I did the test, 155 Class 4 (Probable TS) was result. Tests like these are fun, and can give one a bit of an idea but ultimately as others have said nothing can replace a professional therapist. This isn't a small issue as i'm beginning to learn as I sort through my own identity problems.
I took the test and got a -165 (is the minus part of it??), classification 2, feminine male.
I wouldn't take it seriously anyway. Some of you said that the test was accurate but how can you measure that? It's more a situation of "I'm getting what I want out of the test because I answer what I already know would lead me there".
This test (like many others) assumes that there's a lineal spectrum of gender from ultra macho to uber sissy and that's not realistic.
About the therapy, I think that if the issue (any issue actually) affects your life in a way that renders you dis-functional, you must seek professional advise. Living more than one life is not dis-functional since most people do that all the times. Granted, most are not doing it because of gender issues. But we go back and forth between different separated worlds. I think that there's a trend lately (many many years lately) to unify our worlds and it's not healthy. I work now in a corporate environment where getting everyone together and sharing with the families is a must. I always stay out of it. I like to have my work life on one side, my family life on another, my friends on another, my hobbies on another. I may mix them occasionally though. I see the same in schools where it's assumed that you have to share your whole life with those that were put there with you just because it happened.
The best part of living your life going back and forth different separated worlds is that each one is a refugee from the others.
I just got forwarded this from Cristan Williams, the director of the Houston Transgendered Resource Center. She likes the scale at the bottom better because it shows things in a more clear light with some objective views of use of therapy, both psychological and hormonal.
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Have you heard of the Gender Disorientation Scale?
It is a discarded Scale used to identify transgenders along the lines of a very clear continuum instead of what we use today. Harry Benjamin came up with a Sex Disorientation Scale that used 7 delineations or lines in a continuum in much the same way that Kinsey used 7 delineations for his sexual orientation scale.
Putting aside some of the language that seems a bit outdated and the incorperation of the Kinsey scale into the Benjamin scale, the Benjamin view seems actually way ahead of the game and better in than the diagnostic criteria we have in the DSM today.
Below is Dr. Harry Benjamin's Gender Disorientation Scale. I've included Kinsey's sexual orientation scale for reference:
Kinsey's Sexual Orientation Scale
0 Exclusively heterosexual with no homosexual experience
1 Predominantly heterosexual, only incidently homosexual
2 Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3 Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4 Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5 Predominantly homosexual, but incidentally heterosexual
6 Exclusively homosexual, with no heterosexual experience
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Benjamin's Gender Disorientation Scale
Type One: Transvestite (Pseudo)
Gender Feeling: Masculine
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Lives as a man. Could get occasional kick out of dressing. Normal male life.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Hetero, bi, or homosexual. Dressing and -- more --exchange may occur in masturbation fantasies mainly. May enjoy TV literature only.
Kinsey Scale: 0-6
Conversion Operation: Not considered in reality.
Estrogen Medication: Not interested or indicated.
Psychotherapy: Not wanted and unnecessary.
Remarks: Interests in dressing is only sporadic.
Type Two: Transvestism (Fetishistic)
Gender Feeling: Masculine
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Lives as a man. Dressing periodically or part of the time. Dresses underneath male clothes.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Heterosexual. Rarely bisexual. Masturbation with fetish. Guilt feelings. Purges and relapses.
Kinsey Scale: 0-2
Conversion Operation: Rejected
Estrogen Medication: Rarely interested. Occasionally useful to reduce libido.
Psychotherapy: May be successful (in a favorable environment. )
Remarks: May imitate double (masculine and feminine) personality with male and female names.
Type Three: Transvestism (True)
Gender Feeling: Masculine (but with less conviction.)
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Dresses constantly or as often as possible. May live and be accepted as woman. May dress underneath male clothes, if no other chance.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Heterosexual, except when dressed. Dressing gives sexual satisfaction with relief of gender discomfort. May purge and relapse.
Kinsey Scale: 0-2
Conversion Operation: Actually rejected, but idea can be attractive.
Estrogen Medication: Attractive as an experiment. Can be helpful emotionally
Psychotherapy: If attempted is usually not successful as to cure.
Remarks: May assume double personality. Trend toward transsexualism.
Type Four: Transsexual (Nonsurgical)
Gender Feeling: Undecided. Wavering between TV and TS.
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Dresses as often as possible with insufficient relief of his gender discomfort. May live as a man or woman; sometimes alternating.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Libido often low. Asexual or auto-erotic. Could be bisexual. Could also be married and have children.
Kinsey Scale: 1-4
Conversion Operation: Attractive but not requested or attraction not admitted.
Estrogen Medication: Needed for comfort and emotional balance.
Psychotherapy: Only as guidance; otherwise refused or unsuccessful.
Remarks: Social life dependent upon circumstances.
Type Five: True Transsexual (moderate intensity)
Gender Feeling: Feminine (trapped in male body)
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Lives and works as woman if possible. Insufficient relief from dressing.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Libido low. Asexual auto-erotic, or passive homosexual activity. May have been married and have children.
Kinsey Scale: 4-6
Conversion Operation: Requested and usually indicated.
Estrogen Medication: Needed as substitute for or preliminary to operation.
Psychotherapy: Rejected. Useless as to cure. Permissive psychological guidance.
Remarks: Operation hoped for and worked for. Often attained.
Type Six: True Transsexual (high intensity)
Gender Feeling: Feminine. Total psycho-sexual inversion.
Dressing Habits and Social Life: May live and work as a woman. Dressing gives insufficient relief. Gender discomfort intense.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Intensely desires relations with normal male as female if young. May have been married and have children, by using fantasies in intercourse.
Kinsey Scale: 6
Conversion Operation: Urgently requested and usually attained. Indicated.
Estrogen Medication: Required for partial relief.
Psychotherapy: Psychological guidance or psychotherapy for symptomatic relief only.
Remarks: Despises his male sex organs. Danger of suicide or self-mutilation, if too long frustrated.
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I think it is interesting. I still don't fit any of these types perfectly.
I think I am a Type: 2.5 Transvestite. Of course, the fact that I'm confused may mean that I'm Type: 4 Transexual or maybe I'm Type 3.5 Transvestual with a strong libido. I don't know. :)
All I do know is what I'm not. I'm not Type: 1, Type: 5 or Type: 6.
I think they need to call it the "Gender Confusion Scale" not the "Gender Disorientation Scale". :)
Kisses,
Allie
Allie, that was great! I also found it hard to find my place on the scale... I'd rate myself a solid 2, except that implies that I dress purely for sexual experience and I require some object(s) of clothing to complete the sexual rush.
It's true, dressing for me is purely sensual - the tactile feel of the clothes on my body give me pleasure. But it hasn't been sexual for 30 years. Instead, the feelings produced lead to relaxation and self-assurance. Seeing my wife naked, being naked with her... that still gives me a bigger erotic thrill than a pair of panties ever will.
I passed the test. I am still myself.