Gynosexuality, also gynesexuality, is a sexual orientation that describes an attraction to femininity. It is used interchangeably with gynophilia/gynephilia, meaning the love of femininity. Both persons can be of any gender since the attraction is elicited by feminine elements.The following text has a mention of pedophilia.
Framing & Perspectives
The first occurrences of the term are documented in the 1960s–1970s by the Czech behavioral sexologist Kurt Freund, who was researching, among other things, paraphilias such as pedophilia. He invented the term in order to describe the attraction of a man to adult women. His extended research inspired further relevant studies and there have been encounters of the term used with the same meaning until recently (Lykins et al., 2010; Vasey & VanderLaan, 2014; Saldívar & Salin Pascual, 2023).
Despite its initial use and meaning, gynosexuality does not specify the person’s gender in relation to their sexual orientation, unlike homosexuality or heterosexuality (Pichardo, 2023; Saldívar & Salin Pascual, 2023). A gynosexual person is attracted to the femininity of another person, regardless of whether they identify as a woman or not (Openshaw, 2024). Therefore, the attraction is elicited by the physical attributes traditionally associated with femininity, such as long hair, curves, or genitalia, and non-physical qualities like the pitch of voice or mannerisms (Pichardo, 2023).
Relevance
The characteristic element of the term, contrary to most terms describing sexual orientations, is the lack of any reference to the person being attracted, this information is not relevant to what is being described. This particularity makes terms like “gynosexuality” and “androsexuality” more likely to be used by non-binary people because it is useful how they are allowed to describe their preference without tying it to their gender.
Keywords: LGBTQ+ Topics, Sexual Orientation, Sexual Identity
Connected terms: Acronym “LGBTQIAPN+“, Queer, Androsexual
References
Freund, K., & Costell, R. (1970). The structure of erotic preference in the nondeviant male. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 8(1), 15-20.
Lykins, A. D., Cantor, J. M., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., Dickey, R., Klassen, P. E., & Blanchard, R. (2010). Sexual arousal to female children in gynephilic men. Sexual Abuse, 22(3), 279-289.
Openshaw, S. (2024). Gender, Sexual, Erotic, and Relationship Diversity (GSERD). International Journal of Integrative Psychotherapy, 15, 54-68.
Pichardo, G. (2023, July 2). What Is Gynosexuality? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/sex/what-is-gynosexuality
Saldívar Lara, M., & Salin Pascual, R. J. (2023). Self-reported Sexual Response in Transgender Women to Audiovisual Stimulation Protocol. Acta de investigación psicológica, 13(1), 29-41.
Vasey, P. L., & VanderLaan, D. P. (2014). Evolutionary perspective on male androphilia in humans. In V. A. Weekes-Shackelford & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Evolutionary perspective on human sexual psychology and behavior (p. 270). Springer New York. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0314-6
