Our Body Project: From Mourning to Creating the Transgender Body

Examining the prevalence of trans phantoms among transgender, nonbinary and gender diverse individuals: An exploratory study

Background

Trans phantoms are bodily sensations of gendered body parts that a person was not born with (i.e., a phantom penis experienced by a trans man, or a phantom vagina experienced by a trans woman). This is distinct from the experience of many transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people, who experience awareness of their bodies as missing a gendered body part, or configuration, which is a major characteristic of gender dysphoria.

Aims

Our purpose was to gain greater understanding of the prevalence and quality of trans phantoms.

Methods

Data was gathered through a brief, online survey on trans embodiment. Respondents who had both completed the survey, and were deemed appropriate for inclusion in the study, based on their survey responses, comprised our sample of 1,446 adults.

Results

Results indicated that trans phantoms are a typical embodied experience of TGD people. Almost 50% of study participants reported experiencing a trans phantom, most of whom also reported feeling erotic sensation in their phantom.

Conclusions

Though the phenomenon of trans phantoms is not universal, it is clearly one that warrants further study.

Development of the Gender Embodiment Scale: Trans Masculine Spectrum

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people have a variety of ways of embodying their gender. We present preliminary work on The Gender Embodiment Scale for trans masculine individuals as a collaborative product from a trans-identified community-engaged team. This scale provides researchers and clinicians a survey to diversify ways gender is understood and counteracts assumptions of a singular gender experience for TGD people. This scale reflects gender embodiment as individually unique and inclusive of the body, behavior, and social treatment. Use of the scale can enhance discussion and enable assessments regarding relative importance and satisfaction across items in these domains.

Quantifying the Psychosocial Benefits of Masculinizing Mastectomy in Trans Male Patients with Patient-Reported Outcomes: The University of California, San Francisco, Gender Quality of Life Survey

BACKGROUND

Gender-affirming surgery is a medically necessary treatment to alleviate gender dysphoria for transgender patients. Although previous studies suggest improved psychosocial outcomes after gender-affirming surgery, there are no transgender-specific instruments available to assess its effects on patient quality of life.

METHODS

Using qualitative methods, the authors developed the first quality-of-life survey, the University of California, San Francisco, Gender Quality of Life (UCSF Gender QoL) survey, for trans male patients undergoing gender-affirming mastectomy. The UCSF Gender QoL survey was then administered prospectively to 51 trans male patients undergoing inframammary mastectomy with free nipple grafting at the University of California, San Francisco. The brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life survey was also given as a measure of external validity. The Cronbach alpha was value calculated to measure internal validity.

RESULTS

Thirty-six patients completed surveys 6 weeks after surgery, and 22 patients completed surveys 1 year after surgery, for response rates of 71 percent and 43 percent, respectively. The UCSF Gender QoL survey detected a significant improvement in quality of life 6 weeks and 1 year after chest surgery. The effect sizes were large, and the Cronbach alpha exhibited excellent internal validity.

CONCLUSIONS

This study establishes the UCSF Gender QoL survey as one of the first patient-reported outcomes tools for evaluating quality of life in trans male patients after gender-affirming chest reconstruction. Although the study is limited by a small cohort at a single center, establishing the validity of the UCSF Gender QoL survey provides an invaluable tool for future research into various aspects of gender-affirming chest surgery.

L'uomo vaginale: lavorare con la corporeità di uomini queer al confine del transgender

Invece di esaminare i fenomeni espliciti dell'esperienza transgender, viene discusso il "confine del transgender" in persone non transgender, ed esplorato il rapporto tra gli uomini e "il Vaginale", inteso sia come reale che come fantasticato. Concepire il Vaginale come una controparte del Fallico permette di scollegare dal femminile in senso stretto gli stati vaginali psichici e corporei, così che, come il Fallico, diventano accessibili da persone di tutti i generi e sessi. Il concetto di Vaginale va al di là dell'esperienza reale e incarnata di molti uomini transgender che vivono in corpi "femminili" interi, parziali e/o temporanei, e può trovare applicazione anche alla realtà psico-fisica di numerosi uomini non transgender. Viene anche presentato il caso clinico di un paziente omosessuale che fa la fantasia che il proprio ano sia una vagina.

The Masculine Vaginal: Working With Queer Men's Embodiment at the Transgender Edge

Turning away from the conspicuous phenomena of transgender experience, with an eye toward locating and illuminating the transgender edge in cisgender, this paper explores the relationship between men and the Vaginal, both material and fantasized. Positing the Vaginal as a counterpart to the Phallic allows a delinkage of vaginal psychic and embodied states from the strictly female so that, like the Phallic, they can be accessed by people of all genders and sexes. This concept goes beyond the conceptual to the fleshy, embodied experience of many transgender men, who live in whole, partial, and/or temporary "female" bodies. It can also be applied to the physio-psychic reality of many cisgender men. Included is a discussion of a case in which a gay cisgender male patient experiences and fantasizes his anus as a vagina.

A network analysis of body satisfaction of people with gender dysphoria

In gender dysphoria (GD), much of the experienced distress results from body dissatisfaction. The current study analyzed the configuration of body satisfaction in trans men and women using network analysis. In total, 485 individuals diagnosed with GD from four European countries, applying for medical treatment, filled out the Body Image Scale for Transsexuals. A six-factor model reflecting different body areas was confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis. A further configuration of body satisfaction was modelled using correlation network analysis techniques in R. Genital dissatisfaction showed limited connection with other body areas in comparison to other subscales. Body characteristics influencing social gender recognition were most centrally involved in body (dis)satisfaction in both natal sexes. In trans women these characteristics were related mostly to voice and hair, whereas in trans men these characteristics were related to muscularity and posture. Focusing on these socially influential body characteristics may provide important targets for transgender healthcare.