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SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Sexuality | Identity | Attraction

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Definition of Sexual Orientation

Sexual Orientation (or sexuality) is an enduring emotional, spiritual, romantic, or sexual attraction that a person feels toward another person. It can be described as one's natural fondness or affection for another person. It is one's inherent or innate sexual interest in or desire for members of the same, opposite, or both sexes.

Sexual orientation defines one's intimate relationship with another person. It describes one's feelings of love for another person. It is not a choice, lifestyle, or behavior. It is an inner sense of identity.

A person might have an attraction for someone of the same sex (homosexual, gay, lesbian), or the opposite sex (heterosexual, straight), or both sexes (bisexual).

--Gay: Man who is romantically/sexually attracted to or intimately involved with other men (same sex)
--Lesbian: Woman who is romantically/sexually attracted to or intimately involved with other women (same sex)
--Bisexual: Person who is romantically/sexually attracted to or intimately involved with both men and women (both sexes)

--Pansexual/Polysexual: Person who is romantically/sexually attracted to or intimately involved with members of all/many sexes

--Heterosexual (Straight): Person who is romantically/sexually attracted to or intimately involved with members of the opposite sex

--Asexual: Person who experiences no romantic/sexual attraction for another person

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Sexual orientation (or sexuality) describes an enduring pattern of attraction to the opposite sex, the same sex, or both sexes, and the genders that accompany them. These attractions are generally subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality. Asexuality (the lack of romantic or sexual attraction to others) is sometimes identified as the fourth category.

According to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation also refers to a person's sense of "personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them."

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The term sexual preference overlaps with sexual orientation, but is distinguished in psychological research. A person who identifies as bisexual, for example, may sexually prefer one sex over the other. However, the term "sexual preference" suggests a degree of voluntary choice. This is disputed in terms of sexual formation, as consensus among scholars is that sexual orientation is not a choice. There is no simple, single cause for sexual orientation that has been conclusively demonstrated, but research suggests that it is by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences, with biological factors involving a complex interplay of genetic factors and the early uterine environment. Research over several decades has demonstrated that sexual orientation ranges along a continuum, from exclusive attraction to the opposite sex to exclusive attraction to the same sex.

Sexual orientation indicates who we are erotically attracted to. And it falls along a continuum. The ends of this scale are labeled "attracted to women" and "attracted to men." In the mid-range is bisexuality; there are also people who are asexual (attracted to neither men nor women). We tend to think of most people as falling into one of the two extreme categories (attracted to women or attracted to men), whether they are straight or gay, with only a small minority clustering around the bisexual middle. However, Kinsey's studies showed that most people are in fact not at one extreme of this continuum or the other, but occupy some position between.

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Emotional, romantic, affectional...

Most definitions of sexual orientation include a psychological component, such as the direction of an individual's erotic desire, or a behavioral component, which focuses on the sex of the individual's sexual partner(s). Some people prefer simply to follow an individual's self-definition or identity.

The APA states that "sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, or affectional attraction toward others. It is easily distinguished from other components of sexuality including biological sex, gender identity (the psychological sense of being male or female), and the social gender role (adherence to cultural norms for feminine and masculine behavior). Sexual orientation exists along a continuum that ranges from exclusive heterosexuality to exclusive homosexuality and includes various forms of bisexuality. Bisexual persons can experience sexual, emotional, and affectional attraction to both their own sex and the opposite sex. Persons with a homosexual orientation are sometimes referred to as gay (both men and women) or as lesbian (women only). Sexual orientation is different from sexual behavior because it refers to feelings and self-concept. Individuals may or may not express their sexual orientation in their behaviors."

Sexual identity and sexual behavior are closely related to sexual orientation, but they are distinguished, with identity referring to an individual's conception of themselves, behavior referring to actual sexual acts performed by the individual, and orientation referring to "fantasies, attachments and longings." Individuals may or may not express their sexual orientation in their behaviors. People who have a homosexual sexual orientation that does not align with their sexual identity are sometimes referred to as "closeted." The term may, however, reflect a certain cultural context and particular stage of transition in societies which are gradually dealing with integrating sexual minorities.

