The 21st century has been no short of a revolution as far as sexuality is concerned. Things have changed drastically in the last decade or so especially as more people have been vocal about sexuality. Given that we continue to have a progressive mindset and have become more open to various concepts, it is important that we understand what are the different types of orientations and what do they stand for. From polysexuality to being a greysexual, here are all the terms simplified for you just so that the next time you have a conversation about sexual orientation and sexuality, you’re not completely clueless!  Gender Identity Goes Beyond Male and Female: 33 Gender Terms and Their Meanings That You Probably Didn’t Know Of!

Polysexual

The term ‘Poly’ stands for many. Those who identify with being a polysexual are those who are attracted to many genders. They may not necessarily be attracted to all of them though. So, does that mean polysexuality has a connection with being pansexual or polyamory? No. While pansexual refers to a person who is attracted to another irrespective of their gender, polyamory, on the other hand, is a form of consensual non-monogamy relationship i.e. being with multiple partners.

Autosexual

When a person identifies themselves as autosexual, it basically means they’re attracted to themselves in a way that they’d rather prefer masturbating and sexually pleasuring themselves rather than looking for it outside. Does this mean they cannot be in a relationship with anyone else? Definitely not. They sure can but they’d rather masturbate and have sex with themselves than with their partner.

Greysexual

Being a greysexual means you’re rarely attracted to someone sexually. The term greysexual can somewhat be related to asexuality but not completely. While an asexual person may be completely averse to sexual attraction, a greysexual person will be sexually attracted on some levels.

Omnisexual

As the name suggests, ‘omni’ stands for ‘all’ and an omnisexual is someone who is attracted to all people. While it is likely for some to draw similarities between omnisexual and pansexual, unlike the latter, the former does consider gender as a part of the attraction process. So yes, omnisexual and pansexual are similar but not the same.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2020 09:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).