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In the study of transsexuality, the essentialist idea of a feminine essence refers to the proposal that male-to-female transsexuals are females trapped in male bodies. This idea has been interpreted in many senses, as a female mind, spirit, soul, personality, etc., as well as in more literal senses such as having a female brain structure; it is also a psychological narrative, that is, a self-description of how some transsexuals see themselves, or of how they may portray themselves to qualify for certain medical treatments. According to sexologist J. Michael Bailey and Kiira Triea, "the predominant cultural understanding of male-to-female transsexualism is that all male-to-female (MtF) transsexuals are, essentially, women trapped in men's bodies." They reject the idea, claiming that "The persistence of the predominant cultural understanding, while explicable, is damaging to science and to many transsexuals." According to sexologist Ray Blanchard, "Transsexuals seized upon this phrase as the only language available for explaining their predicament to themselves and for communicating their feelings to others. The great majority of patients understand full well that this is a ''façon de parler'' (of speaking ), not a literal statement of fact, and are not delusional in any normal sense of the word." The feminine essence idea has been described under several names, and there is no authoritative, widely accepted definition.〔 It was called the ''feminine essence narrative'' by Alice Dreger in 2008, and the ''feminine essence theory'' by Ray Blanchard, who formulated the concept into a set of logical propositions. Other names include ''Harry Benjamin syndrome'', after one of the early sexologists whose early writings about the nature of transsexuality, along with those of psychiatrist David O. Cauldwell, are favorably cited by proponents in support of this idea. This idea is associated with, but separate from the "brainsex theory of transsexualism", which is a belief about a neurodevelopmental cause of transsexuality.〔Bailey and Triea, 2007. "The narrative has been extended to an etiological theory, which Lawrence (2007b) has called "the brainsex theory of transsexualism." The transsexual advocacy website, transsexual.org, puts this theory succinctly: 'A transsexual is a person in which the sex-related structures of the brain that define gender identity are exactly opposite the physical sex organs of the body.'"〕 Proponents of the brainsex theory of transsexualism draw a distinction between "brain sex" and "anatomical sex".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS) )〕 Some proponents reject the term ''transsexual'', as the ''trans-'' prefix implies that their true sex is changing, instead of being affirmed, with treatments like sex reassignment surgery. Some proponents consider themselves to be intersex instead of transgender.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=All About Harry Benjamin's Syndrome )〕 Modern sexologists including Blanchard reject the idea that these transsexuals are literally female. A more figurative interpretation, involving neurologically mediated gender identity, was supported historically by pioneering sexologists such as Harry Benjamin.〔 ==Description== The "feminine essence" idea predates modern psychological studies,〔 and was supported by some early sexologists such as Harry Benjamin ("the father of transsexualism"), who revived the idea of Karl-Heinrich Ulrichs that a person might have a "female soul trapped in a male body." Modern researchers classify the common story told by transsexual women about themselves as a psychological narrative, and therefore refer to this idea as the "feminine essence narrative". In his book ''The Man Who Would Be Queen'', sexologist J. Michael Bailey gives these statements as a prototypical example of the feminine essence narrative: "Since I can remember, I have always felt as if I were a member of the other sex. I have felt like a freak with this body and detest my penis. I must get sex reassignment surgery (a "sex change operation") in order to match my external body with my internal mind."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Feminine essence concept of transsexuality」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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