Orientation

**Orientation** is a term which describes people's identities in relation to the way they experience attraction. There are many types of orientations, which can generally be grouped into three categories: sexual orientation, romantic orientation, and tertiary orientation. Alternatively, orientations may be categorized into physical orientations and ecstatic orientations, with some exceptions.

Orientation suffixes are often used to indicate what type of orientation the person is experiencing. For example, a biromantic person uses the *-romantic* suffix to indicate their romantic orientation. Some orientations, on the other hand, do not have an orientation suffix, and thus may represent many different orientation types. For example, the lesbian label does not have an orientation suffix, and thus may be a sexual orientation, romantic orientation, tertiary orientation, or any combination of these things.

The attraction (or lack thereof) that a person experiences is typically the primary factor in their orientation. This often refers to the genders one experiences (or does not experience) attraction to. For example, a gay person experiences attraction towards the same gender, or genders similar to one's own. Some orientations additionally specify the gender of the person experiencing it, such as lesbian. Some orientations specify the number of genders one experiences attraction to, but not necessarily which genders that includes, such as bisexual.

However, it may also refer to the conditions in which it is possible for a person to experience attraction. For example, a demisexual person cannot experience sexual attraction unless a strong emotional bond is formed. Other factors may also be taken into account in one's orientation. For example, a cupiosexual person's orientation not only takes into account the way they experience sexual attraction, but their sex favorability as well.

## Types of orientations

As mentioned previously, there are many types of orientations. While these can often be simplified into sexual, romantic, and tertiary (or physical and ecstatic), there are many more terms that exist to describe different types of orientations. This is not a concrete list, and terms may be added when necessary.

### Physical orientations

These orientations focus on physical attraction, or lack thereof.

* Sexual orientation
* Some types of tertiary orientations
	+ Aesthetic orientation
	+ Sensual orientation

### Ecstatic orientations

These orientations focus on ecstatic attraction, or lack thereof.

* Romantic orientation
* Some types of tertiary orientations
	+ Alterous orientation
	+ Amical orientation
	+ Domestic orientation
	+ Mental orientation
	+ Nebulous orientation
	+ Platonic orientation
	+ Queerplatonic orientation
	+ Social orientation
	+ Spiritual orientation

### Other orientations

These orientations cannot be clearly defined as physical or ecstatic.

* Fluitic orientation
* Some types of tertiary orientations
	+ Pseudosexual orientation
	+ Pseudoromantic orientation

## Distinction

### Attraction

***Main article:*** *Attraction*

Attraction is a term which describes the feeling of being drawn towards someone in particular, or having feelings sparked by a specific person. While attraction is often a primary factor in one's orientation, the two are not necessarily synonymous. Attraction refers to a feeling or experience, while orientation refers to identities often related to those feelings and experiences. One's orientation also does not necessarily have to center around the way in which a person experiences attraction, such as in the case of pomosexual people. Similarly, a person may prefer to describe their attraction without labeling their orientation at all, such as in the case of unlabeled people. One can also have an orientation without experiencing attraction, such as in the case of anattractional people.

### Activity stance

***Main article:*** *Activity stance*

Activity stance is the personal stance a person takes on sexual activity, romantic activity, and various types of relationships. This is also sometimes referred to as desire, though the term "desire" can also be interchangeable with "libido", which is not necessarily related to activity stance. People may have an activity stance often associated with a specific orientation despite not experiencing that orientation. For example, one may be interested in romantic relationships, or have a general desire for romance, while being aromantic. The opposite can also be true; one may be alloromantic without wanting to be in a romantic relationship. While activity stance can be a factor in one's orientation, such as in the case of cupiosexual, apothiromantic, or iculatertiary people, it is often considered separately, and may not influence the person's orientation label.

### Libido

***Main article:*** *Libido*

Libido refers to a person's sex drive, or sexual desire. This can be affected by medical conditions, medications, hormone levels, or other biological, psychological, and environmental factors. A person can experience varying libido levels regardless of their sexual orientation and attraction they experience.

