TW for mentions of transphobia, sexual harassment, arousal, and predatory individuals
The misunderstanding around autogynephilia and autoandrophilia, leading them to be used as transphobic talking points is automisia, paramisia, and transphobia.
What is autogynephilia and autoandrophilia?
Autogynephilia is paraphilic attraction towards either perception of oneself as traditionally feminine or attraction actively transitioning/displaying oneself as traditionally feminine.
Autoandrophilia is paraphilic attraction towards either perception of oneself as traditionally masculine or attraction actively transitioning/displaying oneself as traditionally masculine.
Why do I show two different sides of attraction?
It's just something I personally believe that autophilia is displayed in two main ways, self perception and action.
Example: One autogynephile feels arousal when imagining oneself as feminine, they don't feel a need to express femineity to gain said arousal, another autogynephile feels arousal when actively expressing feminine, wearing fem clothing, fem makeup, going by fem terms. I believe this applies to other autophilias, and there could be many more ways that it's expressed beyond those two boxes, attraction is complex and has a lot of nuance.
What's the misunderstanding around autogynephilia and autoandrophilia?
Transphobic groups such as TERFs often use autogynephilia to paint trans women as predators, stating that autogynephiles display feminine to go into women's bathrooms to sexually harass women.
There are so many misconceptions in that belief.
Most trans women are NOT autogynephiles, nor to most autogynephiles claim to be trans women, if someone happens to be both, who cares, they're still trans, and they very likely aren't planning to harass women.
Very rarely do autogynephiles go to public restrooms displaying feminine for the sake of arousal, MOST people know the safest place to engage with paraphilia in the context of arousal is at home in privacy with someone they trust.
Autogynephilia and autoandrophilia relate to ones own self, nowhere within either paraphilia is attraction derived from another body, auto means self. An autogynephile, if they publicly go into a women's bathroom for the purpose of arousal, that arousal won't be focused on another woman, only themself.
The claim that trans women and autogynephiles go into women's restrooms to harass cis women takes attention away from the actual people harassing women, that being predatory individuals, who don't care about a gender sign.
@thisisparamisia feel free to correct any information you deem fit
