The erotic desire to be a man with a vagina: Auto-AGMP
Some men are sexually aroused by the idea of being a man with a vagina. I present case reports of this phenomenon called auto-androgynomorphophilia, and best explained as an internalized attraction.
📖 Background
Read the previous post for background on androgynomorphophilia.
For background on internalized attractions, see my comprehensive review.
➤ Introduction
Internalized attraction is a little-known phenomenon that some natal males experience in their erotic fantasies. The best-known example is autogynephilia. Autogynephilic males are attracted to women but also aroused by the idea of being a woman. In other words, their external attraction is internalized to a certain extent, confounding the external erotic target with the self.1
In recent years, the phenomenon of internalized attraction has also been reported in various sexual attractions to “unusual” erotic targets, including amputees, children, men, anthropomorphic animals, real animals, and obese people.
Empirical observation of the numerous forms of internalized attraction have led researchers to posit that for every class of men’s erotic targets, a subset of those men have the propensity to experience internalized attraction—that is to say, they become aroused by the fantasy of being their preferred erotic targets.
The phenomenon of internalized attraction has also been reported in males who are attracted to women with breasts and penises. Individuals with such a mixed morphology are called gynandromorphs in sex research, and the attraction to them is called gynandromorphophilia—or GAMP for short.2
Some GAMP men discover they are aroused by the idea of being the gynandromorphs they are attracted to—that is to say, they are turned on by the fantasy of having a feminine body with breasts but with a penis instead of a vagina.3 This phenomenon is hard to distinguish from autogynephilia, as both internalized attractions tend to co-occur in the same individual.
I previously described an analogous attraction to men with vaginas instead of penises. Individuals with such a morphology have been called androgynomorphs on the internet, and the attraction to them has been called androgynomorphophilia—or AGMP for short. AGMP appears to occur exclusively in gay men while GAMP appears to occur exclusively in straight men.
In fact, GAMP and AGMP seem to be exact analogs of each other. If so, we would also expect to find the phenomenon of internalized attraction in AGMP men—what could be called auto-androgynomorphophilia, or auto-AGMP for short. To the best of my knowledge, the phenomenon of auto-AGMP has never been reported in the academic literature.4
If auto-GAMP men are aroused by the idea of being a woman with a penis instead of a vagina (i.e., a gynandromorph), then auto-AGMP men should be aroused by the idea of being a man with a vagina instead of a penis (i.e., an androgynomorph)—the exact opposite pattern. In addition, auto-AGMP men should be attracted to androgynomorphs, just as auto-GAMP men are attracted to gynandromorphs, consistent with the idea that these phenomena are internalized attractions.
📝 Case reports
I present two case reports of individuals whom I came across online and whose experiences are consistent with the concept of auto-AGMP. These individuals gave informed consent to be interviewed, reviewed drafts of their histories, and agreed to have them published anonymously. These reports are the first of their kind.
💬 Discussion
These case reports present two gay men, Luke and Ben. In addition to their attraction to cisgender men, they are also attracted to masculine men with vaginas—an attraction called androgynomorphophilia, or AGMP for short. Luke and Ben also have erotic fantasies of having a vagina, but as men, not as women. These erotic fantasies are called auto-AGMP, and this phenomenon may be understood as an internalization of the attraction they feel toward men with vaginas.
It is notable that Luke appears to have another internalized attraction: he is attracted to men with large penises and is also aroused by the fantasy of having a larger penis himself. It should be stressed that this idea is erotic in and of itself; his arousal is not contingent on an interpersonal fantasy involving the use of his imagined larger penis with another person. Luke’s arousal from the idea of having a larger penis may be seen as a manifestation of autoandrophilia, a subtle but real phenomenon of some gay men’s arousal by the fantasy of being more like the men they are attracted to.5
It is also notable that Luke’s internalized attractions are in radical contradiction to one another because they feature incompatible genital configurations. Perhaps this is a factor in Luke’s lack of interest in getting a vagina in reality.
In Ben, auto-AGMP co-occurs with masochism. This makes his erotic fantasies of being a man with a vagina inextricably intertwined with ideas of subjugation and coercion by a partner. He has what may be called fantasies of “forced vaginoplasty”. A similar phenomenon occurs in masochistic autogynephilic males: they have “forced feminization” fantasies of being coercively transformed into a woman by a woman they are attracted to.6 Ben’s case is analogous in that he fantasizes about being forcibly turned into a man with a vagina by his male partner.
