[GoneGirl]

Dr. Harry Benjamin came up with a way of categorizing one's gender identity, and Dr. Alfred Kinsey came up with a way of categorizing one's sexual orientation. (Scientists love putting things in discrete boxes, don't they?)

Here's a page from the website genderpsychology.org (All Mixed Up) which combines both scales:

http://www.genderpsychology.org/transsex...in_gd.html

In the past I would have ranked myself on this scale as a Type 3, but since I began to explore my life-long suppressed female gender identity, and started an NBE program, I've moved closer, but not completely to a Type 4:

Type Four: Transsexual (Nonsurgical)
------------------------------------
Gender Feeling: Undecided. Wavering between TV and TS.
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Dresses as often as possible with insufficient relief of his gender discomfort. May live as a man or woman; sometimes alternating.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Libido often low. Asexual or auto-erotic. Could be bisexual. Could also be married and have children.
Kinsey Scale: 1-4
Conversion Operation: Attractive but not requested or attraction not admitted.
Estrogen Medication: Needed for comfort and emotional balance.
Psychotherapy: Only as guidance; otherwise refused or unsuccessful.
Remarks: Social life dependent upon circumstances.

Except, I'm Kinsey Scale 0 (Exclusively heterosexual with no homosexual experience), i.e., I'm a 'male lesbian' , and I'm not interested in SRS.

So, where do you girls fall within this spectrum of gender disorientation? Don't be shy!

CK

[SarahSchilling]

Kinsey's sexual orientation scale

2 Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual.

Some childhood trauma I'd rather not get into....

As for the GI, I'm mostly

Type Five: True Transsexual (moderate intensity)

Gender Feeling: Feminine (trapped in male body)
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Lives and works as woman if possible. Insufficient relief from dressing.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Libido low. Asexual auto-erotic, or passive homosexual activity. May have been married and have children.
Kinsey Scale: 4-6
Conversion Operation: Requested and usually indicated.
Estrogen Medication: Needed as substitute for or preliminary to operation.
Psychotherapy: Rejected. Useless as to cure. Permissive psychological guidance.
Remarks: Operation hoped for and worked for. Often attained

But add in a couple of things from Type 6....."fantasies in intercourse" and "despises male genitalia"

So..I guess I'm around a 5.3? LOL I'm not convinced these categories help people at all, though. Just did this for fun. It's no better than a horoscope imo.

CK...you don't have to worry about me being shy

[Karren]

Personally I have never liked forced ranking myself against any kind of standard or putting a label on myself.... just never felt the emotional need to...

[flamesabers]

I don't like this scale. I think it assumes that bio-males who experience gender dysphoria fall somewhere in a spectrum between transvestite on one extreme, with transsexual on the other. Probably the closest option that would describe me is number 4. However, I don't see my gender identity as wavering between the two extremes. I do use pm as a means of achieving mental comfort and emotional stability, however, I don't dress constantly for relief from sexual tension or gender dysphoria.

[AnnieBL]

I too have difficulty with this scale.

First and foremost, it seems in common with many other tests and scales associated with this subject to be unduly reliant on cross-dressing as a major factor. I may be unusual amongst those with gender variance, but I have never in the past been a cross-dresser apart from a minor and hastily abandoned experiment. Oddly, now that I see the possibility of some significant feminisation of my body, I might want to revisit it, but only with the feminisation as a prerequisite. My avatar represents my present view of myself were I to cross dress. So far as the other things associated with the various stages are concerned, their grouping seems out of line with my reality. The Kinsey scale I have less trouble with, but even then I feel that my preferences are probably more related to the other parties perceived gender than their biological sex. I would reckon to be a 1 on that scale, with homosexual experience mistaken rather than incidental.

[GoneGirl]

I don't like this scale.

I too have difficulty with this scale.

Yes, Flame and Annabel, this scale is far from perfect, but I still see it referenced, for lack of anything better. Maybe we should all take Karren's view and forget about trying to classify people.

Benjamin was an early advocate for gender dysphorics and set up the original Standards of Care (SOC) for the treatment and rehabilitation of transsexuals at John Hopkins Hospital. He published his work "The Transsexual Phenomenon" back in 1966 which included his Six-point scale. He did add the caveat that the categories overlapped allowing for variations seen in his patient population. Unfortunately, his scale was used as a yardstick to select which patients would be allowed to fully transition, that is, you had to be diagnosed as Type 5 or 6 to get permission to undergo HRT and be allowed SRS. Otherwise, I guess you were just a sexual pervert. Not good.

Practices have changed a lot since Benjamin's day. As I understand it, the latest "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5) no longer labels transgender people as "disordered". The diagnostic term "Gender Identity Disorder" has been replaced with "Gender Dysphoria", acknowledging that many transgender people are not dysphoric and require no treatment. Diagnostic criteria are stress based, not behavioral, and the determination of whether a patient should be permitted to transition is at the discretion of the therapist.

BTW, I did find it useful to place myself on the Benjamin scale when I was discussing my variant gender identity with my wife (along with provisos). Putting a box around something can be helpful sometimes.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm in error here, or add to it.

Thanks for your inputs Sarah, Karren, Flame, & Annabel.

CK