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Here is a brief list and definition of sexual identities.
Heterosexual
They are sexually interested in people of the opposite gender.
Homosexual – gay and lesbian
They are sexually interested in people of the same gender.
Bisexual
They are sexually interested in people of both genders.
Asexual
They are sexually inert.
Transsexual
They surgically want to change their gender from the one they are born in.
Impotent – eunuch
This can be determined easier in males rather than females.
Hijadas in India are mainly men who are born impotent.
If the family know this early enough, they live with other hijadas from an early
age.
Hermaphrodite
Genital malformation is easy to determine from a young age. Some hijadas
in India are hermaphrodites and live with hijadas from an early age.
Transvestite – cross-dresser
Male transvestites are men who like to dress up in women’s clothes and prefer to
act like women, copying feminine mannerisms. This is more or less
unacceptable in most cultures.
Female transvestites are women who like to dress up in men’s clothes and prefer
to act like men and copy masculine mannerisms. This is more acceptable in
some cultures than others.
Transgender
They feel trapped in the wrong body / gender. This can be confusing and
frustrating for the individual as they are trying to figure out as to who they
are – are they their body or are they their mind. There are legal and
medical challenges associated with trying to either conform to the gender you
are born in or acquire the gender they want to live in. They also face
several challenges with family, society and employment on top of emotional
turmoil from within.
Some transgender people want to simply ‘dress’ in clothes of the opposite
gender, some want to take hormones to alter their body from within and some want
to surgically change their body to match the body they believe they should have
had at birth.
Transgender characteristic is independent of sexual orientation.
Transgender can be hetro, homo, bi or even asexual.
Androgyny / gender neutral / ambigender /
polygender
A combination of male and female characteristics in a person’s mannerism and
traits is termed as androgyny. Men and women can be androgynous, combining
everything from mannerism, dress sense and role-play of both genders.
Analysis of different sexual 'types'
© Bhagwat Shah
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