Ambisexuality

James Watson

Description

Ambisexuals are men who are erotically attracted to 'women with a penis'. Michael simply smiled and said, "I've never been with a man. For me, a trans woman is a woman with masculine genitals, but she is still a woman. She looks like a woman and she acts like a woman." It's the 21st century. Trans women sex workers go to great lengths to meet these needs. Tens of thousands of men like Michael currently live around the world. You might think this is a modern development made possible by sex-change technology. But meticulous research reveals that this unrecognised sexual orientation has persisted across all major cultures throughout recorded history. In spite of this, almost nothing is known about ambisexuality. What motivates their sexual orientation... and the trans women they are drawn to? This book has fascinating anecdotal stories and hard data which leads to deep insights. It will make you re-evaluate what you think you know about human sexuality in an era of growing acceptance of gender diversity and sexual expression.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Gender studies

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528959568
• Langue: English

Extrait

Ambisexuality
James Watson
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-05-31
Ambisexuality How to access the Ambisexuality interviews About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright Information Acknowledgement Introduction Part 1 Origins 1. Ancient Worlds 2. Modern Worlds Part 2 Women with a Penis 3. Transitioning Rites 4. Sex Working Rites Part 3 Clients 5. A Hidden Culture 6. Erotic Desires Part 4 Incarnations 7. The Anatomy of Transerotic Desire Physical Bodies Genital Display as an Indicator of Sexual Interest The Specific Sexual Appeal of a ‘Woman with a Penis’ Contrasting Erogenous Zones of Males and Females Psychological Orientations High levels of attention-seeking and seductive behaviour The Attraction to Novelty and Impulse Predisposing Sexual Histories Flexible Social Boundaries Cultural Environment The Atypical Lifestyles of Trans Woman Sex Workers Entertainment Performance Shopping Parties and Nightclubbing Drugs Attitude Towards Clients Client Atypicalities Kings Cross Sub-Culture Tenderloin Sub-Culture Navy Sub-Cultures in South East Asia Technological Environment The Use of Feminising Technologies The Availability of Transerotic Resources Physical Environment Distinctive Soliciting and Work Spaces The Holistic Network of Atypicalities 8. Ambisexuality: An Unidentified Sexual Orientation Terms and Definitions Sexual Services Addendum Bibliography Index
How to access the Ambisexuality interviews
Interactive QR code tags
Some of the trans women and one ambisexual man participating in the research for this book agreed to be filmed. This lets you engage more directly with the book’s content. You can see this filmed material whenever you find one of these designs on a page:

