Sexual Dimorphism in the Psychology of Female Transsexuals

This report presents data on components of gender identity in six female transsexuals. They scored very low on femininity and fairly high on masculinity of the Guilford-Zimmerman M-F scale. In childhood they had no girlish interests. They were tomboys and prone to fight, usually with boys. Sensory and perceptual erotic arousal thresholds in adulthood conformed more to those of the female than the male, but the imagery of arousal and erotic performance was masculine. There was no fetishistic dependence on clothing for erotic arousal. The six patients were at various stages of hormonal and surgical reassignment treatment. Five were living as males. A universal presenting symptom was hatred of the breasts. There was no evidence suggestive of phantom breast or womb in those who had received mastectomy and/or hysterectomy. Parental feeling toward infants and children, insofar as it could be estimated, was fatherly rather than motherly. None of the patients wanted anything to do with pregnancy and motherhood.