Bay Area Reporter :: Transmission: It’s just clothes

I recently came across the following post on Twitter.

“Trans men dress autogynephilic men-to-women like women they want to have sex with, and trans homosexual men dress like women they think men would like to have sex with. There are exceptions, but these are general guidelines for trans fashion choices. “

Now, in 2021, I can hardly claim that random text tweets are much more newsworthy, not after years of former President Donald J. Trump using the service as a bully pulpit, and many more using the service to share their experiences. worst take.

But it becomes relevant when one notes that these are the words of Ray Blanchard, Ph.D., who in the 1980s joined the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. Opened in 1966, it became known as the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. It is one of the few places to provide care for transgender people in Canada. However, many call the institute a gatekeeper organization, more dedicated to turning away transgender people – if not trying reparative therapy on them – than actually helping people.

According to the Toronto Star, between 1969 and 1984, the Clarke Institute rejected 90% of those seeking trans-related treatment.

Blanchard is also a large part of the CAMH Child and Family Gender Identity Clinic, or GIC.

In 2015, following an investigation by CAMH, the GIC was closed, with a CAMH review citing reparative therapy, ill-treatment of trans and other adolescents, outdated methods, and other problems with the program. However, this has not stopped Blanchard from touting her own opinion about transgender people.

As the tweet above shows, Blanchard is still clinging to the model he formed decades ago, claiming there are two subgroups of trans people: “homosexual transsexuals” who are gay men who have a fetishistic attraction to heterosexual men, which they can only express by transitioning to women, and “autogynephilic transsexuals” who are people who have a fetish to feminize themselves.

To her, being trans is a kind of paraphilia (defined as a condition characterized by abnormal sexual desire), and has little or nothing to do with identity. This view, of course, goes against the majority of people’s understanding of transgender — including transgender people themselves. Autogynephilia, for example, has been largely discredited.

However, it seemed to Blanchard that anyone outside of this category he had created was lying.

You’ll notice that Blanchard’s tweets delve into that attitude, reiterating his two categories, as well as the assumption that transgender people are entirely driven by sexual attraction, whether it’s self-creating as an image of their sexual desire, or shaping one’s appearance after what they think men want for a sexual partner. .

There’s little room for anything beyond this, other than the musing that, apparently, there are “exceptions”.

It should now be noted that, although he was a largely discredited figure following the closure of GIC, this did not stop him from embracing his faith or stopping his influence in anti-trans circles. This is the kind of thing that helps push the idea of ​​trans predators, and is cited in an attempt to pathology and ban transgender people.

Back in my early days on the internet, I often had to fend off guys who would ask me what I was wearing. This is a fairly common experience for any woman online and perhaps even more so in the trance space, driven by men who may have fetishes for a trans body.

For once, I’m really going to answer that question.

Right now, I’m wearing a long-sleeved plus fabric T-shirt, in red, and denim jeans. I bought a nice pair of black socks from a retailer in Portland. It’s loose and slouchy, but warm. It’s a bit windy at the moment. Yes, there’s a cotton cami and some panties under all that, too, but it’s a far cry from the Victoria’s Secret fare I guess Blanchard would have hoped for.

This is not a very sexy outfit. It’s warm. It’s convenient. Also, yes, it is this woman’s clothes. I don’t wear it to attract a partner, nor do I wear it because I find this basic outfit something that excites me too. They’re just… clothes.

There are a few other things I think of when I see Blanchard’s tweet, beyond the influence this disgraceful sexologist has.

For one thing, he implies that the desire to wear clothes that appeal to people you might be interested in, or to wear clothes that you think makes you look attractive, is a perverse desire. I’m not speaking for transgender people here, but it seems anyone who has chosen to wear an outfit they find attractive is on a date.

Second, and perhaps more damning, is that it all feels about two steps removed from the argument that someone “deserves” sexual assault for what they’re wearing. Indeed, in another tweet from Blanchard, she has made the argument that transgender people want to be “shame bitches” as a source of affirmation.

This is not someone whose views on transgender people should be taken as seriously as they are. It seems as though he has come up with some strange ideas about what a trans person is, and has chosen to stick to that belief for decades, rather than pondering that it really might be him wrong.

That he was given even half the influence was annoying. He should be given the same gravitas as most cranks who spend their days raving about on Twitter.

Gwen Smith would never make the cover of Vogue magazine. You’ll find it in www.gwensmith.com

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