“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, 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
The term “transsexual” is widely rejected in the trans community. It is a term related to people who have undergone surgery in order to change the appearance of their genitals. The term’s use is rejected because it essentially creates confusion in the binary community by making it appear that transgender identified people only have “mental” issues with their genitalia, and that transsexual people are the only ones who undergo surgery. It’s like saying the appearance of one’s sexual organs define their gender, which is untrue. What about intersexed people?
Understandable. If you don’t find the term transsexual relatable that’s your prerogative, but others do. Personally I don’t like the term either, because to me it sounds like it confuses and conflates sexual preference (eg homosexuality) with gender identity and hence I find transgender more accurate. To me being transsexual should mean someone who is attracted to trans people. But I think when you’re quoting from and linking to an article, that it’s appropriate to do so accurately.
How does the joystick work? That big ball on the end, does that sit on your growth or does it go inside your hole?
It sits on your growth.
Thank you for speaking up about that, Sean. I completely agree.
Alex, I disagree on both your points.
1) It’s incredibly fetishistic when folks (cis people especially) say that they’re only attracted to trans people. So I don’t believe “transexual” has literally any place in our vocabulary.
2) I would’ve quoted it like this: “… this study on transgender folks (CW: contains outdated language)”
That is not what transsexual means. In fact it’s pretty much just the same as transgender anyway, just not an umbrella so it’s more specific to those who use it. But since many people seem to be uncomfortable with the term I understand where you’re coming from Baer, nothing wrong with disliking it if you’re more focused on gender than physicality. W/e, you be you :)
Why wasn’t my comment approved?
Sorry, it was the weekend, and I hadn’t had a chance to check the site.
That’s not actually what transexual means. I was just applying the same linguistic logic that is applied to homosexual. Personally, I’m also surprised that some trans individuals prefer to call themselves transexual over transgender, but each to their own. Buck Angel is a case in point of someone who considers themselves transexual rather than transgender, but then you could argue that contributing to the fetishizing of trans people is something he participates in for a living, seeing he’s a porn star. I just think there needs to be room for a diversity of opinion and experience on this. I also think that as a person attracted to trans people, you’re often damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Alex, I know you are just doing terminology damage control because people are offended by a medical term others actively use, but to say that’s trans fetishism to show yourself naked on the internet as a trans person is pretty large double standard. Unless you’d say that about gay or lesbian couples as well, that’s a real big step backwards. But I’m glad you’re accepting of diverse opinions on trans issues – as you can see I guess I have a different one than you, and that’s not a bad thing. We just have different ways of seeing it, but the criticism of him just seems backwards.
Max, I agree. I don’t see any issues with anything Buck Angel is doing. I’m just saying that “you could argue that” not that I believe that personally. As I said, I often feel that people that are attracted to trans people are dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t. If someone was to say “I’m only attracted to biological women” that’s not fetishizing, but if someone was to say “I’m only attracted to trans men” then that’s considered fetishization and problematic by many. I just wish people would let people be people.
I completely 100% agree. I personally don’t think that “fetishizing” trans people is a thing. Because maybe someone is attracted to the male physical body but only likes woman. In that case they would be strictly attracted to trans women. And if one were to say that the man attracted to only trans women is truly gay, that’s invalidating the trans woman and the man saying that it is wrong or not possible for the man to be attracted to women with male genitalia. And just like with heterosexuality, homosexuality, or (and I know I’m going to get backlash on this one) pedophilia, or beastiality, we don’t get to decide who we are physically, emotionally, sexually, platonically or otherwise attracted to. (***Now PLEASE understand that I am NOT condoning pedophilia in any way, because children can’t consent to sex, and even if they do, most people still don’t find that socially acceptable because no one except the child themselves can TRULY know whether they were consenting or not and if they knew what they were consenting.)
And just like you said, it sucks that people are criticized whether they do or whether they don’t like trans people. Because a lot of people see it as, you either are transphobic for /not/ being attracted to a trans women/men, or that you are fetishizing trans women/men because you’re attracted to them.
To clear up the issue of the label “Transsexual”, it is indeed an outdated term and it does have a VERY specific usage. Please remember that the word “Transgender” did not exist prior to sometime in the very late 80s or early 90s and, for a long time, it was only used by professionals in the medical and psych fields. There was NO label for folks, prior to that, to apply to themselves that simply declared they identified as a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth except maybe “queer” or to call themselves a “drag queen” or “drag king”. Back in the day, “Transsexual” ONLY applied to those individuals who had lived openly and in public as their identified gender, had undergone psychiatric therapy, had been on hormones, AND who had undergone all available surgeries… it could also apply to someone in the process of all of that. It CAN be a triggery word for some in the Trans community because its roots are all about pathologizing Transgender identities and its strict original definition echoes the sentiments of “tru-scum” activists who claim that only people who are medically transitioning are valid.
“Transsexual” does not follow the same linguistic reasoning as homosexual or heterosexual. It does not mean someone who is attracted to Transgender people. At least, I’ve never known anyone, anywhere else to use it that way. I think a lot of people include attraction to Trans folks under being “Pansexual” or “Omnisexual”. Just for me: I am a gay Trans guy. I would really love it if another guy of any status (cis, Trans, NB, etc) would just consider me a gay guy. No-one else need feel that way or agree.
Anyway. Grateful for Transthetics and wishing happiness and fulfillment to all of my Trans kin.