Ever since I became part of the tumblr community, I’ve started to see the world in a different way. A lot of different people gather there, each of them with their own unique morals and beliefs. And so, when I first went into it, I was overwhelmed by the tons of information that I found. People writing about religion, about feminism,about poetry or science theories, anything I could think of. One of the most discussed topics my eye,sexuality, because I’ve always been interested and well informed about it, but I found myself confused by terms and concepts that I didn’t knew existed. What did asexual exactly stand for? Did pansexuality had something to do with Pangea? Was non-binary a new computer code? (okay, maybe not those same doubts, but you get the point). And I thought I was all-knowing on the matter, ha.
So after doing some thinking, I’ve decided to do some research on the matter, on sexuality, sexual preferences and gender identities, and write about it. Because maybe some of you may find it interesting too and it will clear your doubts.
For starters, since the main topic of this discussion is
SEXUALITY, we will start by defining it. Human sexuality is defined as
the capacity of human beings to have erotic experiences and responses. A person's sexual orientation can influence their sexual interest and attraction for another person.Sexuality may be experienced and expressed in a variety of ways; including thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, practices, roles, and relationships. These may manifest themselves in biological, physical, emotional, social, or spiritual aspects. (from wikipedia). Hence, we may conclude that sexuality is defined not only by, for example, our sexual preferences, but it is a combination of various things that we will see now: biological sex, gender identity, sexual orientation and romantic attraction (and other things that I come up with).
On the biological aspect, we have the
BIOLOGICAL SEX. This involves the physical characteristics we are born with, including genitalia, body shape, hormones, chromosomes… The categories that the biological sex offers are:
female, for people with feminine genitalia and genetic material (XX chromosomes, presenting vagina, uterus, ovaries…);
male, if the person presents masculine genitalia and genetic materials (XY chromosomes, penis, testicles…); or
intersex, if the person presents both genitalia, or partially developed genitalia (XXY genotipe, for example).
Some times (if not all of them)
Biological Sex is regarded the same as
GENDER IDENTITY, but it's not.
The way we see ourselves, as a woman or a man, both or neither, has nothing to do with the sex we are born with. Thus, not all women identify as female, not all men as male, and such. What we feel that we are, I believe, has to do with our brain development, our hormones and neuronal connexions, plus a bunch of environmental factors. (Who knows, the human brain is still a mystery).
Back to our topic,
Gender Identity is explained as the internal perception of an individual’s gender, and how they label themselves. Regardless of their biological sex, I must add.
- Cisgender: a description for a person whose gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex all align (e.g., man, masculine, and male).
- Non-binary: describes any gender identity which does not fit within the binary of male and female. Non-binary people may also identify as transgender and/or transsexual. Many non-binary people wish to appear androgynous* and adopt unisex names, gender-neutral titles such as Mx. and/or gender-neutral pronouns, but others prefer to express themselves in ways which are traditionally seen as masculine or feminine, or to mix aspects of the two. Non-binary people can have any sexual orientation.
*Androgyny: a gender expression that has elements of both masculinity and femininity.
Those with non-binary genders can identify as:
- Transgender/transexual: a person whose gender identity is the binary opposite of the sex they’re born with. they may undergo medical treatment to change their sex to match their gender identity, or they may live their lives as the opposite sex. The term “transexual” is less adecuate than transgender so they’re trying to drop it, but they both refer to the same thing.
- Trans-man: a person who was assigned a female sex at birth, but identifies as a man.
- Trans-woman: a person who was assigned a male sex at birth, but identifies as a woman.
- Agender: (also referred to as "gender-neutral") is a term used to describe a person without gender. Often, these people are not concerned with their physical sex, but some may seek to look androgynous. Sometimes, an agendered person is also neutrois (seeks to appear as gender neutral also on the physical aspect).
- Bigender / Pangender: Have multiple gender identities. A person who fluctuates between “woman” and “man” gender-based behavior and identities, identifying with both genders (and sometimes with a third gender).
- Demigender: Have a weak or partial connection to a gender identity.
- There may also be people who feel like they have a culturally specific gender identity (sometimes refered to as Third Gender) which exists only within the culture they or their ancestors belong to.
