What's a monosexual?

Basically, a monosexual is a person that likes only one gender. So somebody that is heterosexual or homosexual would be considered monosexual.

People that are bi or pansexual are considered polysexuals, which means that they like more than one gender.

 

It means that you are sexually attracted to one sex and/or gender.

 

I don't believe anyone is truly 100% monosexual, to be completely honest

 

You can't say this only because you're bi.

 

Why not? I'm completely asexual. To be 100% monosexual, you'd have to feel about one gender the way I do about both of them.

 

thats kind of rude. I know straight and gay people who say that...

 

Bisexual people sometimes seem to use it to refer to people who are straight, gay or lesbian.

I find it kind of derogatory, I don't identify as a "monosexual", so I don't appreciate when bisexuals force the label upon me.

At least, in every context where I've seen it used, it's been used with negative connotations.

 

Why rude? A bisexual cannot say that quite everybody are bisexual because it's not true. There are gay people, straight people, bisexual people and asexual people. In this planet we are different and nobody can say "No, I think everybody is gay/straight/bisex/asexual".

 

Well you're free to believe whatever you want, you're free to believe the earth is flat too.

 

I use the term monosexual when I talk about straight and gay people at the same time in a sentence. I wasn't aware that it was seen as offensive. I never force the label on individual people, I just use it to refer to two groups at once.

....I don't believe everyone is 100% bi either. There's literally nothing attractive to men to me.

 

This is a joke right?

 

What is monosexual? 'Tis Greek to me.

Why was that ass-pull claim made about them though? Just as we assert the truth of bisexuality, pure monosexuality is just as real.

 

What would be an example of these connotations? Homosexuality and heterosexuality are monosexual orientations by definition. I have heard members of both those and many other orientations use the terms of mono- and polysexuality.

 

i never heard of monosexual until i read this thread. i learn something new everyday on here. but i kind of like the way the word monosexual sounds.

 

I like how to take a neutral term and use it as a label to attack bisexuals while painting yourself as a victim all at once.

In conversations, it's usually meant to describe anyone who is *not* poly/multisexual, ie bisexual, pansexual, queer, omni, etc. as sort of an umbrella term, and since there are many variations even within monosexual camps, and difficult to lump together, it's usually used to describe larger phenomena rather a stand-alone term; we don't go around calling people "monosexual" when simply gay or straight would suffice.

This is different than saying something like, "Many monosexuals believe everyone else is either 100% gay or straight," as a critique against the sexual binary, which is not used to paint straight and gay populations in a negative light, but to show how many stereotypes, prejudices, and invisibilities many multisexuals experience, both within and outside of the LGBT community.

 

I don't identify as monosexual. Maybe there are people out there who do identify as monosexual. But I don't appreciate being having a label forced upon me when I do not identify with it. I am gay. That is my identity.

Someone choosing to identify as gay or lesbian is not an invitation to call them a monosexual. How do you know their entire lifelong sexual attraction patterns and sexual history? Just because someone is not bi, it does not mean you can box them in as "monosexual".

"Faggot" also by dictionary definition refers to a "male homosexual", that doesn't mean it is not a derogatory term. Not to say that "monosexual" is anywhere near the level of "faggot", but using the "by definition" line to justify using it is lacking.

If we went the "by definition" route, then bisexuals must strictly be attracted to the binary sexes, since bisexual literally means attracted to two (and only two) sexes, the bi- means two, just like the bi- in binary. Bisexuals don't appreciate being told they can only be attracted to binary sexes, just as I don't appreciate being boxed in and categorized as only being attracted to one sex.

I'm proud to identify as being attracted to guys, I am not proud to celebrate the idea that I am only attracted to one sex, that's not what my identity is about. I wish I could be attracted to girls too, but I was born with this limitation. "Monosexual" puts a negative spin on our sexual identities as gays and lesbians, defining us by our limitations and our inability to be able to share in sexual and romantic relationships with other sexes. "Gay", on the other hand, celebrates our ability to share in sexual and romantic relationships with the same sex, it defines us in a positive way rather than a negative way. We should be defined by what we are, not defined negatively by what we are not.

People choose to identify as bisexual, and I of course respect their choice to label themselves that way, so in return I wish they would respect our own unique identities.

I've never heard of anyone in the real world use the term "monosexual", and I'm frequently around both straight people and LGBTQ people at my LGBT center.

The only times I've ever seen "monosexual" used have been in a demeaning fashion. For example in a thread on EC, a bisexual person will make an arrogant snide remark like "ITT monosexuals talk about things they have no clue about" automatically dismissing the opinions of gays and lesbians.

So I find it derogatory; if someone addresses or refers to me as a "monosexual", I am liable to think less of that person and their opinions.

(And tbh any sexual orientation categorization that puts fabulous gays and boring straights in the same category is pretty f'ed up imo. :newcolor: :icon_wink)

 

^Monosexual usually collectively refers to anyone with attraction to one sex/gender so that it's easier to lump together people who aren't bi/pan in a discussion that's usually about bi/pan people. I've only seen it used in discussions where people are discussing bi/pan erasure, because monosexuals are the ones responsible for that.

It's not derogatory, and even when it's used negatively it's usually deserved. It has no inherently negative connotations nor does it have a history to it. I'm fine with it, because it'll only be used in discussions not really relevant to me.

 

I don't like the term either, nor do I like it when people imply that I'm 'locked into' liking just one gender, as opposed to being more broadly attracted to people. I'm just who I am, gay, not a mono-sexual, and not 'locked in' to anything.

I can see the term being used in a purely academic sense, but outside of that, it tends to strike me as typically derogatory. If I read it in an abstract or paper in an academic journal, fine, but in colloquial usage, I don't see the need for it. It tends to be divisive.