Agora: Red Deer Polytechnic Undergraduate Journal
Volume 16:1 2025 Agora Conference Proceedings

Pornification of Transgender Women
Kia Ladino
A transgender individual is a person whose gender
expression, behavior, or gender identity does not stereotypically
conform with the sex to which the individual was assigned at
birth (American Psychology Association, 2024). Contrary to
popular belief, the idea of a transgender individual is not just a
modern creation. The concept of a gender or sex outside the
binary has been found across many different cultures, countries
and time periods (Public Broadcast Station, 2023). The label
transgender however is newer. Scholars can date the use of the
term transgender individuals being used around 1960
(Blakemore, 2022). The first European transgender medical
reassignment surgery was in 1906 in Berlin where an intersex
individual named Karl M[artha] Baer, who was assigned female
at birth, became one of the first people to have a “sex
reassignment” surgery to masculinize their genitals. In addition,
he was the first person to fully legally change their birth
certificate to reflect their new gender (Funke, 2011).
Transgender individuals face a wide variety of
challenges, including but not limited to, violence, harassment,
poverty, and discrimination from jobs or healthcare resources
(Role, 2017). One of the few job fields that has been easier to

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access for transgender individuals, especially women, is the
adult film industry or pornography industry (Role, 2017).
Transgender individuals in porn were “revolutionary” as it led to
a newfound exposure that had never been there before. The
predominance of transgender porn became widespread in the
1960s through pornographic magazine publications, but usually
only featured white transfeminine women (Pezzutto, 2022). A
transfeminine woman is an individual who transitions from male
to a female. However, in the 1960s transfeminine individuals
usually would still have a penis and breasts, whether they were
fake or surgically implanted. The two most famous names in the
beginning of the transfeminine porn industry were white French
celebrities, Bambi and Coccinelle (Pezzutto, 2022). The first
wave of these transfeminine women in porn had them labeled as
“female impersonators” or ‘female mimics’ (Pezzutto, 2022).
There were many magazines featuring the erotic publications of
transfeminine women. Some key names were Transvestia, which
started in the 1960s, Female Mimics first published in 1963, and
lastly, Female Impersonators, whose first publication was in
1969 (Pezzutto, 2022). The second publication of Female
Mimics in 1963 had Coccinelle featured in an image with text
that said, “France’s Most Fabulous She-Male”. The publication
of these “female impersonators” lead to a rise in the popularity
of transfeminine porn over the last six decades. Specifically, in

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2022, Pornhub released their Year in Review report which goes
though the site’s data on trends and top searches in the year. The
‘transgender’ category grew by 75% and was the 7th most
popular category worldwide (Pornhub, 2022). It was also found
that, of the profiles created on Pornhub,

men viewed

transgender porn videos 22% more than women (Pornhub,
2022). However, women were more likely to view “trans male
transgender” 115% more then men (Pornhub, 2022).
In their paper, Heck (2020) argues that society has
created negative presuppositions about women in terms of them
being aroused by being pressured into rape and enjoying said
rape due to pornographic depictions. Pornographic categories
are created based popularity of what is searched or deemed
popular. Early categories of pornographic materials utilized the
idea of women being raped and depicted women in these scenes
enjoying being raped instead of fearing it (Heck 2020). This
pressure on cis women (individuals whose gender identity
corresponds to their genetic and or primary sex characteristics at
birth; Merriam-Webster, n.d.) to sexually enjoy something that
can be traumatizing can be seen similarly in transfeminine
women, if not worse, in regard to their genital parts assigned at
birth. In transgender feminine pornography, there is a highly
sought after trope called ‘‘the tranny surprise’’ in which there is
the surprise of an extra penis in a seemingly heterosexual

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encounter (Escoffier, 2011; Ochoa, 2024). This argument will be
similar to Heck (2020), more specifically, it will be focused on
how porn has led to the fetishization of transfeminine women
and their penises, both in and outside of sexual contexts, leading
to more violence and harassment by straight men.
There is an increased sexual interest in things that are
deviant. Something taboo, strange, new, hidden, or abnormal can
be viewed as erotic and can be more sought out based on
curiosity or the need to satisfy an urge (Engle, 2020). Sadly,
adult homosexuality was considered a disease due to the
association with deviant sexual behaviour and distance from
heterosexual norms, making it part of the original Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1952
(Cabaj, N.D.; Drescher, 2015). However, due to the 1969
Stonewall riots in New York, many activists believed that the
current psychiatric theories on homosexuality were a leading
contributor to the social stigma of homosexuality (Drescher,
2015). Homosexuality was finally removed from the DSM in its
second edition in 1973 (Ault & Brzuzy, 2009; Cabaj, N.D.).
Despite this, the removal of homosexuality from the DSM did
not

fully

normalize

it.

Much

scientific

research

on

homosexuality in the early research stages had contained both
implicit and explicit beliefs about gender as a binary (Drescher,
2015). This binary belief led to the intersex hypothesis of

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homosexuality where it is believed that the brain of a
homosexual individual will exhibit characteristics considered
normative of the opposite gender (Drescher, 2015). In addition,
the removal of homosexuality from the DSM introduced gender
identity disorder seven years later in 1980 which only
emphasized issues regarding the gender binary and issues of
sexuality (Ault & Brzuzy, 2009; Cabaj, N.D.). Within the
removal of homosexuality from the DSM, the intersex
hypothesis of homosexuality could have been a reason gender
identity disorder was added, specifically due to the confusion of
a women who is attracted to women having a “male brain” and
vise versa (Drescher, 2015). The early pathologization of
homosexuality and gender identity led to more people being
outcasted in society by their “unusual” natures or desires in a
heteronormative world. However, the issues surrounding the out
casting of individuals who are of non-heteronormative ideals
have expanded itself to additional queer relationships, gender
expression, and gender identity in our modern society. There has
been a more recent argument about the sexual identity of those
who

date

transgender

gyandromorphophilic

individuals

(Ashley

&

being

labeled

Robertson,

as

2020).

