What it describes
Autogynephilia is a natal-male sexual orientation involving arousal to the thought, image or fantasy of oneself as female. It is inwardly directed gynephilia: the female self is the erotic target.
Read the framing essaySexual orientation / developmental expressions / evidence
Understanding Autogynephilia
Promoting education and positive awareness of autogynephilic sexual orientation, gender expression, identity, and dysphoria.
Research, clinical synthesis, and public first-person accounts for people with autogynephilia, their partners and families, clinicians, researchers, and others seeking an evidence-based account of the orientation and its developmental expressions.
People with Lived Experience of AGP
Submit a public profileSubmissions are reviewed before publication.
AGP in 60 seconds
Autogynephilia as a sexual orientation
Autogynephilia is the core sexual orientation. Gender expression, gender identity, partner interest, embodiment wishes, dysphoria, and transition are possible secondary expressions or outcomes.
How it can develop over time
In the autogynephilic pathway, the orientation generally precedes and can cause or contribute to female-embodiment desire, female identity, gender dysphoria and transition desire. Erotic and affectional reinforcement of the female self connects the orientation to these developments; identity or dysphoria does not create AGP.
What must not be collapsed
AGP is the underlying orientation; partner interest, gender expression, identity and dysphoria are distinct dimensions of its development. True/exclusive androphilia is the separate non-AGP natal-male pathway. Among autogynephilic people, the intensity and forms of expression vary.
Erotic target identity inversion theory
When the erotic target becomes part of the self.
Theoretical model · simplified derivative graphic
The model proposes that an attraction usually directed toward another person can, in a small subgroup of natal males, also be experienced as attraction to being or becoming that erotic target.
01 Target outside the self
External sexual attraction
Attention and arousal are directed toward the desired erotic target.
- Focus during sexual fantasy
- Focus during masturbation
- Choice of pornography
02 Target imagined as self
Internalized sexual attraction
Arousal includes imagining oneself as, or imitating, the erotic target.
- Fantasy of being the erotic target
- Imitating the erotic target
03 Self becomes part of target
Erotic target identity inversion
The erotic target is internally represented in relation to the self.
- Imitating the erotic target
- Wishing to be the erotic target
- Desire to become the erotic target
- Discomfort or distress in the male role or body
Most common form predicted by this framework
Outward-directed attraction Gynephilia Attraction to women
→Internally directed form Autogynephilia Attraction to oneself as female
Because gynephilia is the most common outward-directed attraction among natal males, the model predicts autogynephilia to be the most common erotic target identity inversion.
This is a population-level prediction about relative frequency. It does not mean that gynephilia ordinarily becomes autogynephilia.“This theory predicts that, for every class of sexual object, there will be small subgroups of men who develop fetishes for clothing associated with the desired object, who develop the erotic fantasy of being the desired object, and who develop the sustained wish to transform their own bodies into facsimiles of the desired object”
Quoted verbatim; the source’s terminology reflects its publication period.
Core conceptual position
Autogynephilia is the core sexual orientation and underlying neurological disposition in this developmental model. Gender identities, relationship patterns, gender expressions, embodiment wishes, and clinical outcomes are secondary elaborations shaped over time by interacting biological, psychological, interpersonal, and social factors.
Private self-profile for adult natal males
What does your autogynephilia profile look like?
Complete the published 22-item General Autogynephilia Scale and see your overall score and five subscales beside descriptive values from the original study.
- Five short steps
- Visual bars and accessible data table
- No answers saved or submitted
Not a diagnosis: results describe your answers and compare them with two specific research samples. They do not determine identity, dysphoria, treatment, or transition decisions.
One core sexual orientation, varied developmental expressions
A shared underlying disposition can develop into different sexual, relational, and gender-related patterns.
These profiles show how the same core orientation can develop into different configurations of partner interest, gender expression, gender identity, embodiment, dysphoria, and transition. An autogynephilic bisexual cisgender man and a fully medically transitioned autogynephilic transgender woman can share the orientation without having the same identity, body, relationship pattern, or clinical experience. Biopsychosocial factors shape these configurations; they are not stages or a hierarchy.
Example profile
Identify as cisgender men
A cisgender man may cross-dress, express femininity, or develop autogynephilic bisexuality, in which interest in male partners is secondary to arousal to being a woman. Gender dysphoria may be minimal or absent.
Example profile
Develop nonbinary or other self-descriptions
Some integrate reinforced female or feminine self-states into nonbinary, gender-fluid, femme, femboy, sissy, cross-dresser, or other self-descriptions.
Example profile
Identify as transgender women
Some develop persistent, clinically significant discomfort or distress in the male role or body and identify as transgender women; social and medical transition may follow.
