Sexual Life and Sexual Satisfaction Among Trans Women in France
Objectives: Working on the issue of trans and transvestite
women is a difficult thing when you are a cis
person, that is, with little political legitimacy to study
this subject, these people. The risk for the researcher is
to be the object of his own fantasies towards the people
he studies. In order to reduce the risks of the researcher’s
subjective involvement, some kind of partnership
between the researcher and trans organizations was set
up and a questionnaire survey was developed in France.
Method: 379 self-administered questionnaires were
collected in France between 2009-2011. The questionnaire
consisted of 139 closed-ended questions, including
a section on sex life, sex of partner, sexual
satisfaction, sexual disorders and opinions about sexuality.
The results are presented according to selfreported
gender identity and compared to the results
obtained on the same questions by cis-gender people
(men and women) obtained during the French
National CSF Survey (2006).
Results: The results suggest that trans women overall
are more frequently without a sexual partner and have
lower frequency of partnered sexual activity. In addition,
trans women report more frequently difficulties
with orgasm and pain during sexual intercourse. They
are less frequently satisfied with their sex lives and
have had more frequently the experience of forced sex.
Individuals who have had sexual reassignment surgery
have a higher frequency of sexual activity, are more
frequently satisfied with their sex life, and report reaching
orgasm more frequently. Some of these trans
women report more frequently experience of commercial
sex, use of pornography and sex in group.
Discussion: These apparent contradictions between
lower frequency of partnered sex, lower sexual satisfaction
and experience alternative sex and sex work will
be discussed.
Keywords: Transgender, Sexual pleasure and
wellbeing, Sex and relationships
Source of Funding: INSERM, ANRS
Conflict of Interest and Disclosure Statement: None