Gyandromorphophilic is defined as transgender fan, a
transgender catcher, or someone who has a sexual interest in
individuals who have both male and female physical

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characteristics (Escoffier, 2011; Hsu et al., 2016). However,
there has been research done that has found that those who date
transgender individuals who are pre- or post-operation and
identify as straight do not see their partner as their assigned
gender at birth and instead as their chosen gender (Ashley &
Robertson, 2020; Escoffier, 2011). It is saddening to see that this
type of research is having to be done to change the current
position about straight men or women who are in a heterosexual
relationship, but society questions both parties due to one of
them being transgender. Furthermore, through the decades the
more unusual or taboo a sexual act is to the heteronormative
sexual relationship, the more erotic it can become due to the
risky nature of being caught doing or liking the act. Many have
attributed the false belief of the abnormality of transgender
relationships to the realm of issues that have evolved from
pornography exposure but also stereotypes of the transgender
community.
Though the porn industry has introduced and created a
high level of exposure to transgender bodies in an attempt to
normalize them, it has also created an atmosphere for them to be
judged by the general population. With the transgender porn
industry evolving, there are still many derogatory words that are
used to search for this type of porn. Transgender feminine
creating this explicit material will use terms or phrasings in their

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posts like “girl with a dick”, “shemale”, “bitch”, “tranny” and
many more in order to attract clientele (Ochoa, 2024). Many
within the queer community, specifically outside of the porn
industry, see these terms as derogatory and/or in a negative way
to describe a transgender feminine individual, but many within
the industry take advantage of these terms and see it as
“acceptable under the implication of capitalism” (Ochoa, 2024
p. 34). Though some websites have improved and evolved their
terminology, there is still push back on the idea of losing revenue
or profit by re labeling old content. Grooby is one of the most
popular producers of specifically transgender porn (G, 2017).
The company was created in 1996 and began with its flagship
sites of Shemales Yum, and was followed by many other titles
like, but not limited to, Black Shemale Hardcore, Shemale
Pornstar, and Ladyboy-Ladyboy (G, 2017). In 2017, Grooby
started rebranding their transgender website from SheMales
Yum, to GroobyGirls.com, but it was not without its own
hesitations and push backs against the change and relabeling of
their brand. Kristel Penn, Grooby’s marketing and editorial
director, had made comments about the fact that “shemale” and
“tranny” are searched keywords that are used significantly
higher than transgender, so rebranding could negatively impact
the website traffic which could cause a loss in profit (G, 2017).
However, this pushback sadly maintains the negative

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stereotypes and false beliefs just to continue a pornographic
capitalist agenda instead of evolving outdated terminology.
The porn industry has had an effect on society’s vision
of the “ideal trans women” basing them off transgender feminine
porn actors who have not had medical gender reassignment
surgery, creating a false belief that this is how all transgender
feminine women look. In addition, pornographic media,
transfeminine women are depicted with big boobs, large butts
and the heteronormative idea of what is a “passable” appearance
(Fisher, N.D.). Western culture’s idea of a passable appearance
causes separation within the transgender community of women
who do compared to women who do not have access to particular
methods of transitioning, whether that is through lack of
finances, safe access, or blatant restriction from medical care
from medical professionals (Fisher, N.D.). Some transfeminine
actresses are advised or feel as if they are forced to delay their
gender affirming surgeries regarding their genitals in order to
continue creating specifically shemale type porn (Escoffier,
2011; G, 2017). However, many of these actresses also
experience dysphoria with their pre-transition bodies and desire
gender affirming surgeries contrary to the standard created by
shemale type porn (G, 2017). In addition, the bodies of pre
surgery transgender feminine women are viewed as abnormal
due to the contradiction between their secondary sex

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characteristics and their primary sex characteristics. The
deviation from the binary in a cisnormativity world turns
transgender bodies into a subject of taboo which also leads to
their fetishization. Due to the public fetishization of
transfeminine women in porn, many transfeminine individuals
are scared or detest the modern Western dating scenes. An
interview done by Reign (2018) spoke with different trans
feminine individuals to discuss their perspective and experience
on modern dating and sexual relations. Many of these
individuals discussed their distress in feeling “dysphoric” or
“like a circus freak”, while for others their discomfort was
created by something as simple as being misgendered by their
sexual partner (Reign, 2018). One specific interview discussed
how when the transgender participants would vocalize their
disinterest in “being someone’s experiment, men would get
really aggressive and violent” (Reign, 2018). Similarly, a second
interview discussed how the trans individual would vocalize that
she does not enjoy when her sexual partners are interested or
play with her penis, but the sexual partners always ignore her
wish (Reign, 2018). Overall, this behaviour towards their trans
feminine partner may be attributed to a perception the
individuals had in their minds about what a trans feminine
partner should look like and were unwilling to compromise on
this.

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In conclusion, heteronormative Western society has
forced the hand of many transfeminine women into the adult
film industry due to easier access and less restriction, especially
for those who have not undergone “bottom” gender
reassignment surgery. However, this has also created and upheld
negative stereotypes about transgender feminine women as
being a novelty “woman with a dick”. The porn industry has
segregated the transgender community through its use of
derogatory terms and pressure to not complete their transition in
order to continue making income. The fetishization of
transgender women through their penis creates an unsafe dating
space in the modern world, filled with those who are more
interested in fulfilling their fantasies of being with a shemale.

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