- asexual
- not engaging in sexual thoughts or activities.
- bisexual
- engaging in sexual thoughts or activities involving persons of one’s own sex/gender category as well as a different sex/gender category (or multiple other such categories).
- essentialism
- a sense that some trait is so profoundly deep and consequential that it creates a common identity for everyone who has that trait.
- gay
- people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex or gender; usually refers to men who are attracted to other men, but may include women who are attracted to other women.
- gender
- a set of cultural identities, expressions and roles that are assigned to people, often based upon the interpretation of their bodies, and in some cases, their sexual and reproductive anatomy.
- gender ideology
- a coordinated set of ideas about gender categories, relations, behaviors, norms, and ideals.
- gender nonbinary
- rejecting strict male and female gender categories in favor of a more flexible and contextual expression of gender.
- gynocentric
- woman-centered.
- heteronormativity
- the notion that heterosexuality is the most natural and normal form of sexuality.
- heterosexual
- engaging in sexual thoughts or activities involving persons of a different sex/gender category.
- intersectionality
- the recognition that gender, race, class, ethnicity, age, sexuality, and physical ability all intersect to make the experiences of a person in any category diverse and complex
- intersex
- born with differences in sex characteristics or chromosomes that do not fall within typical conceptions of male or female.
- lesbian
- a woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women.
- matriarchy
- a hypothetical gender ideology that positions women as rulers of private and public life.
- multiple gender
- a gender system that goes beyond male and female, adding one or more other categories.
- pansexual
- engaging in sexual thoughts or activities with others without regard to biological sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, meaning that sex and gender are not determining factors in their erotic relations.
- patriarchy
- a widespread gender ideology that positions men as rulers of private and public life.
- queer
- originally a pejorative term in American culture for people who did not conform to the rigid norms of heterosexuality; now used as a term of pride among many members of the LGBTQIA+ community to highlight the fluid, constantly changing, and contextual nature of gender and sexuality.
- queer anthropology
- a subfield of anthropology that focuses on areas of sociocultural activity distinguished from the presumed norms of heterosexuality and gender identities.
- sex
- biological categories of male, female, and intersex.
- sexual dimorphism
- a size difference between males and females of a species.
- sexual orientation
- sociocultural identities associated with specific forms of sexuality.
- sexuality
- erotic thoughts, desires, and practices and the sociocultural identities associated with them.
- sociobiology
- a subfield of biology that attempts to explain human behavior by considering evolutionary processes.
- variant female
- a category of persons who are ascribed female at birth but adopt a masculine identity later on.
- variant gender
- a category of gender other than male or female.
- variant male
- a category of persons who are ascribed male at birth but adopt a feminine identity later on.