Orientationthe core autogynephilic pattern of attraction or arousal
Identitya secondary self-concept that can develop differently over time
Dysphoriadiscomfort or distress in the male role or body that occurs in some individuals
Faces & voices
Public first-person accounts from self-identified autogynephilic people.
These accounts document different identities, relationship patterns, gender expressions, embodiment choices, and experiences of dysphoria. They are individual first-person accounts, not prevalence evidence.
First-person lived experience
More first-person conversations Show 10 more voices
Personal video
Curious
Reasonable Thoughts On Autogynephilia— Curious
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
Taftaj
Thoughtful About Transition— Taftaj
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
Sasha Fem Reznov
Pursuing Femaleness— Sasha Fem Reznov
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
Ashley Adamson
Crossdressing Autogynephilia or NO? | MtF Transgender LGBTQIA+
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
Surge Doll
Autogynephilia The Truth
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
Zack M. Davis
Autogynephilia: The Truth
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
First-person account
Autogynephilia, crossdressing, transgender
Watch on YouTube ↗First-person conversation
Ray Williams
Transgender Commentary with Ray Williams
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
Hunter Ash
The Truth of Being Male — Hunter Ash
Watch on YouTube ↗Personal video
First-person account
Autogynephilia - My Story
Watch on YouTube ↗Expert and research conversations
Long-form discussions of evidence and clinical practice.
These conversations are separated from first-person accounts so their role is clear.
Expert interview
Dr James Morandini
Episode 8 - Destigmatizing Autogynephilia with Dr. James Morandini
Watch on YouTube ↗Clinical conversation
Dr Anne Lawrence and Dr James Morandini
Dr. Anne Lawrence interviews Dr. Morandini: AGP Orientation & Gender Dysphoria, a Clinical Overview
Watch on YouTube ↗Research interview
Dr Michael Bailey
The Science of Autogynephilia | Deep Dive Interview with Dr. Michael Bailey
Watch on YouTube ↗
Research interview
Dr Kevin Hsu
The ABCs of AGP with Dr. Kevin Hsu
Watch on YouTube ↗Written voices and books
Books, essays, and public writing
These sources are labelled as clinical synthesis, first-person framework, lived-experience commentary, or peer-reviewed empirical research; they are not treated as equivalent forms of evidence.
Clinical synthesis + first-person narratives
Dr Anne Lawrence
Men Trapped in Men's Bodies
Explore the book ↗First-person frameworkPhil Illy
Autoheterosexual
Visit the book site ↗Lived-experience commentaryKay Brown
Autogynephilia in pseudo-androphilic men
Read the public article ↗Peer-reviewed empirical companionMorandini, Hsu & Rudd
Autogynephilia in Some Bisexual Cisgender Men
Open the published paper ↗Public community posts can be added when a stable permalink and approved display title are available; use short, respectful context rather than screenshots or long extracts.
Curated Zotero collection
The public research index is generated only from the "Autogynephilia Library" Zotero collection.
Collection key CM3C379Y. Items outside this collection are excluded. The current snapshot contains 71 collection items represented as 70 deduplicated bibliographic records.
71items in selected collection
70deduplicated records shown
55journal-article records shown
64records with substantive indexed PDF text
1972-2025chronological span
Publication density by decadeRecord count, not evidence quality
Selected milestonesSelected records from collection CM3C379Y
- 1972
Prince & BentlerSurvey of 504 Cases of Transvestism reported questionnaire findings from male cross-dressers and identified limitations including sample selection and the absence of a control group.
- 1985
Blanchard administered androphilia and gynephilia scales to 163 male-to-female transsexual patients and compared sexual-orientation clusters.
- 1989
Blanchard introduced autogynephilia and tested its relationship to nonhomosexual male gender dysphoria in a clinical sample.
- 1997
Docter & Prince reported questionnaire data from 1,032 cross-dressers.
- 2016/17
Hsu, Rosenthal, Miller & Bailey found that AGP-recruited male cross-dressers showed a distinct sexual arousal pattern that was neither homosexual nor identical to the control pattern.
- 2022-25
Bailey, Hsu, Morandini and colleagues tested female comparison claims, measurement and AGP in bisexual cisgender men.
All 70 deduplicated records, oldest first
Search the selected Zotero collection.
Search by title, author, decade, source format and lawful access. Source-format labels do not by themselves establish empirical design, peer review, or evidential weight.
The evidence, card by card
Selected studies of measurement, prevalence, comparison groups, arousal patterns, and proposed correlates.
Each card states what was studied, the main finding, and the boundary of what the source can establish.
How Autogynephilic Are Natal Females?
Bailey & Hsu / Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Finding
- Across multiple samples, women assigned female at birth scored similarly to non-AGP men - and far below autogynephilic male groups - on the original Core Autogynephilia Scale.
