Autogynephilia & Autogynepoliteia

Autogynephilia (pronounced aw-toh-gi-ni-fil-ee-uh)

The paraphilic tendency of someone anatomically male to be sexually aroused by the thought of instead being female.  The shortened form in psychiatry is AGP.

1989: The construct is auto + gyne + phila.  Auto is from the Ancient αὐτός (autos) (self).  Gyne is from the Ancient Greek γυνή (gunḗ) (woman); doublet of queen.  Philia is from the Ancient Greek φιλία (philía) (fraternal) (love).

Gender Identity Disorder and the DSM

The word autogynephilia was coined by US psychologist Dr Ray Blanchard (b 1945) as a component of his research into transsexualism typology.  Autogynephiliacs he categorized as those men who are sexually aroused at the idea of having a female body, a subset of those erotically aroused by cross-gender behaviors and fantasies within the general condition of gender dysphoria.  Blanchard listed four types of autogynephilic, noting (shifting degrees of) co-occurrence in studied cases was common.

(1) Transvestic autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of wearing typically feminine clothing.

(2) Behavioral autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of doing something regarded as feminine.

(3) Physiologic autogynephilia: arousal to fantasies of body functions specific to people regarded as female

(4) Anatomic autogynephilia: arousal to the fantasy of having a normative woman's body, or parts of one.

He noted that for historic reasons related both to visibility and traditional categories of psychatric illness, transvestic-fetishistism has long tended to be the most publically identified type but that the more inherently private anatomic autogynephilia type is actually is more associated with gender dysphoria and may be more prevalent.  Not only that but within that group, there were those exhibiting partial autogynephilia, being sexually aroused by the image or idea of having some but not all normative female anatomy while simultaneously retaining all their male physiology.

Just about any publishing of research in this field means walking an academic minefield but autogynephilia attracted more interest than most papers.  One theme was the reaction to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) including autogynephilia in the supporting text of Gender Identity Disorder diagnosis in the revised fourth edition (2000) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). 

Twenty years earlier, in DSM-III (1980), the APA had, after a bit of tinkering in 1973, (almost) removed the diagnostic category of homosexuality because the “…crucial issue in determining whether or not homosexuality per se should be regarded as a mental disorder is not the etiology of the condition, but its consequences and the definition of mental disorder.”  That had been an extraordinary shift, not only in the DSM’s thirty-odd year practice but also in the traditions of western psychiatry, essentially a change in diagnostic policy toward the consequence of a condition rather than speculation of its cause.  That within a generation the APA would appear to discard this principle disappointed many.

In DSM-5 (2013), autogynephilia was included as one of the propensities of those with transvestic disorder (listed as a paraphilic disorder), characterized by the sexual excitement individuals experience when they cross-dress or think about cross-dressing, noting fantasies which accompany autogynephilia can focus on (1) the idea of having female physiological functions (2), engaging in stereotypical feminine behavior or (3), having, in whole or in part, female anatomy.  Reflecting changes in other conditions, in DSM-5, changes were made also to the diagnostic criteria.

Autogynepoliteia (pronounced aw-toh-gi-ni-poh-light-e-uh)

The adoption by a man of female identity for purposes of political advantage.

2021: The construct is auto + gyne + politeia.  Auto is from the Ancient αὐτός (autos) (self).  Gyne is from the Ancient Greek γυνή (gunḗ) (woman); doublet of queen.  Politeia (πολιτεία) is from Ancient Greek, a word used in Greek political thought, especially that of Plato and Aristotle.  It's from polis (city-state) and has a variety of meanings including "rights of citizens" to a "form of government".  The construct autogynepoliteia was created to mean “man who adopts a female identity for political advantage”.  The more fastidious Hellenic scholars might be appalled but it rolls off the tongue.

Australian Senator Eric Abetz (b 1958; senator for Tasmania (Liberal) since 1994) since first gaining pre-selection in 1993, always enjoyed the number one position on the Liberal Party ticket, the slot guaranteeing election to the upper house for a six-year term.  Unfortunately, he no longer has the numbers and on 8 May 2021 it was announced that for up-coming election, had been dropped to third place, re-election still possible but with prospects substantially diminished.  The senator soon sniffed out the skullduggery behind his demotion and it included sexism.  Noting that one of those who had usurped the desirable first and second spots was a woman, the senator declared “I can’t do anything about my sex”.  There may be also some resentment felt by the senator because he has (through the rumor-mongering of his enemies) gained a reputation as a conservative and even a reactionary.  He says that's unfair, pointing out that in the 1980s when he established his legal practice, it was the first in the city of Hobart to feature color as part of the letterhead.       

