Gynesexual is a term that has recently emerged. Although the term may be growing in usage, and is significant and well-sourced enough to warrant inclusion on this wiki, it may still be relatively unknown outside of the platform or community where it originated. The exact definition and name may not have stabilized, and may change significantly as more people identify with it.
Gynesexual is a sexual orientation where a person is attracted to women, females, and/or femininity.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] There are other prefixes that are sometimes used instead of gyne- to express the same range of attraction, such as gyno-,[8] and woma-. It describes a person's attractions without specifying their own gender.[1]
Gynesexual can be used to mean both sexual and romantic attraction.[2][3][4][5] However, gyneromantic is a label that is used only for romantic attraction, with the same range of attraction as gynesexual (i.e. to women, females, and/or femininity).[1][9][10] The same alternative prefixes for gyne- can be used for gyneromantic, as in gynoromantic and womaromantic.[1]
Etymology[]
The prefix gyne- comes from the Greek word for "woman". In some cases, gynesexual may also be referred to as "gynephilia", which combines gyne- with the suffix -philia, which means "love of". As a result, gynephilia means "love of women".[11]
The prefix gyne- can be combined with the -romantic suffix to denote romantic attraction to women/femininity. Related to this, gyne- combined with the -sexual suffix can mean sexual attraction to women/femininity in particular.[1][9][10]
Although the word "gynesexual" was used as early as 1978 in The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender by Nancy Chodorow, that usage was in the context of psychoanalist Sigmund Freud's concepts.[12] Another early mention was in a Usenet discussion in 1997.[11]
Community[]
Flag[]
A proposed gyneromantic flag
A Fem-/Gyne-/Gyno- pride flag was available online as early as April 23, 2016, on the Pride-Flags DeviantArt account; however, its creator and color meanings are unknown.[13] A flag specifically for gyneromantic was available online as early as May 10, 2016, on the same account, but its creator and color meanings also remain unknown.[14]
Distinction[]
Gay[]
- Main article: Gay
The term gay means attraction to the same gender as oneself, such as gay women who are attracted to other women, also known as lesbians.[1] In the case of a woman who uses the gynesexual label, some people may mistakenly believe this is the same thing as labeling herself as a gay woman or lesbian, but gynesexual does not specify she is a woman or any other gender. It indicates a person's attractions without including the gender of the person using the label. Thus, lesbian women, straight men, and non-binary people attracted to women are all encompassed by the gynesexual label.[1][6][7][8]
Straight[]
- Main article: Straight
Straight is a term used to describe a person who is attracted to "the other binary gender" than their own, such as a straight man being attracted only to women.[1] As with the term gay, gynesexual is different from the term straight because it does not include the gender of the person using the label itself in its definition of attraction.[1][6][7][8]
Controversy[]
Some people misuse the term gynesexual to mean exclusive attraction to female genitalia instead of women and/or femininity. This is because some people may associate the gyne- prefix with female genitalia, especially since the prefix is sometimes used this way in a medical context (e.g. gynecology).[1][6][7][11] Due to these issues, the prefix woma- was suggested as a "more inclusive alternative" to using gyne- to describe attraction to women and/or femininity. More specifically, it is used as part of the label womasexual as a replacement for gynesexual.[1]
References[]
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