capacity for sexual feelings; sexual orientation or preference
from Latin sexualis + -ity suffix
Sexuality is as diverse as a rainbow - each person's is uniquely theirs!
Sexuality was pathologized differently by gender: female sexuality was medicalized as 'hysteria' while male sexuality was normalized. This asymmetry persists in language around sexual agency and desire.
Use to describe sexual orientation, identity, and experience across all genders equally. Avoid framing any sexuality as deviant or requiring medical correction.
Women's sexuality scholars (Masters & Johnson, Germaine Greer) reclaimed language around female desire against medical erasure; LGBTQ+ communities have self-defined sexuality beyond pathology frameworks.
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