Depiction of a possible Senator Erica Betts in knee-length dress (part-number 4003105) @ US$68.88 and stiletto pumps with clutch purse (digitally altered image).

He shouldn’t have been so pessimistic, there being no reason why he couldn't have re-invented himself as Senator Erica Betts and re-contested the pre-selection through the party’s appeal processes and, after thirty odd years in the Tasmanian Liberal Party machine, surely he must have had dirt files on many of those with a vote.  While it’s (probably) still accepted orthodox science that sex can’t be changed in the biological sense, sex changes for legal and administrative purposes are hardly novel.  These things are called legal fictions and mean documents like passports, licenses and Liberal Party pre-selection papers can reflect something changed in law irrespective of biological reality.  If that seems too onerous, gender shifting is now possible and need not even be permanent, Senator Erica Betts having to exist only for pre-selection and election campaign purposes although, because that might have been thought cynical, the identity would probably have to have been maintained for the whole term.  For additional electoral advantage, he/she/they could have campaigned as a trans-rights activist because, as he pointed out when dissecting the scandal of being dumped, there was no criticism of his “…work ethic, energy, capacity, advocacy skills…” and the trans-community would have responded: “Give us leadership, Erica!” they would have cried out, “Give us some leadership!”.

Autogynepoliteia thus describes the condition sought (rather than suffered) by someone anatomically male to be instead thought female, for purposes of political advantage.  It adds to the politics of gender what is already noted in race politics.  The political right now uses the labels race-shifters (US), pretendarians (Canada) and box tickers (Australia) to describe the practice of people self-identifying as being of Indigenous or First Nations descent for one purpose or another.  Linguistically, what would make it unusually effective is the phonetic assimilation between Eric Abetz and Erica Betts.  Phonetic assimilation describes a sound-change where some phonemes (more typically consonants) shift to become more similar to other nearby sounds.  A common phonological process across languages, assimilation can occur within a word or between words.  Although often heard in normal speech, the frequency increases as delivery becomes more rapid.  Interestingly, assimilation can cause the spoken sound to differ from the accepted correct pronunciation or, to become the accepted form, the latter often making the list of canonical or received speech.

Pamphlet from Senator Abetz's "below the line" voting campaign for the 2022 Australian general election.  Senator Abetz seems now to feel "below the line" is no longer "below the belt".

It's not known if Senator Abetz seriously considered the trans option but a recent mail-drop campaign confirms he's instead running a "vote below the line" campaign, despite having previously denounced such tactics as "destabilising" (ie when used by someone else).  When Aged Care Services Minister, the hapless Richard Colbeck (b 1958; Senator (Liberal) for Tasmania 2002-2016 & since 2018) dropped to fifth on 2016 party ticket, resulting in him losing his seat, Senator Abetz was critical of a grassroots campaign supporting a “below the line” vote.  "The destabilising, below-the-line campaign (run by Senator Colbeck’s supporters) undermined the team message of stability", he said in a letter to Senate pre-selectors after the election.  His views have clearly changed and he does have the advantage of below the line campaigns being unusually effective in Tasmania because (1) the Hare Clark electoral system used in state elections, where it's possible to pick and choose candidates for the same party, means voters are well versed in the concept and (2) the small population size which means he'll need to attract comparatively few first below the line votes to secure election.  Tasmanians actually like to vote below the line and do so at about four times the frequency of voters in other states, even when there’s no concerted campaign to attract their pencil and in the 2016 poll Labor's Lisa Singh (b 1972; Senator (ALP) for Tasmania 2011 to 2019) actually gained re-election from sixth place on the basis of such votes.  That was a double-dissolution election and the quota for a seat was thus lower but she nevertheless became the first candidate elected on below-the-line votes since the system was introduced in 1984.  Because of the math however, it's going to be harder for Senator Abetz and it does appear he also holds the (doubtlessly unwanted) record as the Tasmanian senator who has in the past attracted the greatest number of last places from those who vote below the line.  His "Put Eric First" campaign may also be up against a not formerly organized but at least percolating "Put Eric Last" movement.  

His campaign is anyway different than those he's run before.  His signage, of which there seems to be much, includes only his name and the now expected 3WS (three word slogan): That he “puts Tasmania first”.  There's no mention of him being a candidate for the Liberal Party but whether an attempt to declare quasi-independent status can succeed for someone who has represented the Liberal Party for twenty-eight years and, sometimes as a cabinet minister and leader of the government in the Senate, sat through the Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Rudd, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison eras seems improbable.  Still, it's a strategy, even if one less likely to succeed than running as trans activist Senator Erica Betts but anyone familiar with the senator's long history will not underestimate his tenacity and understand there'll be no bowing out gracefully.