The world of sexual orientations and the vocabulary used to describe them is constantly evolving. It can be helpful to know what these different words mean.
The world of sexual orientations and the vocabulary used to describe them is constantly evolving. It can all seem a blur, and more than a little confusing.
If you self-identify with a sexual orientation other than heterosexuality, you likely know what many of these terms already mean.
If you don’t, and whether you support the belief in a spectrum of sexualities or not, it can be helpful to know what these different words mean.
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Why? Well, you’ll be able to know what your friend is referring to, other than loving the rain forest, when they admit, once and for all, to being an ecosexual.
Stay abreast of what the heck is going on. Here’s a (possibly incomprehensive) list of sexualities in 2017:
1) Ecosexual
This one is about liking the view…A LOT.
Do majestic mountains turn you on? According to Outsideonline.com, the term ‘ecosexual’ was previously used to describe the act of dating an environmentally conscious person.
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But the word has since widened its definition, and ecosexuals are now people who are ‘in love with the Earth’. They don’t necessarily want to have sex with a tree, but they might feel turned on by the sight of a magnificent waterfall.
Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle are said to be the biggest advocates of ecosexuality. Stephens says that ecosexuals like to have sex outside, and Sprinkle goes so far as to say that she might “fantasize about a weeping willow tree caressing (her) body with its leaves.”
Weird or wonderful, it’s up to you. Ecosexuality is all about not seeing yourself as separate from nature, and feeling a great love for Mother Earth, sexy sand dunes, and rock hard mountains.
2) Homosexual
Most of us are familiar with the term ‘homosexual’, nonetheless, by definition a homosexual is a person who is sexually and romantically attracted to individuals of their own sex or gender.
Popular example? Ellen Degeneres.
3) Heterosexual
In a world defined as having two gender categories, a person who is heterosexual is sexually and romantically attracted to individuals of the opposite sex. You can probably think of about 125 popular examples in one minute.
4) Transexual
According to itspronouncedmetrosexual.com, a transsexual person identifies psychologically as a gender or sex other than the one they were assigned at birth.
So, for example, Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, was born as a male but later identified with being a female, in the mind.
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Bruce famously went on to reveal a new identity as a trans woman, Caitlyn Jenner, in April of 2015.
5) Pansexual
A person who is pansexual feels that they can be sexually attracted to and fall in love with, all genders, including individuals who are male, female, transgender, intersex, or agendered. Complicated.
Popular examples? According to therichest.com, Lady Gaga and Madonna.
6) Bisexual
Being bisexual means that a person is equally attracted to both males and females.
How is this different from being pansexual? Pansexuality, by definition, implies that there are more than just two genders in the world.
Bisexuality is binary: it’s connected to the idea that there are two genders only, male and female.
Popular examples? Megan Fox and Billie Joe Armstrong.
7) Asexual
An asexual person doesn’t experience sexual feelings or associations towards anyone- or anything. Not even that sexy pine tree, tall and dark as it is.
Popular example? Janeane Garofalo.
8) Androsexual
It’s easier to start by talking about being ‘genderqueer’ with this one. A genderqueer person is someone who doesn’t feel that they are either heterosexual or homosexual. They fall somewhere outside or between those lines.
An androsexual person is someone who is sexually attracted to men, but who is genderqueer and doesn’t self-identify as being in ‘heterosexual’ or ‘homosexual’ relationships.
This one, and the next two, feel like some of the most complicated on the list.
Popular example? Vlogger Justin Drew Blake’s brother, Danny.
9) Gynesexual
Being gynesexual is like being androsexual, but involves an attraction to females.
10) Skoliosexual
A person who identifies as skoliosexual is not attracted to people who identify as being strictly male or female, but to the other gender expressions.
Now you know.
Photo credit: tugol/Shutterstock