- Boundary
- The comparison concerns Core Autogynephilia Scale responses. Similar-looking endorsement in natal females does not establish the natal-male inwardly directed gynephilic mechanism.
Autogynephilia in Some Bisexual Cisgender Men
Morandini, Hsu & Rudd / Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Finding
- In 254 Prolific-recruited bisexual cis men, 35% met the study's Core AGP cutoff, with convergent differences in cross-dressing, gender nonconformity, dysphoria and orientation uncertainty.
- Boundary
- The 35% figure describes this recruited sample, not all bisexual men.
Sexual Arousal Patterns of Autogynephilic Male Cross-Dressers
Hsu, Rosenthal, Miller & Bailey / Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Finding
- In a small laboratory sample, genital and subjective responses resembled heterosexual and trans-attracted men much more than homosexual men.
- Boundary
- The stimuli tested outwardly directed arousal; they were not an objective measure of inwardly focused AGP itself.
Mental Health, Relationships and Gender Dysphoria
Hsu, Morandini & Rudd / Clinical Psychological Science
- Finding
- Cross-dressing and transfeminine online-community samples scored modestly higher on AQ-10 autistic traits than cis male controls.
- Boundary
- This was a group association in screening scores - not autism diagnoses, causation, or a direct test of AGP classification.
Sex Dimorphism of the Brain in Male-to-Female Transsexuals
Savic & Arver / Cerebral Cortex
- Finding
- In 24 untreated gynephilic trans women, the measured sexually dimorphic MRI structures did not differ from heterosexual male controls; other self/body-processing regions did.
- Boundary
- AGP was not measured. Linking gynephilia to AGP is a typology-based inference, not a direct result of this study.
Possible Neurobiological Underpinnings of Homosexuality and Gender Dysphoria
Manzouri & Savic / Cerebral Cortex
- Finding
- Reduced or reversed sex dimorphism tracked sexual orientation more than gender dysphoria, while trans groups showed distinct self/body-network features after accounting for orientation.
- Boundary
- Small post-hoc subgroups and no direct AGP measure rule out global "male brain/female brain" conclusions.
New MRI Studies Support the Blanchard Typology
Cantor / Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Interpretation
- Cantor read the Savic-Arver and Rametti studies as consistent with distinct neuroanatomical patterns by sexual orientation.
- Boundary
- This is a two-page interpretation of other studies - not an independent MRI investigation.
Autogynephilia in Women
Moser / Journal of Homosexuality
- Finding
- In 29 hospital-employed women using an adapted scale, many endorsed some erotic self-focus; a smaller group met a stricter frequent/multiple-item definition.
- Boundary
- The adapted scale measured AGP-like endorsement in natal women, not the natal-male erotic-target mechanism. It does not establish true AGP in women or reverse the causal direction from AGP to identity and dysphoria.
Preliminary research / not yet peer reviewed
AGP and self-reported autistic traits
A 2025 conference presentation by Hsu and Morandini reported a small association between AGP classification and elevated AQ-10 autistic-trait scores across targeted and Prolific samples. AQ-10 is a screening measure: these results do not diagnose autism or establish causation.
Published history and cross-cultural research
Autogynephilia in the historical and cross-cultural research record.
Lawrence’s published analyses found a greater proportion of nonandrophilic trans women in more individualistic societies, broadly corresponding to a Western–Eastern contrast. Within the typology examined, this is interpreted as greater representation of the autogynephilic pathway. The studies did not directly measure AGP prevalence in national populations.
Early accounts
Blanchard’s published historical review documents clinical descriptions, from the beginning of the twentieth century, of males aroused by imagining themselves as women. Earlier terminology centred on transvestism, although the described erotic interests extended beyond clothing to female anatomy and other aspects of being a woman.
Historical review: Blanchard (2005), Early History of the Concept of Autogynephilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 439–446.AGP defined
Blanchard introduced autogynephilia as a concept describing a male’s erotic arousal to the thought or image of himself as a woman. His paper placed this erotic interest within a typology of male gender dysphoria. The erotic interest and gender dysphoria are distinct constructs: the definition of AGP does not itself require distress or transition.
Concept and typology: Blanchard (1989), The Concept of Autogynephilia and the Typology of Male Gender Dysphoria. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 177, 616–623.National samples
Across 22 studies from 16 countries, Lawrence found a strong association between societal individualism and the proportion of nonandrophilic participants in transsexual or gender-dysphoric samples (r = .88). Such participants were generally more represented in Western samples than in several Eastern samples. This association does not establish that individualism causes AGP.
Cross-study analysis: Lawrence (2010), Societal Individualism Predicts Prevalence of Nonhomosexual Orientation in Male-to-Female Transsexualism. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 573–583. Read the paper (PDF).New data
In a published follow-up letter, Lawrence analysed seven additional samples and again found an association between societal individualism and the proportion of nonandrophilic trans women (r = .85). The finding supports a cross-cultural difference in the composition of the samples studied; it does not establish a universal division between Western and Eastern people.
