"But, would you consider, and to what degree, that a person... That was satisfied most of his life to be a man, and wanting boobs, and a feminine shape and cross-dress..... Would that be under the umbrella of GID and what have ya??"
Hi, IaBoy,
I think that that would fall under GID in some ways. The concerns are likely related to being feminine, which seems to be something most "normal" men don't want. Below, I had a more detailed explanation of what I think are the mechanics, but proceed at your own risk. ;-)
Also, "normal" only exists in the books. Even before the explosion of "mental illness."
We're not abnormal, really, but we can DO something about the differences we want to achieve.
I think AGP is just a model used to describe it, and I also have thoughts on that below, if you want the details. ;-)
("Below the fold")
I'm probably an outsider here because I don't think AGP is an issue.
At least, not the issue it's being made out to be.
AGP was a theory from an outsider on what seemed to be happening. Meant to classify a population, so as to facilitate an appropriate treatment.
It went off the rails because it has a faulty premise. Bad premise = bad conclusion. The mechanism described seems accurate, though.
As an example: If you're aroused by women, and want to be one, are you a lesbian? Is a post-op MTF attracted to women a Lesbian? Or a heterosexual male? (Actually Hetero male, if we look at it one way: Sex of participants. But if we look at the gender identity, instead of biological sex? Lesbian. So... What happens when we address women with AIS, then? Or Kleinefelter's? Etc. No model's going to work 100% anyway. But now you know my bias, so can account for it.)
I think a woman would be very aroused in sex by the feelings and sensations of her body. I'd think that includes looking down and seeing her lover penetrate her. Which view includes seeing her breasts, belly, etc; and her lover's parts, as well. Making it a "full picture" sensation, as opposed to the more male "Thrusting" point of sensations.
So, AGP is probably mis-used by those outsiders looking in, but they don't have anything better. After all, we're about as close as you can get to knowing both sexes, in a lot of ways.
We are born Transgendered. (MTF, let's say.)
So, we perceive the world from a feminine view (per MRIs of TG brains, showing that the brain more closely matches the target sex than the birth sex. Sex used to refer to genetics, as opposed to gender identity or expression.)
But we're basically beaten down routinely, as that's a masculine routine. Must be tough, must be aggressive, must be strong, independent... Which in this context, are basically things girls (I.E., our mental sex) are NOT, and we respond very badly. If you were to raise a girl the same way - you'd be arrested for child abuse.
So we are abused mentally, in essence, by people who don't mean to hurt us.
In simple terms, if you wire a circuit, and then put the power source in backwards - what happens? (Raise your hand if you remember the smell of ozone... ;-) )
As adults, we have SIGNIFICANT issues, really - we've just learned to deal. The psychological scars are still there. We can still smell the ozone...
Johns Hopkins' Dr. Paul R. McHugh claims that
Quote:transgenderism is a “mental disorder” that merits treatment, that sex change is “biologically impossible,” and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.
(
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/mich...sex-change)
I think we can agree that a sex change at the chromosomal or DNA level is impossible. I don't think we argue that. I think we might have disagreements on whether it's a mental disorder, but we also recognize that what IS out of order and more easily "corrected" is the body.
Think of it like changing your computer program from Windows to a Mac. You need to review the code, buy the new machine (with the new OS installed, mind), and then recompile, go through a few checks, bug fixes, etc, and then MIGHT be able to run the recompiled code....
So if PC = male, and Mac = female.... We're looking at massive program changes. But you can make a PC LOOK like a Mac for a lower cost, and a lot less work... Just replace the outside case.
And the "Mac" will love what "she" (chromosomes are 46 (X,Y) still) sees in the mirror... But she hasn't actually become a MAC, she just looks like one.
It's the best solution to a bad situation, and it doesn't address the other problems. Which is the same as what Dr. Maxwell Maltz found in his practice about... 45 years ago, I think it was. PsychoCybernetics was born from his notes, and it addresses the self-image.
For us, if we see "woman" as "Beautiful," and we want to BE beautiful, our mind sees it as, "Must be woman to be beautiful." That's essentially hard-wired into our brain (MRIs show this, which partially disproves the Johns Hopkins doctor above.) We're trying to fit our biological programming...
AGP doesn't change any of that, I think. It's not much different from a woman wearing pants to ride a bike or horse. It just makes sense. Dresses are far less practical for that.
The arousal seems like it would be normal....
"I'm here, with him (her), looking down at my beautiful body, and my lover's beautiful body, and it's SO... HOT...."
From a manly point of view, I always got turned on looking at my lovers... I got turned on MORE thinking of myself as female with them, but that's the "AGP," right?
Or is it just that the issue of self-identity (per Maltz) is then fully expressed, and since we do NOT have that "block", things flow better?
I've seen some advice, for instance, in Ann Landers, where a woman wrote asking help to tell her son how to NOT be gay. Ann Landers' response was to actually tell the mother to try prove the attraction was a choice, by having the mother be attracted to women for a week. Once that was successful, she wrote, THEN the mother could explain to her son how to NOT be gay.
Basically pointing out, you're attracted to who or what you're attracted to... Kind of hard to CHOOSE to be attracted to the opposite. Tell a submissive to be a Dom, it's going to go poorly. Try to Top a Dom, it's a hell of a job, if it can even be done.
Sorry I got so far off topic.
-Jean