“I Feel the Most Pleasure When I Don’t Have to Worry”: On Sexual Comfort, t4t, and Trans Pleasure

There is little sociological research about trans pleasure, especially trans sexual pleasure. This article fills this gap by turning to the dating and sex lives of trans women and femmes to learn about trans sex and trans pleasure. Based on qualitative interviews with 48 trans women and femmes in the United States, this article shows how comfort is important in experiencing and giving pleasure and how comfort can be crucial to social relations, including within sexual relations. This article also mainly—but not exclusively—turns to trans for trans relations to explore trans sexualities outside of cis desires. In turning to trans folks’ sex lives, this article challenges the cisness within sexuality studies by moving sex and pleasure away from gender stereotypes and genitals. In doing so, this article proffers a comfort turn within sociology and sexualities studies, demonstrating how comfort is a mode of relation that is crucial for care, communication, consent, and community. Ultimately, comfort can challenge cis assumptions about sex, pleasure, and sexuality.