Sexual fantasy across gender identity: a qualitative investigation of differences between cisgender and non-binary people’s imagery

Abstract

Sexual imagery and fantasy are key aspects of human sexuality. They are associated with sexual arousal and response and are reflective of societal influences on sexuality. A limitation of the existing literature on sexual fantasies is the pervasive focus on cisgender heterosexual individuals, whose behavior is considered normative in a cis-heteronormative society. This research has established the strong influence of gendered sexual scripts on the functioning and content of (presumably) cisgender individuals’ sexual fantasies. How these gendered scripts might apply to individuals whose gender identity falls outside the binary is an under-researched area of study. The present work is aimed at providing a better understanding of non-binary individuals’ sexuality through a qualitative investigation of sexual fantasies in a matched sample of Italian non-binary and cisgender individuals. Participants included 44 adults, 22 of whom identified as non-binary, 13 as cisgender women, and 9 as cisgender men. Results indicated that the sexual fantasies of non-binary individuals were generally comparable to cisgender individuals but were significantly more likely to contain references to non-normative genitals, and less likely to refer to themselves as the object of desire. Discussion focuses on how the differences in non-binary individuals’ sexual fantasies affirmed, or were the result of, their gender identity.