Samoan Men's Sexual Attraction and Viewing Time Response to Male-to-Feminine Transgender and Cisgender Adults

Heterosexual men's pupillary responses to stimuli depicting cisgender males, cisgender females, and gynandromorphs

Gynandromorphophilia is the sexual attraction and arousal to feminine individuals assigned male at birth, who may or may not have breasts, and who retain their penises. Previous research has suggested that some capacity for gynandromorphophilia may characterize all males who are gynephilic (i.e., sexually attracted and aroused to adult cisgender females). This study examined Canadian cisgender gynephilic men's (n = 65) pupillary responses and subjective ratings of sexual arousal when presented with nude images of cisgender males, cisgender females, and gynandromorphs with, and without, breasts. Subjective arousal to cisgender females was highest, followed by subjective arousal to gynandromorphs with breasts, gynandromorphs without breasts and cisgender males. However, subjective arousal to gynandromorphs without breasts and to cisgender males did not differ significantly. Participants' pupils dilated more to images of cisgender females than to all other stimulus categories. Participants' pupils dilated more to gynandromorphs with breasts than to cisgender males, but pupillary response to gynandromorphs without breasts and cisgender males did not differ significantly. If the capacity for gynandromorphophilic attraction is a cross-culturally invariant aspect of male gynephilia, then these data suggest that this capacity may only extend to gynandromorphs with breasts and not gynandromorphs without breasts.

Men's Sexual Interest in Feminine Trans Individuals across Cultures

Feminine trans individuals (i.e., individuals who were assigned male at birth but who have a feminine gender presentation and identity) are present in many cultures. In some cultures, these individuals identify as (trans) women. Many of these individuals undergo medical treatments to feminize their bodies (e.g., breast augmentation), but most do not undergo vaginoplasties and therefore have penises. In many non-Western cultures, feminine trans individuals identify as a non-binary gender (i.e., neither man, nor woman). Many of these individuals do not surgically augment their bodies. Across cultures, some men express sexual interest in feminine trans individuals. Are manifestations of sexual interest in feminine trans individuals consistent across Western and non-Western cultural settings? Our review suggests that, across cultures, most of these men are also sexually attracted to cisgender individuals. Many are sexually attracted to cisgender women or to cisgender members of both sexes. A small subset is sexually attracted to cisgender men. Men who are sexually interested in feminine trans individuals commonly report being primarily insertive during anal sex. Additionally, they tend to report that their sexual interest in these individuals is motivated by attraction to femininity or to the combination female- and male-typical characteristics.

Women's Reaction to Opposite- and Same-Sex Infidelity in Three Cultures : Data from Canada, Samoa, and the Istmo Zapotec

Previous research indicates that Euro-American women are more upset by imagining their male partners committing homosexual infidelities than heterosexual ones. The present studies sought to replicate these findings and extend them to two non-Western cultures wherein masculine men frequently engage in sexual interactions with feminine third-gender males. Across six studies in three cultural locales (Canada, Samoa, and the Istmo Zapotec), women were asked to rate their degree of upset when imagining that their partner committed infidelity that was heterosexual in nature, as well as infidelity that was homosexual. In two Canadian undergraduate samples, women reported greater upset at imagining partner infidelity with a female, whereas a community sample of middle-aged women reported equal upset across infidelity types. Samoan women reported substantially less upset at the thought of partner infidelity with a third-gender male (fa'afafine) than with a female. Istmo Zapotec women reported equal upset toward infidelity with a female or a third-gender male (muxe), whereas a second Zapotec sample reported slightly greater upset at the thought of infidelity with a muxe. Results illustrate how cultural contexts moderate the degree to which same-sex infidelity scenarios are upsetting to women.