Sexual orientation and sexual identity are often used in relation to each other and some even confuse between the two. But yes, while sexual orientation decides your sexual identity, it is a lot more about what a person feels about themselves. A sexual orientation is based on the fact to the gender to which they are attracted towards. We commonly hear of sexual orientations like heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual, etc. But that is not all. There is a multitude of new definitions that have been added to the sexual orientations over the years. The society has constructed many such sexualities depending upon a person's choices. Let us look at some of the gender sexualities which have been included over the years.

Pansexual: Pansexual includes sexual attraction to everyone. So those who feel they are sexually, emotionally or spiritually capable of falling in love with all genders are pansexual. These people have an attraction

to others regardless of the gender identity or biological sex. They are open to someone who is male, female, transgender, intersex or genderqueer. Some pansexuals do have physical preferences. The identity is

used merely to express the openness and fluidity to people of all gender.

Omnisexual: Omnisexuality is commonly used as pansexuality but there is a slight difference. While pansexual people are gender-blind, omnisexuals are not. They see and acknowledge the gender of the other person but do not care about it. If they are attracted to someone they will note the gender but that will not matter for maintaining a relationship.

Gynosexual: Gynosexual refers to someone who is attracted specifically to females. Here the concerned person's gender is not into consideration, so it could be a female itself or a transgender, but has sexual feelings only towards a woman.

Sapiosexual: This term is becoming more common among the younger generations today. It refers to sexual attraction towards a person's intelligence. Sapiosexuals are those who find the other person's intelligence arousing to maintain a sexual relationship. This has become a term used too often even in some dating applications nowadays. Here the intelligence plays a more important role than a person's appearance.

Demisexual: An emotional connection is a primary factor for many people to maintain a sexual relationship. But demisexuals are specifically those who look for the strong emotional connect first. A demisexuality may be commonly seen in most of the romantic relationships people have, but it is not confined to just those. Demisexuals do not hold back from sexual relations but they are unable to have that attraction unless they form a close relationship with the person.

Object sexuality: Objectumsexuality refers to sexuality focused on particular inanimate objects. These individuals may feel a strong attraction, love or a sense of commitment to certain things or structures. This kind of sexuality has been addressed in certain pop culture movies and series.

Autosexual: The term autosexual refers to someone who is self-satisfactory. It refers to someone who has trouble to respond to someone else's touch but can respond well to their own touch. It can be due to certain failed relationships in the past, wherein the person is frustrated and disappointed by his/her past experiences and resort to self-satisfaction. These people prefer masturbation as a more convenient way of deriving sexual pleasure.

Androsexual: Anyone who has sexual feelings towards males are androsexuals. They feel sexual attraction towards the people who may or may not have any variation of gender, so they may not be of opposite genders to be attracted towards males.

Androgynosexual: Androgyosexuals are people who have a sexual attraction to both men and women but specifically to those who are androgynous in appearance. An androgynous appearance is someone who appears partly male and female. Androgynous people have characteristics of both the sexes and those attracted towards them are known as androgyosexuals.

Graysexual: The term graysexual is used to describe people who do not really want to have sex often but they experience sexual attraction or sexual desire. It is often under the umbrella of asexuality but it is misnomer. These people do have a sexual attraction but low sex drive. Or even if they experience sexual attraction, they do not act upon it.

These are some new phases of sexuality which have entered the sexual orientation conversations but are still not widely talked about. Milennials like to call themselves sapiosexuals, but there are also common graysexuals existing within. The existing common labels of heterosexuals, homosexual (lesbian, gay) and transgender were not enough and inclusive of sexual pleasures derived from 'other specific attractiveness.' The process of identifying with where exactly you belong can still be confounding to some. Afterall what turns you on can also differ with passage of time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2018 06:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).