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Wednesday, September 06, 2006
A matter of sex change
By Zosimo T. Literatus, R.M.T.
Breakthroughs
“When Eve ate this particular apple,” wrote D. H. Lawrence in his book Fantasia of the Unconscious, “she became aware of her own womanhood, mentally. And mentally she began to experiment with it.
She has been experimenting ever since. So has man: To the rage and horror of both of them.” Male-to-female transsexual surgery has been one of those experimentations that proved technically successful. But the question remains: Has the change made a difference in sexual arousal?
A recent study, led by Meredith L Chivers, answered, “No.” Transsexuals show the same pattern of arousal as males. Chivers is a director at the Clinical Sexology Services of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).
The study involved 69 men, 53 women, and 11 transsexuals. Transsexual genital arousal was assessed via change in the tightening of blood vessels in the neovagina as a result of sexual response. Subjective arousal was assessed through self-report.
Neovagina is the created transsexual sex organ, which consists of a lined opening within the perineum. The lining is usually constructed from a flap of the penile skin.
Results, published in the Journal of American Psychological Society (2004), show that transsexuals follow the same category-specific pattern of arousal in men who have stronger genital arousal to the preferred sex than to their nonpreferred sex (but this time men-men sex acts). Subjective arousal was weaker among transsexuals than among men.
“The biological or social factors that cause some transsexuals to be the most feminine of males,” Chivers observed, “do not affect the male-typical pattern of sexual arousal.”
A new hybrid group has come: People with female sex organs and the sexual drive of men. Transsexuals are in league with controversial accomplishments in 20th century medicine, such as artificial insemination, organ transplantation, test tube baby, and transgenic organisms.
“Imagination and fiction,” wrote Simone Weil in his essay Gravity and Grace, “make up more than three quarters of our real life.” The challenge is how to distinguish reality from fiction and create a balance of both. Without it, mental, and in effect physical, health would be a nightmare instead of an exciting dream. (For comments and suggestions, email to ztliteratus6046@lycos.com or text to 0927-979-3519.)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 6, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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