Luke and Ben’s fantasies of being men with vaginas appear to be the exact analogs the fantasies of some natal males of being women with penises. Those males are GAMP (i.e., attracted to gynandromorphs: women with penises instead of vaginas) and auto-GAMP (i.e., they experience arousal from the idea of being a gynandromorph themselves).78 Luke and Ben are AGMP (i.e., attracted to androgynomorphs: men with vaginas instead of penises) and auto-AGMP (i.e., they experience arousal from the idea of being an androgynomorph themselves). Both auto-GAMP and auto-AGMP can be understood as internalized attractions.
There is, however, an important difference in the histories of Luke and Ben. Luke experiences his desire to be a man with a vagina purely as an erotic fantasy. He is content with having a penis and keeping those desires strictly in the realm of erotic fancy. In contrast, Ben experiences a sustained wish, beyond temporary sexual arousal, to be a man with a vagina. These sustained feelings led him to consider vaginoplasty and to talk about it with his doctor. Ben’s more persistent desires have probably influenced his perception of gender and played a part in his adoption of a nonbinary identity.
Ben can be said to have an erotic target identity inversion. This phenomenon occurs in some males who have internalized attractions: they experience the sustained wish, beyond temporary erotic fantasy, to change their bodies to become more similar to their erotic self-image. Luke, however, can only be said to have an internalized attraction, not an identity inversion, as he does not identify with his internal androgynomorph.
The most well-known example of an erotic target identity inversion is gender dysphoria associated with autogynephilia in natal males. These gender-dysphoric natal males are attracted to women (gynephilia), have a history of sexual arousal from the idea of being a woman (autogynephilia), and experience feelings of identification with the erotic self-image that create distress from their dissimilarity to it (gender dysphoria). These natal males may pursue medical transition to align their bodies closer to the internal woman.9
Internalized attraction and identity inversion are associated phenomena, but their exact relation to one another is not well understood. In the next part of this series, I present case reports of men who can be said to have an identity inversion associated with auto-AGMP. These men are gay, identify as men or have masculine nonbinary gender identities, experience attraction to men with vaginas, have a history of arousal from the fantasy of being a man with a vagina, experience genital dysphoria without gender dysphoria, and pursue vaginoplasty to turn their internal androgynomorphs into reality.
👍 Leave a like on this post and tell me your thoughts in the comments.
➡️ Further reading
Read more about erotic target identity inversion in auto-AGMP.
Lawrence, Anne A. (2013). Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies: Narratives of Autogynephilic Transsexualism. Springer.
See my comprehensive review of what is known about GAMP:
Blanchard, Ray. (1993). The She-Male Phenomenon and the Concept of Partial Autogynephilia. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 19(1), 69–76.
The term has been used on the internet, and it seems that the only mention of it in the literature is in Illy, Phil. (2023). Autoheterosexual: Attracted to Being the Other Sex. Houndstooth Press. In the glossary, autoandrogynemorphophilia—note the alternative spelling—is defined as “attraction to being a masculinized female; attraction to being a man with a vulva; attraction to being an FTM”.
Lawrence, Anne A. (2009). Anatomic Autoandrophilia in an Adult Male. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 1050–1056.
Lawrence, 2013, op. cit., pp. 152–155.
Ibid., pp. 189–191.
Hsu, Kevin J., et al. (2017). Sexual Arousal Patterns of Autogynephilic Male Cross-Dressers. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 247–253.
Lawrence, Anne A. (2017). Autogynephilia and the Typology of Male-to-Female Transsexualism: Concepts and Controversies. European Psychologist, 22(1), 39–54.
I applaud you for his important post. I know Israeli researches have found other cases of this form of pseudo MTF trans identity, i.e., the subject is excited by the idea of being female; which is not the same thing as feeling like a female.
I have discussed related problems among female to male cases of "transgenderism."
https://davidgottfried.substack.com/p/the-increase-in-ftm-trans-contradicts
What a fascinating read! This is such a beautiful reminder that our erotic nature is incredibly nuanced and we have so much to learn and remain curious about! 💚👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