I saw this post on Vanilla Edge, which was inspired by a big discussion surrounding this photo on Reddit about gender identity and sexuality. According to Vanilla Edge, most of the respondents to the Reddit question were straight males, and most picked “B”. I’m not surprised. I’m a girl. I like guys, and I’m pretty into tattoos, but I don’t find Buck attractive. I chose “B” also.
This question also inspired quite a discussion here at the Naughty Spot, as well. I sent the link to Whitman, who, as I suspected he would, answered “B” like the majority of straight guys.
I asked him, “So, does that make you bisexual?” His answer, “No. I like women.” He then proceeded to tell me how hot the ‘chick with a dick’ was, and even sent me a link to an image search of many VERY HOT pictures of her. I pressed onward. “But that’s a MAN. A ‘dude with boobs,’ call it what it is.”
I insisted that if he would fuck a man in the ass or let a man fuck him in the ass, that he MUST BE BI. “In my mind that’s a hot woman with an extra part,” he explained. I don’t REALLY think he is bisexual and don’t care either way, but the discussion was GREAT! It made the afternoon at work bearable.
(Note: I understand and appreciate all the nuances of sexuality, gender identity and fluidity, but was going with straight-up BIOLOGY for the discussion at hand. Everyone calm down.)
Whitman then posed a question back to me: “Who would you rather see me fucking?” I glanced quickly at the photos. Well that was without question the ‘chick with a dick’ and I told him so –Then Whitman said, “So, we’d share. Good.” I suddenly had the realization that I was getting REALLY. TURNED. ON.
Then I looked at the picture again. Closely. That guy/girl has a REALLY. NICE. DICK.
THEN I remembered this was a ‘pre-operative’ transsexual. “Pre-OPERATIVE” being the key word.
I thought, “Ohmygod, is s/he going to REMOVE / REPLACE / INVERT that really gorgeous cock?! WHAT A WASTE!!!”
First, many pre-op TS don’t opt for the entire transformation, so it’s possible that her, er, his, er, no, her dick will stay just where it is.
Second, the point that people are overlooking is that there are many other aspects to sexual identity besides specific genitalia. I once had a girlfriend who had had a mastectomy – was she any less feminine because she had fewer boobage? Of course not.
Sexual identity is both physical and culturally based; those of us who enjoy the whole-body experience during sex aren’t (usually) just concerned with putting tab A into slot B. Personally, I can well imagine enjoying touching and fondling her smooth, soft curves more than I could imagine that stubbly beard on my own skin. The girl on the right is a woman because she fits 90% of what I’ve internalized “women” to mean.
Maybe 95% if she’ll fetch me a beer afterward.
;-)
Tom! Well-put, as always.
I think your point about the cultural definition of ‘woman’ or gender in general is what Whitman was saying, as well. In his mind, SHE was a woman, genitalia aside.
And thank goodness about the dick. SAVE THE PENIS! ;)
BTW, I think it would be an interesting study to try this again, using slightly different pictures. Buck is a bit on the hyper-masculine side, with the shaved head and tattoos (and the ceegar). What if the pic on the left looked more like, say, Brad Pitt (or pick your age-appropriate movie star)?
I agree with Tom that it would be interesting to conduct this study again with different pictures. I’ve always fancied “feminine men” or “butch women” myself …