Opus 419a (July 15, 2021):  During Open Access Month, here’s a Bunny Bonus defining and describing genders and sexualities. I’ve been as baffled by the flood of terms, by this whole new vocabulary and its extensiveness, as I have been by nothing before or since. Suspecting others are similarly loose-ended by it all, I was delighted to come across an explanation of most of the new words. And in the public spirit that animates all our efforts here at Rancid Raves and the Intergalactic Wurlitzer, we are sharing the whole cadenza with you; herewith—:

GENDERS AND SEXUALITIES

The only term I’m aware of that isn’t listed here is “straight,” meaning a person who is romantically and sexually the sex assigned at birth. At the time that I first learned of homosexuality (I was about 22 if you can believe that naivety), there weren’t very many terms for the varieties of sexual orientations. “Gay” embraced all homosexuals, including lesbians; later, “lesbian,” was used for lesbians and “gay” was not. “Butch” was used to designate masculine-looking or -behaving lesbians.

            I learned all the foregoing from my roommate during my first stay in New York City in the fall of 1959. We didn’t know each other before hitching a ride together to the City with a mutual friend, Christopher Glenn (who would go on to fame with CBS radio; see Opus 197, December 2006). We decided to get an apartment together because the rent for each of us would be less. Later, after we’d been sharing the apartment for a month or so, my roomie told me he was gay. So profound was my naivety that he had to explain what “gay” meant. His explanation included his own life story and his discovery while in high school that he was gay. It all seemed not only logical to me but also sensible and perfectly understandable, and so I was able to avoid forming any sort of prejudice about gay people. I’ve since acquired numerous other explanations, all of which support what he told me.

            Over the years since then, the “gay” world has expanded and contracted often enough that there are now a host of terms used to designate which gender or sex a person might be. If you are as baffled by this diversity in vocabulary as I am, you might appreciate having the following list to keep handy in case of need.

            Before we get to the specifics of a list, here are a few key notions—:

            A person’s sex, as determined by their biology, does not always correspond with their gender. Therefore, the terms “sex” and “gender” are not interchangeable.

            “Sex” refers to physical or physiological differences between male, female, and intersex bodies, including both primary sex characteristics (the reproductive system) and secondary sex characteristics (such as breasts and facial hair).

            “Gender” is a term that refers to social or cultural distinctions associated with a given sex; it is generally considered to be a socially constructed concept.

            Gender identity is the extent to which one identifies with their sex assigned at birth. In many Western cultures, individuals who identify with a role that is different from their biological sex are called transgender.

            “Human sexuality ” refers to people’s sexual interest in and attraction to others, as well as their capacity to have erotic experiences and responses.

            Sex: The distinguishing property, quality, or assemblage of properties by which organisms are classified as female, male, or intersex on the basis of their reproductive organs and functions.

            Gender: The sociocultural phenomenon of the division of people into various categories according to their biological sex, with each having associated roles, clothing, stereotypes, etc.; those with male sex characteristics are perceived as “boys” and “men,” while those with female sex characteristics are perceived as “girls” and “women.”

            Intersex: A variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that do not allow an individual to be distinctly identified as male or female.

            Sexuality: People’s sexual interest in and attraction to others; their capacity to have erotic experiences and responses.

            Gonad: The sex organs that produce gametes; specifically, the testicles or ovaries.

Now, with that under our belts, here’s that list—:

Romantic Orientation- Who you are romantically attracted to meaning wanting to be in a romantic relationship with and is unrelated to sexual attraction.

Sexual Orientation- Who you are sexually attracted to meaning who you get turned on by or who you would want to engage in sexual behaviors with.

*note all listed below are applicable also to romantic orientations. These take the prefix of the word and the ending -romantic, i.e. heteroromantic, panromantic, aromantic.

Heterosexual- The attraction to a gender different from their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the other binary gender).

Homosexual- The attraction to a gender the same as their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the same binary gender).  Sometimess referred to as gay.

Lesbian- Women who are attracted only to other women

Bisexual- When you are attracted to two or more genders.  This term is generally used to describe being attracted to men and women, but can apply to being attracted to any two or more genders. Note that you do not have to be equally attracted to each gender.

Pansexual- When you are attracted to all genders and/or do not concern gender when you are attracted towards someone

Bicurious- People who are open to experiment with genders that are not only their own, but do not know if they are open to forming any sort of relationship with multiple genders.

Polysexual- When you are attracted to many genders

Monosexual- Being attracted to only one gender

Allosexual- When you are not asexual (attracted to at least one gender)

Androsexual- Being attracted to masculine gender presentation

Gynosexual- Being attracted to feminine gender presentation

Questioning- People who are debating their own sexuality/gender

Asexual- Not experiencing sexual attraction (note that you can also be aromantic and you do not necessarily have to be asexual and aromantic at the same time).  Sometimes the term, ace, is used to describe asexuals.

