An Argument for Gender Dysphoria as the Causal Factor for Autogynephilia

 Don't get too excited. You're not going to like it.

Hypothetical situation: A little boy (age 4 - 7) feels envious of the girls in his class because of the clothes they wear, the way they act with their friends, and the way they are treated by boys and adults.

Theory: There are a few aspects to consider here (in order of importance[imo]): 1) The boys innate heterosexuality and 2) male socialization in a society in which men have been emasculated (to some degree) and 3) industrialization has exposed humanity (and the rest of the animal kingdom) to a chemical cocktail that contains significant estrogens and is having a feminizing effect on males.

Number 1) makes femininity attractive to the boy and 2) & 3) are what causes the boy to desire to be feminine himself.

Envy is a complex emotion that feels dysphoric to experience, and the envy triggers a second complex emotion that feels dysphoric to experience: shame.

The large contributing factor here is male socialization in a patriarchal society, where women are considered to be 1) second class citizens and 2) weaker than men, both physically and emotionally. (To be clear, the belief that women are weaker emotionally than men is a misconception that is not only false, but also compels men towards the problematic behavior of repressing their emotions.)

So, what we have here is male socialization delivering a one-two combo to the groin of the archetype of masculinity, where the modern feminist movement has made the child envious of the opposite sex and the old-school patriarchal view towards woman still permeates through our culture and makes the child feel shame about feeling envious.

What we have here, are two diametrically opposed views contradicting each other and causing an internal conflict in today's youth. A boy who feels conflicted between his desires to be both masculine and feminine will experience cognitive dissonance: two contradicting realities that are both true at the same time; this is incredibly difficult for the child's brain to properly process.

This is the beginning, or onset, of gender dysphoria: feeling ashamed for feeling envious of girls. The envy is directed outward and the shame is directed inward. This makes autogynephilic gender dysphoria a two-way street: dysphoria related to the desire to be feminine is expressed as envy; dysphoria related to the desire to be masculine is expressed as shame.

Even though the onset of autogynephilic gender dysphoria oftentimes occurs at a very young age,. it is known in the DSM as "late" onset gender dysphoria; the reason being that it sits dormant until it is triggered by the onset of puberty.

AGP is best described as a sexual paraphilia: an atypical sexual interest caused by specific childhood experiences that illicit specific, dysphoric emotions. The most common emotion responsible for paraphilic arousal is shame. Shame is very easy for the brain to process as sexual arousal, and because shame is directed inwards, the great majority of sexual paraphilias are autosexual.

An Argument for Gender Dysphoria causing AGP

The dominant POV is that AGP causes gender dysphoria, but I believe that it might be the other way around. Late onset gender dysphoria is expressed as envy towards the desire to be feminine and shame towards the desire to be masculine.

(Sidenote: It seems to be very common for the shame towards the desire to be masculine to evolve and become simple shame towards being masculine. [Side-Sidenote: This might be a response to prolonged repression of the desire to be feminine.])

Complex, dysphoric emotions are difficult for the underdeveloped brain of a child to process as it is; with AGP, there are two complex, dysphoric emotions creating an internal conflict. Desiring to be feminine, whilst simultaneously desiring to be masculine is a contradiction that causes the child to experience cognitive dissonance.

NEW! I always fail to observe the positive emotions associated with the desire to be feminine. Positive emotions are the driving force behind the hypothetical little boy's desire to be a girl, instead of a boy. In his mind, being able to experience femininity feels amazing, and makes him feel happy and satisfied. When a man with AGP thinks back to his childhood infatuation with femininity, he only remembers positive emotions. Because of this, many of you disagree with this theory.

The reason that you may have no memory of the negative feelings I am describing is because the first time you experienced those negative emotions you also experienced cognitive dissonance, which made you dissociate temporarily, while the negative emotions (envy and shame) were hidden from you and repressed.

Sexual paraphilias are created when negative emotions are sexually imprinted, in order to be processed more easily by the brain. Positive emotions are easy to process, which is why you recall a positive experience when you revisit your childhood longing to be a girl.

The upsetting and dysphoric feelings of shame and envy (attached to the desire to be feminine) were transmuted into blissfully euphoric, sexually arousing feelings. Paraphilias are characterized by these negative emotions, and the arousal derived from them.

In Reddit speak: euphoria boners.

In Conclusion: The childhood feelings of dysphoria related to the desire to be both genders were initially repressed, until they were sexually imprinted sometime later (likely between age 6 & 9), in order for the brain to process them. This process hardwires to one's sexuality, creating a sexual paraphilia. Because of the intensity of the emotions that are sexually processed, paraphilic arousal typically dominates over the innate sexual orientation. The intensity of the emotions is also the main factor behind "hypersexuality". Because many paraphilias share the same dysphoric emotions, it makes it easier to find other paraphilias arousing, and thus: a clusterfuck.

Now it's time for some unsolicited advice:

Paraphilic arousal is manifested by recreating the childhood experience associated with the sexually stimulating emotions. For AGPs, this typically means fantasizing about being an actual woman (either known personally or through the media) to recreate the blissful and euphoric feelings of envy. AGPs can also use forced feminization fantasies, or fantasies about the transformation from boy to girl, to recreate the blissful and euphoric feelings of shame. This is why details pertaining to formerly being male are so prevalent in AGP smut.

Once the orgasm happens and the arousal ceases, the dysphoric feelings go back to being dysphoric. In other words, after you cum, it feels shitty to feel envy and shame.

Here's the thing: you don't need to focus on those feelings anymore once you are no longer horny. It doesn't matter if you transition or whatever: you will always need to access those dysphoric feelings to become aroused. When someone with AGP transitions, the AGP doesn't go away; they just stop focusing on feeling the shame and envy when they aren't horny.

Does that make sense?

If you know that those emotions are what make you horny, you can simply "turn them off" after you j.o. and return to your life as a man.

It's also important to understand that being this way doesn't make you any less of a man; in fact, knowing what you like in the bedroom and being able to keep that a separate (and kinky) part of your life, shared by you and a woman you love, makes you more of a man. (To this sissy faggot, at least.)