The aim to delegitimize gynephilic transsexuals had been centered on one thing: their experiencing of cross gender arousal. The problem was that no one understood the phenomenon but the mere fact that it occurred played right into the hands of those ready to pounce on repressed baby boomer guilt. These poor people had grown up with no understanding of their condition and instead experienced a great deal of confusion hence the ease in making them feel shame and guilt.
For the record, up until now no one has written anything that conclusively explains how the arousal originates but what Ray Blanchard did was dead simple: postulate that the arousal itself is what causes a desire to transition and make that the backbone of a theory that says that the misdirected sex drive towards the self is what causes someone to desire to be a woman. It’s a nice idea except it lacked proof and many poor transwomen fell into the trap. Some, like Anne Lawrence, even made it their life calling.
One of the most striking and sad elements about the whole thing was the malevolence coming out of the Blanchard and eventually Bailey camps whereby there was no attempt to understand but instead ridicule and label. As much as Harry Benjamin had been compassionate towards his patients, the opposite was true here where there was deliberate and clearly visible ill will. This is very telling and runs counter to the thirst for scientific knowledge which is supposed to be devoid of such bias.
In truth, we are nowhere near understanding what causes transvestism or transsexualism, but it isn’t too hard to counter with the idea that they are a manifestation of a gender identity beginning its formulation in the womb which, partly or fully, does not match up with birth sex. That this misconnection could create incongruencies like cross gender arousal where a female sexuality is trying to be expressed could be a consequence of that. If the sexuality is still being formed and there is a mismatch, one could see the great confusion that this could cause a young adolescent; present company included.
For the record, up until now no one has written anything that conclusively explains how the arousal originates but what Ray Blanchard did was dead simple: postulate that the arousal itself is what causes a desire to transition and make that the backbone of a theory that says that the misdirected sex drive towards the self is what causes someone to desire to be a woman. It’s a nice idea except it lacked proof and many poor transwomen fell into the trap. Some, like Anne Lawrence, even made it their life calling.
One of the most striking and sad elements about the whole thing was the malevolence coming out of the Blanchard and eventually Bailey camps whereby there was no attempt to understand but instead ridicule and label. As much as Harry Benjamin had been compassionate towards his patients, the opposite was true here where there was deliberate and clearly visible ill will. This is very telling and runs counter to the thirst for scientific knowledge which is supposed to be devoid of such bias.
In truth, we are nowhere near understanding what causes transvestism or transsexualism, but it isn’t too hard to counter with the idea that they are a manifestation of a gender identity beginning its formulation in the womb which, partly or fully, does not match up with birth sex. That this misconnection could create incongruencies like cross gender arousal where a female sexuality is trying to be expressed could be a consequence of that. If the sexuality is still being formed and there is a mismatch, one could see the great confusion that this could cause a young adolescent; present company included.
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