The weekly “Let’s talk about sex” series will look into a different topic about sex and sexuality in an effort to raise awareness, bring education and be a forum for discussion. To write in and share your opinions or stories, email mast@plu.edu.
Once upon a time, sexuality was considered to be black and white. In some ways, this is still accurate, and in others, nothing could be farther from the truth.
In majority of human societies, people have divided sexuality into the dichotomy of straight and not-straight. Certain societies throughout history however, did not feel the need to label sexuality at all.
For example, according to a pbs.org article on homosexuality “Relationships we would call homosexual, especially between men and youths, played an important role in Ancient Greek society.”
Often it feels like sexualities are becoming more convoluted by the minute in today’s world. Social progress has been made in many areas over the years, and “discoveries” in the world of sexuality are no less frequent.
For a number of years, I felt that I was bisexual. I have been attracted to boys since kindergarten, but as I entered the high school world and actually began interacting with other people in a romantic and physical way, I second-guessed my orientation. I never doubted that I was interested in pursuing relations with men, but I also didn’t see a reason why I wouldn’t want to explore them with women, too. After all, girls are smoking hot.
As I continued my journey, I became interested in pornography and found myself more attracted to what the women were doing than what the men were doing; their noises and reactions were far more important to me than the men’s. I never enjoyed female-female porn, but I wasn’t opposed to what would be called a FFM (Female-Female-Male) threesome. At parties and bars, I found myself getting drunk and kissing women for dares or because they were interested in me. I was not, however, comfortable labeling my sexuality until I had experienced a new type of physical or romantic relationship for myself.
Everyone’s path to finding their sexuality is different. There is also no perfect way to determine whether or not a defined sexuality is their correct identity.
My experiences have proven to me a label that I am now comfortable with. Some people may never be comfortable with a specific label at all, and that is okay, too.
Pornography and erotica provide safe ways to explore different options for sexualities. Physical experimentation is the next step up from that and is the best way to understand your body.
If you have questions about your own sexuality, or you are simply curious, the best way for you to get information is to simply ask.
Sexuality is an everychanging spectrum and the maority of people don’t fit into one category. You can be whoever you want whenever you want.
Heterosexual, Straight: A person who is attracted to the opposite sex, usually people whose genitalia interlock with theirs in order to reproduce.
Homosexual, Gay/lesbian: homo, which means same, lends itself to this word. The definition of homosexual is when a person is attracted to people of the same sex.
Bisexual: A person who is attracted to both sexes. Bisexual people may prefer one gender over the other while remaining attracted to both male and female.
Pansexual: A person who is attracted to other people based on personality regardless of the other person’s sex.
Asexual: A person who does not feel sexual attraction to any sex.
