Tag: Kathleen Stock
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My autogynephilia story
We are fuelling the fantasies of impressionable children
Autogynephilia — literally “to love oneself as a woman” — is controversial stuff. Men are not supposed to fancy themselves; at least they weren’t when I grew up in the Eighties. Back then, the idea that any of us might be “sexually aroused by the thought or image of our self as a girl” was unthinkable.
Kathleen Stock recently suggested in UnHerd that autogynephilia (AGP) was a motive for “some but not all within the male trans demographic” to immerse themselves in the fiction of changing sex. Ray Blanchard, the sexologist who coined the terminology, went further. Last year, he told me that “in the Western Hemisphere and English-speaking Commonwealth countries, the overwhelming majority of adult natal males presenting with gender dysphoria are of the autogynephilic type”.
Are we reversing out of the scientific enlightenment? The frenzied scenes from Sussex University this week suggest that we might be. This should worry everyone. When a professor of philosophy is hounded by a mob for supposedly having the wrong opinions, the age of reason is in danger.
What is a witch? How do we spot witches? And how might we drum up the courage to talk to a witch? Cambridge Students’ Union Women’s Campaign has the answers.
I am grateful to both The Economist and my fellow contributors for shedding light on such a controversial debate. The apparent clash between trans rights and women’s rights has created a storm but, in this feature, calm voices on both sides of the discussion are working towards solutions where everyone can feel secure, valued and respected for who we are.
Debbie Hayton 