Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation refers to the sex or gender of people who are the focus of a person's amorous or erotic desires, fantasies, and spontaneous feelings, the gender(s) toward which one is primarily "oriented". The alternative terms sexual preference and sexual inclination have similar meanings. Clinicians and those who believe sexuality is fixed early in life tend to use the former term; those believing sexuality is fluid and reflects preference and choice tend towards the latter terms.

"Alternative" sexual orientations

Some people (often labeled "bisexuals") label themselves pansexual, in that they are attracted to people who don't fit in a clearly definable sex/gender (e.g., transgender and/or intersex people). Other people (including Kinsey) argue that asexual best characterized a segment of the population and should be regarded as its own orientation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sexual fetishism is usually considered orthogonal to the gender-based categories of sexual orientation listed above, though of course it may in some cases be an important part of a person's sexual identity and behavior.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some people feel that various forms of "paraphilia", such as sexual attraction to animals (zoophilia), prepubescent children (pedophilia), or inanimate objects, are "alternative" sexual orientations to those listed above. Others argue that these classifications are orthogonal. (See #Other for research.)

Related Topics:
Paraphilia - Zoophilia - Pedophilia - #Other

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hani Miletski Ph.D., a sexologist and author, argues that zoosexuality was a full sexual orientation by the same criteria that other sexual orientations met:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Chapter 13 repeats and summarizes the answer to the basic research question in the current study - is there a sexual orientation toward animals? The definition of "sexual orientation" was adapted from Francoeur (1991) in his discussion of homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality. According to this definition, sexual orientation consists of three interrelated aspects:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:# Affectional orientation - who or what we bond with emotionally;

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:# Sexual fantasy orientation - about whom or what we fantasize; and

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:# Erotic orientation - with whom or what we prefer to have sex.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:and concludes that all three criteria are met."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Chapter 15 compares my findings with Kinsey et al.'s (1948) study on the sexual behaviors of American men, Kinsey et al.'s (1953) study on the sexual behaviors of American women, the Gebhard et al.'s (1965) study on sex offenders, the Hunt survey (1974), Peretti and Rowan's (1983) study, and Donofrio's (1996) doctoral dissertation."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some people use the term queer as an umbrella term to include homosexuality and bisexuality (as well as transgender and often intersex people), often as well as fetishism, non-human sexual attraction, and/or other "paraphilia", but it may also be used more narrowly. It is also varyingly used as a derogatory term and as a term of pridefulness.

Related Topics:
Queer - Paraphilia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See also: Terminology of homosexuality

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~