Multiple Os

Here’s an interest article that really highlights the power of imagination in the phenomenon of the phantom penis. A takeaway for me is the power of the mind and imagination in orgasm.

In addition to trans men, I am aware of some cis females, including my play partner, who report orgasms, whether under scientific or esoteric definition, that feel external to the body especially when they are using the strap-on. Previous studies reported orgasms in phantom limbs as well as pain in phantom limbs. Phantom orgasms have also been reported in dreams of paraplegic males and females. Below is an excerpt I found particularly interesting in the article, which is open access:

“The trans man can append these dynamics on the inclusive penis by imagining his penis’s erection, its swelling, stiffening, pulsating, and ejaculating. In his study on trans men viewers on XTube, Edelman (2015) reported how trans men “phenomenologically manage” their genitals to “destabilize hegemonic notions on maleness” (p. 150), for example, by “framing vaginal secretions in the same manner as ejaculation” (p. 157). As Gallese (2016) explains, “Motor imagery does qualify as a further form on embodied simulation, since it implies reusing our motor apparatus to imagine actions that are not actual, and to simulate situations that are not real. Feeling-as and motor imagination grant steadfastness to the volitional phantom penis” (p. 241).

The hypothesis is summarized well by Hontscharuk’s discussion of the article: “According to Straayer, neophallic shaft orgasm is described as a phantom sensation in and of itself. It is thought to aid in spreading erogenous sensation throughout the neophallus, helping to augment postsurgical sensory outcomes. The phalloplasty procedure is thought to optimize the embodiment of the phantom, and the phantom is thought to enhance neophallic erogenous sensation” (p. 302).

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15240657.2020.1842075

ABSTRACT

This article investigates transgender men’s phantom penis experience with respect to several contexts: historical reportage and medical explanations of phantom limbs and phantom penises following amputation; body dysphoria and “melancholic strength”; all renditions of trans penis including the testosterone-morphed clitoris; phenomenology and prosthetic incorporation; the neurobiology of metoidioplasty and phalloplasty; and neuroscience research on cortical mapping, hard-wired gender, proprioception, brain plasticity, epiphenomenal orgasm, the rubber hand illusion (RHI), virtual reality (VR) embodiment, and mirror neurons. Although a unique phantom instantiation, trans men’s phantom penises are instructively related to congenital aplasia, visual and motor neural simulation, and cis men’s phantom penises. I examine three aspects of trans men’s phantom penis: phantom presence of a penis, phantom penile erogenous sensation, and the volitional phantom penis. An emphasis on function over visibility, pleasure over presence, and synthesis over staidness enables an understanding of phantom penis sensation as the neurological underpinning of all erogenous penile perception and therefore a desirable asset for trans men’s sexuality. In that vein, cognitive imagination is deployed to postulate volitional phantom penises.