frame
These are QR code tags. Simply download a QR code reader onto any device such as a mobile phone or tablet which contains a camera. You can then hold the device in front of any of the nineteen QR code tags scattered throughout the book to access the filmed material.
Download your free QR code reader
Download any QR code reader by clicking on ‘Apps’, then clicking on ‘Play Store’ (for Android devices) or the ‘App Store’ (for Apple devices).
Type in ‘QR code reader’ in the search bar and search.
A number of QR code readers will appear. Some are free, but others are not. Choose one of the free readers.
Click on ‘Install’, then follow the prompts.
Once installed, a QR code reader icon should appear on your screen. It should be on your desktop or in your ‘Apps’.
Use your QR code reader
After downloading is complete, click on the QR code reader icon.
Hold your mobile device over one of the QR codes that appear in this book. Point your camera so that you clearly see the QR code on the screen of your device. When the device recognises the code, the reader will automatically identify a URL link to the interview, which can then be played.
About the Author
Over the past 25 years, James has undertaken in-depth doctoral and post-doctoral study of trans women and their clients. He has worked with various gender organisations in the United States and Australia, and has immersed himself in the lives of the people who appear in this book. He has interviewed gender luminaries such as Carmen Rupe and Georgina Beyer and, equally, has interviewed many people who remain unknown. James has a deep interest in wanting a better world and this passion is expressed in different ways. After helping establish the ‘Deep and Meaningful Conversation Meetup Group’ in the United States to stimulate engagement on issues of social significance, he founded similar groups in Australia and New Zealand. James lives with his wife in New Zealand and the United States.
About the Book
Ambisexuals are men who are erotically attracted to ‘women with a penis’.
Michael simply smiled and said, “I’ve never been with a man. For me, a trans woman is a woman with masculine genitals, but she is still a woman . She looks like a woman and she acts like a woman.”
It’s the 21 st century. Trans women sex workers go to great lengths to meet these needs.
Tens of thousands of men like Michael currently live around the world. You might think this is a modern development made possible by sex-change technology. But meticulous research reveals that this unrecognised sexual orientation has persisted across all major cultures throughout recorded history.
In spite of this, almost nothing is known about ambisexuality. What motivates their sexual orientation… and the trans women they are drawn to?
This book has fascinating anecdotal stories and hard data which leads to deep insights. It will make you re-evaluate what you think you know about human sexuality in an era of growing acceptance of gender diversity and sexual expression.
Dedication
To those who accept people who are different
Copyright Information
Copyright © James Watson (2019)
The right of James Watson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528910361 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528959568 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgement
So many people have contributed to the research, writing and completion of this book. To all those who have assisted in a myriad of ways – providing helpful information, revealing sensitive personal details, giving practical assistance, editing manuscripts, encouraging and mentoring me – I thank you. Without your support, this work would not have happened.
But there are two people who have encouraged and mentored me more than any others: Frank Lewins who, for 10 years, was my Masters and PhD supervisor and a very good friend; and my wife, Wendy, who took over this role. Thank you both for your warmth and thoughtful guidance.
If thinking never deviated from what is normal, nothing would ever change.
Introduction
There are not four sexual orientations but five: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual and ambisexual. This is borne out by the evidence of history (all of these orientations have existed in some tangible form); the substantiation of the cross-cultural record (they are universal, not culturally specific) and the sheer number of people who express a particular romantic and sexual desire when they are not culturally repressed from doing so (representing a statistically significant population). There is, of course, a spectrum of gender identities, but sexual orientation is different. Where did the idea come from that ambisexuality – an unrecognised sexual orientation – exists among men attracted to ‘women with a penis’? Notions like this were the last things on my mind when I first started my sociological field work over twenty years ago.
The year was 1996 when I began conducting interviews in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia, as a PhD student doing my initial research. I naïvely sought to engage with male-to-female (MTF trans people to develop an understanding as to why people who were born as biological males wanted to live permanently as women. It became apparent that many trans people living there worked as sex workers and that nearly all of them chose not to have sex reassignment surgery – that is, there was little incentive or desire to have their penis removed surgically and replaced with a neo-vagina. These findings seemed to fly in the face of all that had been written about trans women at the time.
Back then, trans people were referred to as ‘transsexual’ or ‘transgender’; and were commonly defined as people who emotionally and psychologically felt a belonged to the opposite sex or gender. What was important was to do everything possible to change biological sex to be consistent with these feelings. The literature suggested that all trans women wanted – even demanded – sex reassignment surgery (SRS), so what I was being told was baffling. I asked the trans women I interviewed what motivated their decision to retain the penis. Was it the high cost of surgery? Was it the limitations of surgical outcomes? Most answered that it was not in their interest to have sex reassignment. When I asked what was meant by this, a typical response was: ‘Well, you have to cater for what the market wants, honey, and that’s what men want!’ The happily married ‘heterosexual men’ who made up the vast majority of their clients were not looking for the sexual services of a female, but neither did they want intimacy with a male. These men were attracted to a different incarnation – a ‘woman with a penis’. I was so astonished by the responses I was getting that I discussed them with my PhD supervisor, Frank Lewins. Frank’s research had taken a different path. He had recently published a book on MTF trans women, but his work had focused on individuals who had sought SRS. As such, he had little familiarity with the trans women I was encountering. So I decided to investigate the matter further by searching out the published work of other social researchers. Although there were many studies of the trans community, most of the references to sex work were incidental. Researchers were more concerned with other issues such as gender discrimination and the range of transformative technologies that were available. There were also many autobiographies which recounted the stories of the enormous physical, social and emotional changes trans women endured when coming out. Typically, these narratives de