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[]
|