General Question

MarvinPowell's avatar

What is the all-purpose word for the sex someone is attracted to?

Asked by MarvinPowell (627points) July 3rd, 2014

The one that doesn’t apply just to straight people. For example, straight people are attracted to “the opposite sex.”

What term would you use if you meant ‘straight men to straight women,’ ‘straight women to straight men,’ ‘men to men,’ ‘women to women,’ those who will be with anyone or anything, and those who aren’t attracted to anyone or anything at all. What one term or word means the sex someone is attracted to based on their orientation.

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9 Answers

ragingloli's avatar

sexual orientation.

ragingloli (52277points)“Great Answer” (4points) Flag as…
Mariah's avatar

Can’t really think of a succinct phrase with the exact meaning you want, but depending on context, maybe the sentence could be reworked to refer to them as “potential mates” or “love-interests.”

Mariah (25883points)“Great Answer” (3points) Flag as…
wildpotato's avatar

Freud’s terms for this are “love object” or “anaclitic object” but the modern term is “sexual orientation.”

wildpotato (15224points)“Great Answer” (2points) Flag as…
ZEPHYRA's avatar

Fetish?????? I don’t believe this is the word you are looking for.

ZEPHYRA (21750points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
Luiveton's avatar

orientation

Luiveton (4162points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
SecondHandStoke's avatar

That’s a gross oversimplification even for those of us that identify as straight.

SecondHandStoke (9522points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
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