Gender & Sexuality dictionary

androsexual

[ an-droh-sek-shoo-uhl ]

What does androsexual mean?

Androsexual refers to a person who, regardless of their gender identity, is sexually or romantically attracted to masculinity.

Related words

pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual, holosexual, demisexual, queer, nonbinary gender, genderflux, cis

Where does androsexual come from?

With the prefix andro- coming from Greek for “man,” androsexual is a sexual orientation or romantic orientation that describes someone who is attracted to masculinity. While a cisgender heterosexual woman or a cisgender gay man can be considered androsexual, the term androsexual is specifically used by nonbinary and gender-fluid individuals who are attracted male gender expressions or anatomy. One of the main purposes of the term androsexual is to indicate the attraction to male characteristics irrespective of the gender identity of the person experiencing the attraction.

The term androsexual appeared as early as 1997 in a Usenet post by user Starchild0, who was exploring her sexual identity after transitioning to female. The term appeared on Urban Dictionary in 2014, roughly four years before its counterpart, gynesexual—a sexual attraction to femininity regardless of gender identification—made its way to the site.

Examples of androsexual

I am fairly certain that I am the only androsexual in the world who really doesn't find Jason Momoa all that attractive.
@frostopher, November 15, 2018
Androsexuality is the sexual attraction to masculine people. The difference between being “gay” or “straight” and being androsexual is that there might be someone who is a woman but has a very masculine style or [demeanor], but they would still be attracted to this person. The same goes for a man who is more feminine, an androsexual person would probably not be attracted to them.
Kendall George, The Orion, November 27, 2017
Dr. Irwin says androsexual is a more specific label, although there may be straight women who identify that way. "It’s a bit dangerous to classify people into a category that they don’t self-identify with so I would tend to shy away from that. Self-identity is super powerful and salient for people, so I would say labels that we adopt as individuals should be used if at all possible."
Carina Hsieh, Cosmopolitan, September 8, 2017
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Who uses androsexual?

Androsexual is also sometimes referred to as androphilia, with the Greek-based suffix –philia meaning “love of.” The terms are frequently used by people self-identifying as androsexual or as part of more general conversations on gender and sexuality.

According to Rory Gory of The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to (LGBTQ) young people under 25, “Androsexual and gynesexual do not define the gender of the person being labeled the way the words lesbian (a female homosexual) or gay (a homosexual person, especially a male) do. These terms can be easier for gender-fluid people to use.”

Learn more in their article for Dictionary.com: “How Young People Are Redefining Sexuality And Romantic Attraction.”

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Note

This is not meant to be a formal definition of androsexual like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of androsexual that will help our users expand their word mastery.

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