Follow-up analysis, letter to the editor: Lawrence (2013), More Evidence that Societal Individualism Predicts Prevalence of Nonhomosexual Orientation in Male-to-Female Transsexualism. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 693–695. Read the letter (PDF).This section uses published sources. Historical clinical descriptions, sexual-orientation classifications and direct measurement of autogynephilia provide different kinds of evidence and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Explore the research library →Beyond the culture war
Political weaponisation and political denial both distort the scientific construct.
AGP is misrepresented when it is used to infer bad character or dangerousness, and when it is denied or redefined to avoid those hostile uses.
Turning a description into an accusation
Some gender-critical and socially conservative commentary uses AGP to infer bad character, deception, or dangerousness, or as a categorical argument against transition or access to female spaces.
Recent tabloid spectacle around alleged private cross-dressing shows the pattern. Cross-dressing does not establish AGP, and humiliation is not education.
What the scientific construct does—and does not—claim
AGP is an erotic orientation with explanatory relevance to female-self attachment, embodiment wishes, identity and dysphoria in the autogynephilic pathway. Those developmental effects are distinct from moral character or dangerousness.
- Describing the orientation is not a moral judgement.
- Group-level findings do not determine an individual outcome.
- Gender identity is a possible secondary elaboration, not the definition of AGP.
Responding to stigma by making the concept unsayable
Some trans-affirming commentary denies AGP, treats its terminology as illegitimate, or equates it with ordinary female sexuality. These positions obscure the distinct sexual orientation described in natal males and remove language used by people who recognise it in themselves.
Not every critic denies the underlying experience. Transgender Map, for example, now says its dispute concerns the term and interpretation. This site disagrees while describing that position accurately.
Read the supplied context
Lawrence: Autogynephilia as Thought Crime Dreger: a case history of the politics of science and identity Example of the terminology disputeEditorial rule: We criticise claims, not identities. We do not infer anyone's private sexuality from appearance, politics, cross-dressing or transgender status.
New specialist pathways
Youth, parent, and visual psychoeducation routes
Clear psychoeducation for young people and parents, plus source-labelled visual explainers drawn directly from the specialist materials on this site.
01 For young people Understand the feelings. Keep your options open. Objective, clinician-authored guidance on AGP, privacy, identity, dysphoria, social choices, and transition decisions. Open the young person's guide 02 For parents and caregivers Stay connected while thinking clearly. A compassionate, formulation-specific guide to reducing shame, supporting assessment, and making paced, informed decisions. Open the parent guide 
03 Visual guides Orientation, expression, identity, and dysphoria are distinct. Explore descriptive expression maps, proposed clinical pathways, and a clearly labelled testable brain hypothesis. Explore the visual guides
03 Visual guides Orientation, expression, identity, and dysphoria are distinct. Explore descriptive expression maps, proposed clinical pathways, and a clearly labelled testable brain hypothesis. Explore the visual guides Editorial boundary: descriptive material, clinical formulations, hypotheses, and empirical findings are labelled separately throughout.
Choose your starting point
Different readers need different levels of scientific and clinical detail.
Choose the section for autogynephilic people, partners and families, clinicians, or researchers.
I experience AGPOrientation, developmental expressions, and evidence+
Start with AGP as the core sexual orientation, then distinguish its possible secondary effects on partner interest, gender expression, embodiment wishes, gender identity, and dysphoria. First-person accounts illustrate different developmental outcomes; no single account defines the orientation.
Compare distinct developmental outcomes ->Partners & familiesSeparate the orientation from individual relationship questions+
AGP does not by itself determine identity, transition, fidelity, or the future of a relationship. Assess the individual’s partner-directed attraction, autogynephilic bisexuality, disclosure, dysphoria, transition goals, and relationship agreements.
Return to the core definition ->CliniciansFormulate orientation, expression, identity, and dysphoria separately+
Assess the core autogynephilic orientation and its developmental sequence: erotic and affectional attachment, female embodiment, identity and dysphoria. Characterise each dimension alongside partner interest, functioning and relationships. Establish the individual pathway through history and convergent evidence, not a label alone.
View clinical conversations sourceResearchers & educatorsMeasures, samples, inference and open questions+
Keep construct validity, recruitment source and comparison groups visible. Separate direct AGP measurement from typology-based inference and label commentary, preliminary results and lived experience for what they are.
Return to the evidence cards ->About the project
Specialist research, clinical synthesis, and psychoeducation.
The site collates peer-reviewed research, historical sources, clinical synthesis, clinician-authored psychoeducation, and public first-person accounts for autogynephilic people, partners and families, clinicians, and researchers.
Continue with the evidence
