What Is Gynosexuality? Exploring Attraction to Femininity In All Its Forms
Attraction is wonderfully complex. An individual can be attracted to people, physical shapes, and character traits regardless of their own or their object of attraction’s gender. Let’s dive inside attraction to femininity in its many forms.
Gynosexuality, like other gender and sexuality terms entering our vocabulary, is a term that encompasses the nuances of desire and makes it possible for people to understand and own their desires without being caged in by restrictive norms and be better allies.
In this article, we’ll answer your most-asked questions about gynosexuality to explore attraction to femininity in its many manifestations.
What is gynosexuality?
Also known as gynesexuality, gynosexuality refers to someone who is attracted to women, femme-presenting people, and/or feminine characteristics.
What is gynosexuality? Unlike other commonly used orientation labels like homosexual or heterosexual, gynosexual doesn’t refer to the person’s own gender, only the kinds of traits they are drawn to in other people.
A gynosexual person can be female, male, nonbinary, or anything in between. An individual can use gynosexual to describe an attraction towards feminine traits without having to refer to either their own or another person’s gender identity.
It’s about being attracted to femininity regardless of gender. This word’s inclusivity means it is more commonly used by people who identify as genderqueer.
What does it mean to feel attraction to femininity?
Feeling attraction to femininity means you experience some form of physical or emotional attraction to people with features, mannerisms, or character traits that you associate with femininity.
These may be stereotypical traits, like long hair, breasts, feminine facial features, sensitivity, and empathy, or they can be what makes sense as femme to you.
It’s crucial to remember that the femme traits that attract different people can vary massively and that typical gendered traits are culturally defined.
Nonetheless, feeling attraction towards or identifying in a stereotypically gendered way isn’t inherently good or bad.
If it’s empowering for you to present as or desire typically feminine characteristics and you simultaneously allow people who oppose these to have space and validation, then more power to you.
What is the meaning of gynophilia?
What’s the word for being attracted to femininity? The term gynophile has been used for decades in sex research and discourse to denote this.
It’s a contraction of the Ancient Greek ‘gyne,’ meaning ‘qualities related to females,’ and ‘philia,’ meaning ‘love.
The ‘phile’ in gynophile implies romantic or emotional rather than physical or sexual attraction. Nonetheless, the terms are often used interchangeably.
What is the gynosexual flag?
The gynosexual pride flag has 3 horizontal stripes in pink, brown, and green.
The top stripe is pink. It is taken from the trans pride flag and symbolizes attraction to women (including trans women, specifically). The bottom stripe is green. It is taken from the genderqueer flag and symbolizes attraction to femininity.
While the middle brown stripe represents support and stability.
What is the opposite of gynosexuality?
The opposite of gynosexual is androsexual.
An androsexual is someone who, regardless of their gender identity, experiences attraction to men and/or masculine qualities.
What does it mean to be gynoromantic?
Gyno- or gyneromantic is the romantic mode of attraction to femininity.
A gynoromantic person feels emotional as opposed to sexual attraction towards women and/or femininity and/or female-identifying people.
The central difference between these labels is the form of attraction, and what scope; the term gynophilia tends to cover more kinds of love than gynoromantic.
Am I gynosexual?
Sexuality has more subtleties than just straight, gay, or bisexual. This is one of many things that has been missed out of our sex-ed curriculum.
A common misbelief is that a gynosexual is a straight man or a gay woman. However, the term doesn’t specify the gender of either the person experiencing attraction to femininity or the object of their attraction.
Someone who is gynosexual could be a nonbinary person who is attracted to feminine presenting people or traits - which could be cisgender women, trans women, nonbinary people with femme characteristics, or even a feminine cisgender or trans man.
If you personally understand certain physical or emotional traits to be feminine and find yourself drawn to these in different partners and situations - dating, meeting strangers, watching porn - you may be gynosexual.
To conclude? Attraction is beautifully complex
While this form of sexuality is about the feminine, you can make your own rules when it comes to gender stereotypes, like what actually constitutes feminine and its typical opposite, masculine.
Attraction is beautifully complex. As is gender and sexuality. Labels like gynosexuality aren't supposed to be categories that define and prescribe behaviors. In fact, the opposite.
They are tools to help us make sense of and speak to the nuances of our desires. What do we say? Keep learning and exploring, and don't mind the labels.