Genderfluidity: When one moves between genders, or fluctuates between them. So one may feel infinitely female one day, then feel male the next day, or anything in between. People who identify as such are not confused of their gender, but rather uses this as an identity on it's own.
The third point that I think is very important to explain is
SEXUAL ORIENTATION. This is defined as
the type of romantic, physical and/or spiritual attraction one feels for others, and is often labeled based on the gender relationship between the person and the people they are attracted to. This term is often mistakenly referred to as “sexual preference”. Sexual preference, on the other hand, refers to the types of sexual intercourse, stimulation and gratification one likes to receive and participate in.
It’s important to differentiate between
sexually attracted and
romantically attracted, since both things are complimentary to one another and may not always coincide.
Sexual attraction could be defined as the sexual intercourse one likes to participate in, while romantic attraction mainly refers to experiencing romantic attraction towards another person or not presenting it at all.
Romantic attraction (it may also be referred as orientation) is the desire to be intimate with someone, but not necessarily sexual. This category is often used by asexuals, since they don’t feel sexual attraction, but they can feel romantic attraction.
Back into the sexual attraction, we can find a wide range of clear labels, although it’s important to understand that everyone may have their exception.
- Heterosexual: being attracted to the opposite sex and gender.
- Homosexual: being attracted to the same sex and gender. The term lesbian is used to describe a woman attracted to other woman, and the term gay is to address men attracted to other men, although it is also embraced by women attracted to same-sex people.
- Bisexual: being attracted to two sexes and/or gender. Often confused with pansexuality, but not the same.
- Pansexual: experiencing sexual attraction regardless of the gender, gender identity or sex of the person. Pansexuals often like to refer themselves as “gender-blind”, as for them gender is irrelevant to feel sexual attraction.
- Polysexuality: Stands between bisexuality and pansexuality. When one is sexually attracted to anyone without regards to gender, sex, or gender identity. Is the sexual attraction to more than one gender but do not wish to be known as bisexual as it implies that there are only two binary sexes (man and woman), do not confuse this with pansexuality (Pan meaning All) and (Poly meaning many).
- Asexual: does not experience any sexual attraction. Asexuality is an intrinsic part of who someone is, unlike celibacy which is chosen abstinence. The asexual spectrum is incredible wide, as not every asexual can be labeled the same, since each experiences relationships, attraction, arousal in a different way. being asexual does not make anyone's life any worse or any better, they just face a different set of challenges than most sexual people. Some asexuals do participate in sex, for a variety of reasons. They may be either sex repulsed or indifferent.
- Greysexual: occasionally may experience sexual attraction.
- Demisexual: only experiences sexual attraction when they’ve formed a strong emotional bond with someone.
- Skoliosexuality: When one is attracted to those who are non-binary* individual. Attracted to genderqueer and transsexual people and expressions (people who aren’t identified as cisgender).
If any of you have heard or read the term “questioning”, it refers to the process of exploring one’s own sexual orientation.
One’s sexual and romantic orientations may not coincide because both orientations are independent from each other, even when there are some combinations that are most commonly seen.
Just as
sexual attraction,
romantic attraction follows the same pattern: we can find heteroromantics, homoromantics, biromantics, panromantics, demiromantics… However it’s interesting to mention aromantics,as it’s often paired with asexuality but they don’t necessarily go together.
Aromantic is used when one experiences little or no romantic attraction towards others. these people are ofthe satisfied with friendship and non-romantic relationships. it is important to remark that aromantics do not lack emotional connection, but simply do not feel the need to develop a romantic emotions. Aromantics have needs for empathetic support just as romantics do, but it can be satisfied with platonic relationships. Like all romantic identities aromatics can be of any sexual orientation
To sum up, sexuality is a combination of different aspects of a person, and all of them need to be taken into account. All of these labels are legit and is important to respect, tolerate and value everyone .
I’ve made this review to inform and raise awareness about this topic, since I believe that a lot of people are confused and this may help them understand what a wide sea sexuality is. If you have any further doubt you can check the links I’ve used to gather the information, because they’re really helpful and everything is amazingly explained. Finally, thanks a lot to
Pacey, for helping me write about this in a respectable and informative way and gathering information for me. See you!
Sources:
http://transstudent.org/gender
