Heterosexual men's pupillary responses and visual attention to gynandromorphic stimuli

Abstract

Sexual interactions between gynandromorphs—feminine males who may or may not have breasts, and who retain their penises—and cisgender heterosexual males have been documented across a diverse range of cultures. This has led some scholars to hypothesize that heterosexual males may be universally capable of experiencing sexual attraction and arousal to feminine males. The studies contained in this thesis present new empirical data on heterosexual males’ sexual interest in gynandromorphs. In a single sample of heterosexual men (n = 65), I demonstrated that pupillary responses (i.e., a measure of sexual arousal) and visual attention (i.e., a measure of sexual interest) did differ meaningfully between gynandromorphs and cisgender males unless the former had breasts—a female-typical secondary sex trait. These results suggest that female sex-based traits play a more primary role in gynephilic men’s sexual arousal than feminine gender-based traits (e.g., hairstyle, posture, makeup).