Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Transsexuals' Sexual Stories

  • Articles
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

When viewed through a popular cultural lens, male-to-female transsexuals' sexual biographies can appear to indicate male transvestitism, heterosexuality, or homosexuality rather than transsexuality. How do transsexuals subvert such implications and construct transsexual identities? Drawing on K. Plummer's (1995) approach to sexual stories, we examine how nine male-to-female transsexuals construct their sexual pasts to accomplish what sociologists call “identity work.” Interviewees used gendered sexual scripts, cultural discourse on the biological basis of male sexual arousal, and a discourse of therapeutic individualism to narratively defetishize autoerotic crossdressing, queer straight sex, refashion transvestic sex, and straighten out gay sex.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alison, L., Santtila, P., Sandnabba, N. K., & Nordling, M. (2001). Sadomasochistically oriented behavior: Diversity in practice and meaning. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30, 1–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.

  • Bailey, J. M. (2003). The man who would be queen. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, J. M., & Zucker, K. J. (1995). Childhood sex-typed behavior and sexual orientation: A conceptual analysis and quantitative review. Developmental Psychology, 31, 43–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker, M. (2005). This is my partner, and this is my partner's partner: Constructing a polyamorous identity in a monogamous world. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 18, 75–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellah, R. N., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1985). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. (1989). The classification and labeling of nonhomosexual gender dysphorias. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 18, 315–334.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. (1991). Clinical observations and systematic studies of autogynephilia. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 17, 235–251.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. (1992). Nonmonotonic relation of autogynephilia and heterosexual attraction. Journal of Abnonmal Psychology, 101, 271–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. (1993a). Partial versus complete autogynephilia and gender dysphoria. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 19, 301–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. (1993b). Varieties of autogynephilia and their relationship to gender dysphoria. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 22, 241–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolin, A. (1988). In search of eve: Transsexual rites of passage. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callero, P. L. (2003). The sociology of the self. Annual Review of Sociology, 29, 115–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley, S. L., & Broad, K. L. (2004). “Be your (real lesbian) self”: Mobilizing sexual formula stories through personal (and political) storytelling. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 33, 39–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daskalos, C. T. (1998). Changes in the sexual orientation of six heterosexual male-to-female transsexuals. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 27, 605–614.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeLamater, J. D., & Hyde, J. S. (1998). Essentialism vs. social constructionism in the study of human sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 35, 10–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • D'Emilio, J. (1998). The making of a homosexual minority in the United States, 1940–1970: Sexual politics, sexual communities (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  • DiMaggio, G., Salvatore, G., Azzara, C., & Catania, D. (2003). Rewriting self-narratives: The therapeutic process. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 16, 155–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. L. (2001). Innocence lost: Accomplishing victimization in intimate stalking cases. Symbolic Interaction, 24, 285–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekins, R. (1997). Male femaling: A grounded theory approach to cross-dressing and sex-changing. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feinbloom, D. H. (1976). Transvestites and transsexuals. New York: Delta.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, K. O. (2004). Transmitting ideals: Constructing self and moral discourse on loveline. Symbolic Interaction, 27, 247–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fields, J. (2001). Normal queers: Straight parents respond to their children's “coming out.” Symbolic Interaction, 24, 165–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freund, K., & Blanchard, R. (1993). Erotic target location errors in male gender dysphorics, paedophiles, and fetishists. British Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 558–563.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gagne, P., & Tewksbury, R. (1998). Conformity pressures and gender resistance among transgendered individuals. Social Problems, 45, 81–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagne, P., Tewksbury, R., & McGaughey, D. (1997). Coming out and crossing over: Identity formation and proclamation in a transgender community. Gender and Society, 11, 478–508.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, J. H., & Simon, W. (1973). Sexual conduct: The social sources of human sexuality. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamson, J. (1997). Messages of exclusion: Gender, movements, and symbolic boundaries. Gender and Societ, 11, 178–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamson, J. (1998). Freaks talk back: Tabloid talk shows and sexual nonconformity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K. J., & Gergen, M. M. (1983). Narratives of the self. In T. R. Sarbin & K. E. Scheibe (Eds.), Studies in social identity (pp. 254–273). New York: Praeger.

  • Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadden, S., & Lester, M. (1978). Talking identity: The production of “self” in interaction. Human Studies, 1, 331–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holden, D. (1997). “On equal ground”: Sustaining virtue among volunteers in a homeless shelter. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 26, 117–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, J. A. (2000). Social psychology of identities. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 367–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. A., & Benford, R. (1994). Identity talk in the peace and justice movement. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 22, 488–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iannotta, J., & Kane, M. J. (2002). Sexual stories as resistance narratives in women's sports: Reconceptualizing identity performance. Sociology of Sport Journal, 19, 347–369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irvine, L. (2000). “Even better than the real thing”: Narratives of the self in codependency. Qualitative Sociology, 23, 9–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvinen, M. (2001). Accounting for trouble: Identity negotiations in qualitative interviews with alcoholics. Symbolic Interaction, 24, 263–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kando, T. (1973). Sex change. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitzinger, C. (1987). The social construction of lesbianism. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langdridge, D., & Butt, T. (2005). The erotic construction of power exchange. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 18, 65–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, A. A. (1998). Men trapped in men's bodies: An introduction to the concept of autogynephilia. Transgender Tapestry, 92, 65–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, A. A. (2004). Autogynephilia: A paraphilic model of gender identity disorder. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, 8, 69–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. H. (1984). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lombardo, A. P. (2004). Anatomy of fear: Mead's theory of the past and the experience of the HIV/AIDS “worried well.” Symbolic Interaction, 27, 531–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loseke, D. R., & Cavendish, J. C. (2001). Producing institutional selves: Rhetorically constructing the dignity of sexually marginalized Catholics. Social Psychology Quarterly, 64, 347–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinson, F. M. (1973). Infant and child sexuality: A sociological perspective. Saint Peter, MN: The Book Mark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason-Schrock, D. (1996). Transsexuals' narrative construction of the “true self.” Social Psychology Quarterly, 59, 176–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, G. H. (1934). The social psychology of George Herbert Mead. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mutchler, M. G. (2000). Young gay men's stories in the states: Scripts, sex, and safety in the time of AIDS. Sexualities, 3, 31–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nack, A. (2000). Damaged goods: Women managing the stigma of STDs. Deviant Behavior, 21, 95–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namaste, V. K. (2000). Invisible lives: The erasure of transsexual and transgendered people. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelan, M. P., & Hunt, S. A. (1998). Prison gang members' tattoos as identity work: The visual communication of moral careers. Symbolic Interaction, 21, 277–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plummer, K. (1995). Telling sexual stories: Power, change, and social worlds. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polkinghorne, D. E. (1988). Narrative knowing and the human sciences. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponticelli, C. M. (1999). Crafting stories of sexual identity reconstruction. Social Psychology Quarterly, 62, 157–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, D., & Weinberg, M. S. (1984). Premarital coitus: Developing and establishing sexual scripts. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 129–138.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, H. (2003). Self-made men: Identity and embodiment among transsexual men. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarbin, T. R. (1997). On the futility of psychiatric diagnostic manuals (DSMs) and the return of personal agency. Applied and Preventative Psychology, 6, 233–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrock, D., Holden, D., & Reid, L. (2004). Creating emotional resonance: Interpersonal emotion work and motivational framing in a transgender community. Social Problems, 51, 61–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schrock, D., Reid, L., & Boyd, E. (2005). Transsexuals' embodiment of womanhood. Gender and Society, 19, 317–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwalbe, M. L. (1996). Unlocking the iron cage: The men's movement, gender politics, and American culture. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwalbe, M. L., & Mason-Schrock, D. (1996). Identity work as group process. Advances in Group Processes, 13, 113–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1986). Sexual scripts: Permanence and change. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 15, 97–120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, D. A., & Anderson, L. (1987). Identity work among the homeless: The verbal construction and avowal of personal identities. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 1336–1371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storrs, D. (1999). Whiteness as stigma: Essentialist identity work by mixed-race women. Symbolic Interaction, 22, 187–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweeney, B. (2004). Trans-ending women's rights: The politics of trans-inclusion in the age of gender. Womens Studies International Forum, 27, 75–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiefer, L. (1995). Sex is not a natural act and other essays. Boulder, CO: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, J. (1986). Sexuality. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolkomir, M. (2001). Wrestling with the angels of meaning: The revisionist ideological work of gay and ex-gay Christian men. Symbolic Interaction, 24, 407–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolkomir, M. (2004). “Giving it up to God”: Negotiating femininity in support groups for wives of ex-gay Christian men. Gender and Society, 18, 735–755.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, K., & Saver, J. L. (2001). The neurology of narrative. Sub-Stance, 94–95, 72–84.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

    Douglas P. Schrock Ph.D. & Lori L. Reid Ph.D.

  2. Department of Sociology, Florida State University, 526 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-2270

    Douglas P. Schrock Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Douglas P. Schrock Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lori L. Reid Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas P. Schrock Ph.D..

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schrock, D.P., Reid, L.L. Transsexuals' Sexual Stories. Arch Sex Behav 35, 75–86 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-8996-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-8996-8

KEY WORDS

Search

Navigation