to Transgender Experience
The Autogynephilia Theory Debunked by New German Study
Blanchard debunked: Surveys show that all kinds of people experience “autogynephilia”
What Dr. Zhana Vrangalova Taught Me About Transphobia in Science
What the sexual fantasies of non-transgender people tell us about the dreams of those who are trans
Gender variation, normalcy, “autogynephilia” and the culture war
Is there a cure for “autogynephilia”?
On evolution, autogynephilia and Anne Lawrence
Felix Conrad Unmasks the Autogynephilia Theory in New Book on Transgender People
Women’s Health Debunks Transphobic Autogynephilia Theory
Kourtney Kardashian on “Autogynephilia” in Non-transgender Women
On Charles Moser’s critique of Blanchard’s autogynephilia theory
Transgender people speaks
The important Contrapoints video on autogynephilia, by Natalie Wynn.
Julia Serano: Making Sense of Autogynephilia Debates
Lynn Conway: CAMH battles notorious reputation of Zucker’s and Blanchard’s gender clinics with scathing report
Madeline H. Wyndzen: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Autogynephilia but Were Afraid You had to Ask
Aella: Everyone Has Autogynephilia
Zinnia Jones: Alice Dreger, autogynephilia, and the misrepresentation of trans sexualities (Book review: Galileo’s Middle Finger)
Kelley Winters: The Infallible Derogatory Hypothesis
Beth Orens: Autogynephilia: A Mistaken Model
Sandra M. Lopes: The Ongoing War: Science vs. Community regarding Transexuality
Siobhan O’leary: Trans-antagonistic nonsense of many varieties.
Zagria: What is Autogynephilia?
Amethysta Herrick: The Autogynephilia Myth: Transphobia’s Favorite Lie (video)
Lisa Mullin: The Pseudo-Science of Autogynephilia
Anonymous: Female Sexuality and The Two-Type Theory: Why “Autogynephilia” Matters
Musicotic: Autogynephilia Myths Version 2.0
Life after Gonzales: Science and Ideology: The Blanchard-Bailey-Lawrence Model of Transsexuality
Joanna Santos: The Problem with Arousal
Julia Serano: Reconceptualizing “Autogynephilia” as Female/Feminine Embodiment Fantasies (FEFs)
Amelia Hansford: Five lies TERFs tell about the trans community – debunked
Julia Serano: The real “autogynephilia deniers”
Julia Serano: Autogynephilia, Ad Hoc Hypotheses, and Handwaving
Julia Serano: Autogynephilia and Anti-Transgender Activism
Julia Serano: “Autogynephilia” & psychological sexualization of MtF transgenderism (video)
On J. Michael Bailey’s book The Man Who Would Be Queen
Lynn Conway: An investigation into the publication ofJ. Michael Bailey’s book on transsexualism by the National Academies
Andrea James: American Psychological Association Division 44 vs. transgender people (on Bailey’s book)
Julia Serano: Psychology, Sexualization and Trans-Invalidations
Joan Roughgarden: The Bailey Affair: Psychology Perverted
Deidree McCloskey: A data-bending psychologist confirms what he already knew about gays and transsexuals.
Imogen Binnie: The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism
Science papers and articles
Julia Serano and Jaimie Veale: Autogynephilia Is a Flawed Framework for Understanding Female Embodiment Fantasies: A Response to Bailey and Hsu (2022)
Silly Ol You: Cherrypicking The Transgender Brain
Talia Mae Bettcher: When Selves Have Sex: What the Phenomenology of
Trans Sexuality Can Teach About Sexual Orientation
Julia Serano: Autogynephilia: A scientific review, feminist analysis, and alternative embodiment fantasies’ mode
Charles Moser: Autogynephilia in Women
Jaimie Veale: Love of oneself as a woman : an investigation into the sexuality of transsexual and other women
Jaimie Veale: Evidence Against a Typology: A Taxometric Analysis of the
Sexuality of Male-to-Female Transsexuals
Larry Nuttbrock et al: A Further Assessment of Blanchard’s Typology of Homosexual Versus Non-Homosexual or Autogynephilic Gender Dysphoria
Larry Nuttbrock et al: The Limitations of Blanchard’s Typology: A Response to Lawrence (2010)
Jelena S. Laube, Matthias K Auer, Sarah Biedermann, Johanna Schröder: “Sexual Behavior, Desire, and Psychosexual Experience in Gynephilic and Androphilic Trans Women: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Study.”
Roi Jacobson and Daphna Joel: “An Exploration of the Relations Between Self‐Reported Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in an Online Sample of Cisgender Individuals,”
Other transgender topic reviews
The Transphobic Olympic Travesty, the Imane Khelif Story (Resources)
What do we know about transgender regret? Here are the facts.
Critical discussions about the NHS Cass Review and its effect on transgender youth