### Political sexual stance

***Main article:*** *Political sexual stance*

Political sexual stance refers to the nonpersonal stance one takes on sexuality. This is completely unrelated to one's orientation. For example, one can be asexual when it comes to their sexual orientation, sex-positive when it comes to their political sexual stance. This would mean that this person generally believes that openness about sexuality is important, and that people should be able to consensually explore their sexuality without shame, even though sex is of no personal importance to them.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 PFLAG National Glossary of Terms (English). PFLAG. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022.
2. ↑ Sotska, Julia (2022-12-19). Biromantic - What is it? What does it mean?. Taimi.
3. ↑ Laderer, Ashley (2021-09-24). Being biromantic and bisexual aren't the same — here's what it means to be biromantic. Insider.
4. ↑ Biromantic Definition & Meaning. Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022.
5. ↑ Full Dictionary. Western Aces.
6. ↑ Davis, Chloe O.. *The Queen's English*. Clarkson Potter, 2021. ISBN 9780593135013. ""Lesbian: adjective: As a woman, having a sexual and emotional attraction toward other women."
7. ↑ Holleb, Morgan Lev Edward. *The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality*. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019. ISBN 9781784506636. "LESBIAN — A woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to women. Lesbian can mean women who are attracted exclusively to other women, but it is also a broader term for women and femmes who are attracted to other women and femmes. This includes bisexual and pansexual women, asexual women who are romantically attracted to women, and non-binary people who identify with womanhood."
8. ↑ Huegel Madrone, Kelly. *LGBTQ: The Survival Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Teens*. 2018. ISBN 9781631983023. "Lesbian: A woman who is emotionally, romantically, and sexually attracted to other women."
9. ↑ Martínez, Elena M.. *Book Editions for Lesbian Voices From Latin America*. Routledge, 2017. ISBN 9781351817899. "In this book, the word 'lesbian' is used to refer to the representation of women who have erotic and sexual interest in each other and whose fundamental emotional connections are with other women. My definition coincides with the one proposed by Catherine R. Simpson and Charlotte Bunch, for whom both the erotic and sexual involvement of women is intrinsic to the definition of lesbianism."
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11. ↑ McNabb, Charlie. *Queer Adolescence: Understanding the Lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual Youth*. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2020. ISBN 9781538132814. "Lesbians are women or woman-aligned people who are sexually or romantically attracted to other women or woman-aligned people. Some lesbians prefer to identify as gay or as gay woman."
12. ↑ Ferguson, Ann. *Patriarchy, Sexual Identity, and the Sexual Revolution*. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 1981. "Lesbian is a woman who has sexual and erotic-emotional ties primarily with women or who sees herself as centrally involved with a community of self-identified lesbians whose sexual and erotic-emotional ties are primarily with women; and who is herself a self-identifed lesbian."....."[My definition] defines both bisexual and celibate women as lesbians as long as they identify themselves as such and have their primary emotional identification with a community of self-defined lesbians."
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22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Terms & Definitions. Amherst College.
23. ↑ McNabb, Charlie. *Queer Adolescence: Understanding the Lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual Youth*. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2020. ISBN 9781538132814. "Lesbians are women or woman-aligned people who are sexually or romantically attracted to other women or woman-aligned people. Some lesbians prefer to identify as gay or as gay woman."
24. ↑ Lesbian Definition & Meaning. Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022.
25. ↑ What is Bisexuality?. bi.org (2022). Archived from the original on October 14, 2022.
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27. ↑ Pasquier, Morgan (2018-10-27). explore the spectrum: guide to finding your ace community. GLAAD.
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30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Full Dictionary. Western Aces.
31. ↑ Hardell, Ash. *The ABC's of LGBT+*. Mango Media Inc., 2016-11-08. ISBN 9781633534087.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Grey-asexuality. Asexuality Handbook.
33. ↑ Savage, Dan (2021-07-07). Savage Love: Lose desire after getting to know someone? You’re fraysexual. NOW.
34. ↑ What Is Graysexuality?. WebMD (2021-06-29).
35. ↑ Hsieh, Carina; Kibbe, Kayla. What Does It Mean to Be Cupiosexual?. Cosmopolitan.
36. ↑ Davis, Georgia (2022-02-24). What Does Cupiosexual Mean? It's One Of Many Asexual Micro Labels. Women's Health.