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TransGender Community News

According to the dictionary, a gaffe is defined as a blatant mistake or misjudgment, but in the parlance of the Transgender Community, a gaff is a reinforced polyester body shaper for the male genitalia. To accomplish that clean feminine pubic line when wearing tight skirts or bathing suits, a tight fitting garment with elastic edging has been designed and is available in multiple colors from the Glamour Boutique as pictured below.

So the question I am asking is, “Can the continued wearing of such a garment be deleterious to your health?” Well, believe it or not there have been scientific studies to answer that question.

There are many tucking techniques described where TG's have shaved the scrotum and taped the testicles up into the groin to achieve that feminine line, but a gaff seems to answer that need without the associated discomfort. In order to understand the health aspects we must first know something about our anatomy. The testes in the earliest stages of embryonic development begin to be formed at the level of the kidneys and under the hormonal influence of androgens descend to the level of the scrotum over a period of weeks. In certain cases they do not complete their descent and must be brought down surgically or their growth will be impeded. But in the majority of cases they successfully make the journey into the scrotum so that they will continue to grow and develop normally. It appears that later in life, sperm production requires an environment 1 to 2 degrees Celsius, lower than the body temperature and therefore nature has found a perfect cooler location outside of the body’s core to produce motile sperm. In the field of male infertility many studies have looked at all types of garments like boxer shorts, briefs, athletic supporters and gaffs to see if they are a factor in decreased sperm production. Others have surgically suspended the testes in the inguinal canal temporarily to see if they can be used as a method of male contraception. In studies where the testes were surgically placed against the abdomen at the neck of the scrotum for one year, significant deterioration of sperm quality resulted with a marked decrease in serum Testosterone. Pregnancies did not occur in this voluntary group of 28 males. Six months following release of the testes to the normal scrotal position, sperm count and hormonal levels returned to normal.

Since nobody is contemplating surgery to achieve this purpose, “Will wearing a gaff daily or for 24 hours cause these changes?” In a study comparing the daily wearing of boxers and briefs, the scrotal temperatures did not seem to be significantly different or responsible for male infertility. As an aside, continued use of the sauna for a 2 week period in another study did cause a reversible decrease in sperm motility and count. But in California at UCLA they compared the daily wearing of a polyester or Double polyester athletic supporter to a double layered supporter impregnated with aluminum. This study most closely approximates the gaff as we know it. In all three groups for a period of one year, scrotal temperature was increased daily by .8 to 1 degree C., while wearing all of the supporters. Mean sperm concentration, sperm motility and morphology were not affected by this increase in scrotal temperature. Thus we are free to wear our gaffs without worry. But the French took this one step further and devised an undergarment with a large hole where the testes could be elevated into the inguinal canals and the empty scrotum and penis pulled through the hole. Now this will not give you a perfectly clean line, but it did provide a reversible method of male contraception for all but one person in the study.

So from a medical point of view there is only one more thing to consider. Blood flow to the penis and testes must not be impeded in any way. If pain or numbness of the penis which has been pushed under the pubis occurs, immediate repositioning is necessary. If severe pain occurs in the testes this may mean that the spermatic cord to which the testis is attached has been twisted. If this pain is not relieved by removing the gaff, a ride to the Emergency Room is in order. There have been no reports of damage to the genitalia from this garment that I can find. So happy gaffing when you wear those bikinis.

Cerise Richards, M.D.