Just realised you aren't gay, straight or bi? Scared you don't exist? Worried that there isn't a label for what you're feeling? This is the book for you! It starts off with the less little-known sexualities (asexual, pansexual etc) but gets to the...
This is a little different from what I usually do, but I just thought it was important, and few people actually know the difference between the two main types of attraction.
To put it simply, romantic attraction is feeling as if you want to date someone and sexual attraction is feeling as if you want to have sex with someone.
For example, polySEXUAL means you would have sex with more than two genders (but not all) and polyROMANTIC means you would date more than two genders (but not all). Make sense?
Most people would only state their sexual attraction, because not a lot of people would understand what romantic attraction is. If you're perioriented (your romantic and sexual attraction is the same), this will work for you, however if you're varioriented (your romantic and sexual attraction differ), this will be problematic, as if you tell people you are asexual, they will assume you won't date anyone, when you could be alloromantic (meaning you feel romantic attraction). It's perfectly okay to be varioriented, and if you feel it's important for people to know, you should tell people! They will either learn that there is more than 1 type of attraction, already know and accept you, or say that's weird and not accept it (ditch them! You're better off without them, trust me).
Usually, your romantic attraction will contain more genders you're attracted to than your sexual attraction (for example, omniromantic bisexual) HOWEVER some people do feel sexually attracted to more genders than they are romantically attracted to (for example, aromantic pansexual), and that's okay too!
Phew, that was a lot of information!! You can end the chapter here, but there's still a bit more!
There are a few more types of attraction, sensual (what gender you are okay with touching, whether it's sexual touching or not, for example hugs and kisses), aesthetic (what gender find nice to look at) and platonic (what gender you are okay with being friends with - people are usually just okay with any gender as their friends but if you aren't, that's fine).
If you're still confused, here's something to hopefully help! Watch the video in the title if you still don't fully understand.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
