Last week, Blair and I wrote an article explaining the different gender options Facebook has provided for its users. We think the next logical place to go from here would be to explain the social construction and different expressions of human sexuality.

To recap; in last weeks article we defined an individual’s sex as “based on an individual's reproductive organs” and gender as “the division of people [based on their sex] into various categories such as boy or girl, man or woman, and each category has its own set of roles, expectations and stereotypes associated with them.”

According to google, sexuality is defined as a “capacity for sexual feelings” or “a person’s sexual orientation or preference.” Although this is true, the definition does not explain the social construction of human sexuality or any of the sexual orientations.

When a child is brought into this world they are given a set of labels in which to be identified by society; sex, gender, and race. With these labels providing the base foundation, sexuality or sexual orientation becomes another marker in which to classify children once they reach maturity.

For example, take a child who has been labeled with the sex of male and the gender of man and as he ages ask him who is attracted to. His answer is then labeled as his sexuality. Some of the most common sexual orientations we hear about today are heterosexual or straight; gay, lesbian, homosexual, or same sex loving; bisexual or bi-curious; asexual or aromantic; pansexual, questioning, and queer.

The first set of sexual orientations we hear about most frequently are the labels of either “straight” or “heterosexual.” These labels indicate that an individual is attracted to someone of the opposite sex. For example, if a male states he is attracted to females he is identified as either “straight” or “heterosexual.” The same goes for a female who is attracted to males.

Now if another individual indicates an attraction to someone of the same sex as they are, they may be labeled as either “gay,” “lesbian,” “homosexual,” or “same sex loving.”

Some individuals identify as neither heterosexual or homosexual. Instead, they may be attracted to someone of either sex, they may not be attracted to anyone, or they may be attracted to someone without regard for an individual's sex. This is where the rest of the identities we will be addressing come in.

Bisexuality is when an individual is attracted to other individuals of either sex. This means that they find both males and females attractive in some capacity whether this attraction is sexual, emotional, or physical. Don’t flatter yourself though. Being bisexual doesn't mean that a person is attracted to every male or female they come in contact with.

Being bi-curious is not the same thing as being bisexual. Bicurious is kind of another way of saying someone is questioning their sexuality. It simply means they have a curiosity or interest in being attracted to someone of their same sex as well as their opposite sex.

Another sexual orientation we would like to touch on is asexual or aromantic. An individual who identifies as asexual typically does not have any form of sexual attraction to other individuals of any identity. Someone who identifies as aromantic typically has no romantic attraction to other individuals. However, both asexual and aromantic sexual orientations are based on a continuum, meaning not everyone who identifies as asexual or aromantic has no desire or attraction to other individuals.

Some may possess a slight romantic or sexual attraction, they may be attracted to someone only under certain conditions, or they may only be attracted to one specific person. Also, not being attracted to someone in a romantic or sexual sense does not limit asexual and aromantic people’s relationships; they have relationships just like people with sexual attraction but their relationships are based on other attributes. For example, instead of being attracted to someone for romantic and sexual contact, they may be attracted to someone for the companionship or their interesting mind.

The last three sexualities we would like to explain are pansexual, questioning, and queer. If an individual identifies as pansexual or pan it means they can be attracted to anyone; another individual's sex, gender, sexuality, or any other identifying characteristics make no difference. Someone who identifies as pansexual loves someone for who they are; their mind, spirit, and heart. The sexual orientation of questioning means just that; the individual is questioning their sexual orientation.

Basically, this means they have not found themselves yet and are working towards identifying their sexuality, whether that be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, or another sexual orientation. The term queer is an umbrella term to define anyone who doesn’t identify as straight. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, the term queer is used as derogatory. It is important to understand that if someone asks you not to refer them as such, you respect their wishes. It is also important to know that queer is a term that should only be used when you feel it is your obligation to educate someone so they do not offend anyone in the future.

Human sexuality can take many forms, and not every form is based purely on sexual attraction if any. In society, those who are straight live without fear and judgment because their sexual orientation is considered to be “normal” or “right” by older generations as well as many religious groups. This is based on the notion or belief that the other sexual orientations are new and were not around in previous times. That could not be more false. People of all sexual orientations have existed since the dawn of time.

The difference is that now people are choosing to live their lives how they want to, disregarding others closed-mindedness; what courage and strength this must take. Just like someone’s personal gender identification has no impact on your personal life, neither does someone else’s sexuality. As a straight female, I have the privilege of not being looked down upon, judged, or threatened based on my sexual orientation. Just like me, Blair has the same privilege, but she is given this privilege by society for a different reason. Blair is an openly bisexual female who just so happens to be dating a man; because of this she "passes" as straight. Only by her "passing" is she given the privilege of not being looked down upon, judged, or threatened based on her sexuality. It is wrong that this is a privilege; all humans deserve this. It's called decency and respect for someone else's personal lifestyle.

“Jesus, I’m confused. I’m confused because some people say you only like a certain kind of person with a certain kind of belief system, or a certain kind of background, or color, or sexual orientation! But Jesus you have blessed me and as I bleed to death in front of you every night preaching about love and unity, I’m quite sure that Jesus must love everybody.” - Lady Gaga

*This article was co-written by Blair Gruendl