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In studies related to sexual orientation, when dealing with the degree to which a person's sexual attractions, behaviors and identity match, scientists usually use the terms concordance or discordance. Thus, a woman who is attracted to other women, but calls herself heterosexual and only has sexual relations with men, can be said to experience discordance between her sexual orientation (homosexual or lesbian) and her sexual identity and behaviors (heterosexual).

Sexual identity may be more effective in describing a person's perception of his or her own sex, rather than sexual orientation.

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Overview of Sexual Orientation

Sexuality is an important part of who we are as humans. Beyond the ability to reproduce, sexuality also defines how we see ourselves and how we physically relate to others. Sexual orientation is a term used to refer to a person's emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction to individuals of a particular gender (male or female).

Sexual orientation is usually divided into at least three general categories:
--Heterosexual: Attracted to individuals of the opposite sex
--Bisexual/Pansexual/Polysexual: Attracted to members of both/any/all sexes
--Homosexual: Attracted to individuals of one's own sex

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Sexual orientation involves a person's feelings and sense of identity. It may or may not be evident in the person's appearance or behavior. People may have attractions to people of the same or opposite sex, but may elect not to act on these feelings. For example, a bisexual may choose to have a monogamous (one partner) relationship with one gender and, therefore, elect not to act on the attraction to the other gender.

Most scientists today agree that sexual orientation (including homosexuality and bisexuality) is the result of a combination of environmental, emotional, hormonal, and biological factors. In other words, there are many factors that contribute to a person's sexual orientation, and the factors may be different for different people.

However, homosexuality and bisexuality are not caused by the way a child was reared by his or her parents, or by having a sexual experience with someone of the same sex when the person was young. Also, being homosexual or bisexual does not mean the person is mentally ill or abnormal in some way, although there may be social problems that result from prejudicial attitudes or misinformation.

For many people, their sexual orientation becomes evident to them during adolescence or young adulthood, and in many cases without any sexual experience. For example, homosexuals become aware that their sexual thoughts and activities focus on people of the same sex. It is possible, however, to have fantasies or to be curious about people of the same sex without being homosexual or bisexual, or choosing to act on these impulses/attractions.

[Source: WebMD]

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Sexual Orientation as Doors

Heterosexuality - Door swings one way

Homosexuality - Door swings the other way

Bisexuality - Door swings both ways

Pansexual - Revolving door

Demisexual - Door is locked and one person has the key

Asexual - Door is actually a wall

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Sexual Orientation Explained

Sexual orientation is about who you are attracted to and want to have relationships with. Sexual orientations include gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, and asexual.

Sexual orientation is about who you are attracted to and who you feel drawn to romantically, emotionally, and sexually. It’s different than gender identity.

Gender identity isn’t about who you are attracted to, but about who you ARE (male, female, genderqueer).

This means that being transgender (feeling like your assigned sex is very different from the gender you identify with) isn’t the same thing as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Sexual orientation is about who you want to be with. Gender identity is about who you are.

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There are a bunch of identities associated with sexual orientation:

--People who are attracted to a different gender (women who are attracted to men or men who are attracted to women) often call themselves straight or heterosexual.
--People who are attracted to people of the same gender often call themselves gay or homosexual. Gay women may prefer the term lesbian.
--People who are attracted to both men and women often call themselves bisexual.
--People whose attractions span across many different gender identities (male, female, transgender, genderqueer, intersex) may call themselves pansexual or queer.
--People who are unsure about their sexual orientation may call themselves questioning or curious.
--People who don't experience any sexual attraction for anyone often call themselves asexual.

It’s also important to note that some people don't think any of these labels describe them accurately. Some people don't like the idea of labels at all. Other people feel comfortable with certain labels and not others. It's up to you to decide how you want to label yourself, if at all.

[Source: Planned Parenthood]

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