Demisexual- When you only experience sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional bond first or a romantic bond

Grey Asexual- When you only experience attraction rarely, on a very low scale, or only under certain circumstances

Perioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientation targets the same gender (for example being heteromantic and heterosexual or being biromantic and bisexual)

Varioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientations do not target the same set of genders (for example being heteromantic and bisexual or being homoromantic and pansexual)

Heteronormative- The belief that hetersexuality is the norm and that sex, gender, sexuality, and gender roles all align

Erasure- Ignoring the existence of genders and sexualities in the middle of the spectrum

Cishet- Someone who is both cisgendered and heterosexual.  This is sometimes used as a slur.

Polyamorous- An umbrella term referring to people who have or are open to having consensual relationships with multiple people at the same time

Monoamorous- People who have or or open to having relationships with only one other person at a time.  The term, monogamous, is also sometimes used.

Queer- A reclaimed slur for anybody in the LGBT+ community or who does not identify as cisgender and/or hetersexual/heteromantic

Ally- A supporter of the LGBT+ community who does not identify as LGBT+ GENDER & SEX

Sex- Your assigned gender at birth and/or the gender of your reproductive organs

Gender- Where you feel that you personally fall on the spectrum between male and female. Commonly, people identify as male or female, but some fall in the middle or move throughout the spectrum.

Cisgender- When you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth

Transgender- When you identify with a gender different than that you were assigned at birth

Transsexual- When you have had Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS) to change the sexual organs you were born with to that of a different gender.

*note that you will sometimes see an asterisk after Trans (Trans*) which is meant to include both transgendered and transsexual individuals

Male to Female (MtF)- When somebody that is assigned as a male at birth identifies as a female

Female to Male (FtM)- When somebody that is assigned as a female at birth identifies as a  male

Binary- The genders at each end of the gender spectrum (male and female)

Non-Binary- An umbrella term for genders that fall somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum and are neither strictly male or female.  This can be used as a gender identification without further explanation.  Sometimes the term, genderqueer, is used.

Genderfluid- Moving between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity

Agender- Not identifying with any gender.  Sometimes referred to as being genderless or gendervoid

Bigender-  Identifying as two genders, commonly (but not exclusively) male and female.  Sometimes you feel like both genders at the same time and sometimes you fluctuate.

Polygender- When you identify with multiple genders at once.  Sometimes referred to as multigender.

Neutrois- When you identify as agender, neither male nor female, and/or genderless

Gender Apathetic- When you really do not identify nor care about any particular gender.  You are fine passing off as whatever and you really do not have an opinion towards your own gender.

Androgyne- This term overlaps a lot between gender identification and presentation.  It can be used to describe others and as an identification.   This term is used to describe people who are neither male nor female or are both male and female.  Basically anyone who does not fit into a binary gender category.

Intergender- Somebody who's gender is somewhere between male and female

Demigender- When you feel as if you are one part a defined gender and one or more parts an undefined gender.  Terms can include demigirl, demiboy, demiagender, etc.

Greygender- Somebody with a weak gender identification of themselves

Aporagender- Somebody with a strong gender identification of themselves that is non-binary

Maverique- A non-binary gender that exists outside of the orthodox social bounds of gender

Novigender- A gender that is super complex and impossible to describe in a single term

Designated gender- A gender assigned at birth based on an individuals sex and/or what gender society percieves a person to be

AFAB- Assigned Female At Birth

AMAB- Assigned Male At Birth

Gender Roles- Certain behaviors and activities expected/considered acceptable of people in a particular society based upon their designated gender

Gender Presentation- The gender you present yourself to others.  This is sometimes referred to as gender expression

Transitioning- The process of using medical means to change your sex

Intersex- A biological difference in sex that occurs when people are born with genitals, gonads, and/or chromosomes that do not match up exactly with male or female.  Intersex individuals can have any romantic/sexual orientation and can have any gender identification.  Intersex individuals are about as common as redheads.

Dyadic- Someone who is not intersex and when their genitals, gonads, and chromosomes can all match into either a male or female category

Trans Woman- Someone who is assigned as a male at birth, but identifies as a woman

Trans Man- Someone who is assigned as a female at birth, but identifies as a man

Trans Feminine- Someone who identifies as feminine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman.  They must also be assigned male at birth.

Trans Masculine- Someone who identifies as masculine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman.  They must also be assigned female at birth.

Social Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced when acting in ways socially different than your gender or being addressed in ways different to your gender

Body Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced because of the difference between gender and your sex, role, or gender expression

Butch- A term used to describe someone who's gender expression is more masculine than feminine.  This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians.

Femme (Fem)- A term used to describe someone who's gender expression is more feminine than masculine.  This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians.

Binarism- Putting gender strictly into two categories (male and female) and refusing to acknowledge genders outside of male and female.

AND THAT’S ABOUT ALL I KNOW on the matter. And I don’t know it well enough that I can operate without this list.

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