“Remarkably, over 60% of female-to-male transsexuals (sic*) reported phantom penises.” claims this study. 

Personally, this does not surprise me. I’ll be the first to admit, that as a trans man, even though I do not possess a biological penis, that I know very clearly what having a penis would feel like and always have.

The phenomenon of phantom limb post amputation is very well documented, but the idea of a phantom appendage that has never actually existed on a person’s body has not been widely studied.

So I speak here only of my own personal experience of my own phantom penis and how it relates to the Joystick.

To start with, try this little experiment. Find a small twig, and holding one end between your thumb and index finger, run the other end over a variety of surfaces, exploring the sensations you feel in your fingertips as you run the twig over a wooden surface, a glass surface, a concrete surface, a pillow, a sofa, whatever surfaces you find in your immediate vicinity.

You will find that even bling folded, the amount of sensory feedback your brain is receiving on the nature of the surface, just from the subtle vibrations traveling through the twig, will allow you to determine quite accurately what kind of surface/texture you are probing.

This is fairly analogous to the experience of having the Joystick attached to my body. I think in large part because my brain is wired to feel like I should have a penis, when I’m wearing it, the sensitivity it provides me, far exceeds what one might expect from a prosthetic device. I can very clearly FEEL the inside of my partner. Add to this the visual of seeing a very life-like penis actually attached to my body as well as being able to see myself ejaculate when I cum, and my bottom dysphoria all but disappears. This is the only prosthetic with which I have been able to achieve this level of connection, which I attribute in part to its realism but mostly to the vibrating base (which I always keep on the lowest setting) that somehow allows for real feedback to travel from the shaft to my erogenous zone. The Joystick really does become a very real extension of my body.

And so it is that the Joystick has brought my phantom penis to life in a way that I could not have imagined. Thank you Transthetics for allowing me to feel complete in my body and mind.

-Axel

This is part of a series of anonymous, personal Transthetics short stories. If you have a story you’d like to share in around 500-1000 words, email it to transthetics@gmail.com. If your story is published, you’ll receive a $150 voucher towards any Transthetics product. The story should reference Transthetics and/or one of its products in some way, shape or form.

*I appreciate that for a variety of reasons this term can be seen as controversial, but for the sake of accurately quoting the study, I have left the quote as is.