Sexuality is how a person expresses themself as a sexual being. It rarely falls into neat categories or lends itself to simple labelling, but rather is a rich and complex area of human experience. The presence or lack of, and type of sexuality is not a choice.
The four major components of sexuality are:
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Sensuality, or the pursuit of physical, especially sexual pleasure
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Intimacy and relationships
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Gender/sexual identity
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Sexual health
Each of these components can have healthy or unhealthy aspects that are influenced by an individual’s values, culture, experience, and spirituality, etc
Sexual orientation is a person’s sexual, emotional, or romantic attraction, and may be influenced by aspects of gender(s) or to whom they are attracted. This can be further divided into allosexuality & asexuality.
Allosexual/ Zedsexual/ Zedsexuality/ zsexuality are those who experience sexual attraction, i.e. is not asexual.
Monosexuals i.e. romantic or sexual attraction is towards members of one sex/gender only. This concept is directly in contrast to sexualities that involve being attracted to more than one sex/gender like bisexuals or pansexuals, etc.
Heterosexuals are individuals attracted to individuals of the Opposite sex.
Homosexuals are individuals who are attracted to the same gender as their own.
Bisexuals / Ambisexuals are individuals who are attracted towards the same sex & one other regardless of gender. Originally, bisexuality was defined as an attraction towards both men & women but, this promoted the concept of binary gender identities & was not inclusive to trans, queer or fluid individuals. Hence, in the recent years, its distinction with Pansexuality has become very blurry, as now bisexuality may be an attraction towards people of the same sex & one other regardless of gender. However, it is important to understand that an individual’s experience of their own bisexuality may be subjective.
Pansexual / Omnisexual / Gender-Ambivalent, are individuals who have sexual, romantic or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex/gender or orientation. Neither Bi’s or Pan’s emphasize the presence of binary gender identity (M/F). Individuals may tend to use terms based on what they are comfortable with, who they are interacting with &/or depending on situations.
Demisexuals/ Demi-asexual are those individuals who do not experience sexual attraction until they form an emotional bond. There can be heterosexual demisexuals or polyamorous demisexuals & so forth. It does not mean that they do not enjoy sex, however, they do so only with people they have formed a bond with. Some may interpret that as a choice to abstain, but they simply are not sexually interested until a close emotional relationship forms. A theory postulates that demisexuals do not experience primary sexual attraction (outward qualities like looks or personality), but only secondary attraction based on connection &/or closeness of relationships.
Polysexuals, on the other hand, experience attraction towards multiple genders, but not all possible genders.
Questioning/ Curious are individuals who are questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation. They are usually still exploring themselves & the social labels associated with identities & orientations
Heteroflexible individuals are primarily heterosexual but with a limited amount of attraction to the same sex, or willingness to take part in a homosexual activity. These can be understood as a form of sexual orientation or situational sexual behavior characterized by minimal sexual activity which is outside of the primary sexual orientation behaviour of the individual; which may or may not distinguish it from bisexuality.
Homoflexible individuals are primarily homosexual, but with a limited amount of attraction to the opposite sex, or willingness to take part in a heterosexual activity
Androphilia describes sexual attraction to men or masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to women or femininity. Ambiphilia describes the combination of both androphilia and gynephilia in a given individual, or bisexuality.
More recently, some new terminology has also has been in use. Even though, not enough people may use them yet and we also do not have enough information about them, but we still wanted to cover some of them.
Skoliosexual/ceterosexual or allotroposexual are individuals who experience sexual attraction towards genderqueer, transgender or non-binary individuals. Even though it’s relatively new & not much in use yet, it is suggested to be more inclusive as many individuals may not account for trans individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Akoisexual/Lithsexual/Akoinesexual are individuals who experience sexual attraction towards others, but their feelings fade if they are reciprocated.
Reciprosexual/Recipsexual are individuals who may not experience sexual attraction unless they know the other individual is attracted to them first.
Asexual individuals are those who feel little or no sexual attraction towards others. It is often widely misunderstood so we decided to make a separate post covering it. You can find it here.
Note: We understand this is by no means a comprehensive list, however, we hope it can serve as an introduction to sexuality. Moreover, as our understanding of sexuality is always evolving, we will try to keep the article as updated as possible. If you want to learn more about anything mentioned above, please feel free drop us comment below.
