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Help! I have no idea what my orientation is. Im confused, angry, depressed, scared...

Discussion in 'Coming Out Advice' started by Mcmannerberry, Oct 12, 2011.

  1. Mcmannerberry

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    So just to warn this is going to be a long post. If you do not think you have the time to read it, thats fine I understand. But please be respectful about it and just leave the topic instead of making a post saying TL;DR (Too Long Didn't Read). Dont know how common the TL; DR response is on these boards as this is my first time posting them so sorry if I am coming across as rude and presumptuous if this is not a common thing here.

    Ok anyways here is some back story on myself. Im a younger guy, 22 years old. In College. Come from a very religious household and religious family who aren't very tolerant of gays to say the least. I myself have no problem with gays and wish them the best of luck as I would anyone. My early life I thought I was straight. The past few years I thought I was bi and now I don't know what I am and think I might be gay. Due to my family issues and the kind of friends I know, there is really no one in real life I can talk about this too without feeling ashamed and scared.

    So anyways starting off in life I have ALWAYS noticed girls and had strong feelings for girls. I remember I got my first crush back in kindegarden lol which was on a girl. Have continued to have STRONG POWERFUL emotions over girls all the way to my current age. Emotions of love and heartbreak. Again cannot stress how powerful these are. I could definately see myself being in love with a girl the rest of my life. Every since I was a kid I always though girls were extremely physically attractive. Beautiful, cute, and even hot. Would look at a girl and just feel that attraction and that emotional response even later in life up to now. Still feel that way. Everything about them from their pretty faces, beautiful captivating eyes, long hair, femme curves/ butt and even their cleavage. Vaginas I feel so-so about. Dont really do anything for me but for the most part it doesnt gross me out either. Other then that though, Love it all. Guys, I never thought anything about growing up and didn't look at a guy and think "hes cute" or "hes hot". I never had any crushes or emotional feelings about guys early in life either.

    Then you fast forward to when I was 13-15. About this time I started to develop my first sexual feelings and thoughts. And strangely enough I found out they were about GUYS, not girls. Especially being in the bottom role when being with a guy. It turned me on immensely. I have no idea why. I found I was extremely attracted to male genital anatomy. I ignored these feelings though. I would masterbate while thinking about them, feel guilty, then go on acting like they didnt exist. I would go about in real life and still find girls hot, still crush over them; then look at guys feeling no physical desire and no emotional desire and think nothing of it. I even would watch straight porn. I never did like gay porn as it always had uber manly hairy nasty guys in it. But more often enough while watching straight porn I would imagine myself being in the womans role instead of the guys but all while only enjoying looking at the woman and finding her attractive??? I know it sounds weird but thats the best way I can describe it. Didnt care looking for the guy at all as most of the time never found them attractive. Also curiously I never watched vaginal porn, just anal and oral. It was these porns are what did it for me. As I got older it got to the point i was experimenting with guys online and "role playing" or "cybering" with them. While I didn't like viewing gay porn directly I loved imagining sex with guys in my own terms and with certain guys. Also got heavily into shemales as to me they were the best of both worlds. As beautiful and appealing as girls but as sexually satisfying as guys.

    And then when I was around 17-18 I got my first gay crush. It was a on a guy I worked with at my first job. He was a thai immigrant visiting his family for a few years working here and he was a year or 2 older then me and understood english fairly well. I found him physically attractive, emotionally attractive, and sexually attractive. Being around him gave me as much desire to kiss or hug him as I have had with any girl and unlike girls I had a an extreme desire to have sex with him. Emotionally I felt a heavy infatuation/light crush with him but still not as strong as the powerful romantic feelings ive experienced with girls. Unfortunately he was straight (if not a bit bi curious by how he acted around me) so we never actually did anything with each other, other then subtle flirtations and he eventually moved back home. At this point I realized I was probably bi but still "straight oriented" as the idea of being with like 95% of all guys grossed me out and I never had emotional attatchment to guys other then this guy. I still have never had this strong of emotional feelings for a guy since (although I have had extremely minor infatuations or curiosities about a few guys i have known). I just sort of ignored the sex bit of things even though girls werent turning me on.

    Now fast forward to now and due to some circumstances of my life and just time running its course, I just cant ignore these feelings anymore. I started experimenting more and more. I got to make out with girls (some really hot girls) and even grope them slightly and found myself never getting aroused. With that being said I still have a strong desire to make out with girls, hug them, or even grope them just not much to actually have sex with them. One time I was making out with a girl and she was getting heavily into it putting my hand to her chest and feeling my groin (with her arm just to "see" not really to stimulate me) and I remember having to think of gay fantasies to get me hard so she wouldnt suspect anything. I recently in the past few months tried watching gay porn again and found out I enjoyed twink porn a lot. Found out that the guys I am attracted to are twinks, younger guys around my age 18-25. Slimmer but muscularly toned hairless bodies, cute softer faces with a boyish charm to them (although not looking like an actual young boy). I just like it when a faces have a touch of femminine quality to it rather then looking really touch and many. But even in twink porn I only find like 50% of the actors hot. There are so many guys out there a girl or gay guy would kill for thinking they are sexy and they have no appeal to me. The idea of being with them even grosses me out.

    So all in all I am so confused. IMO there are three main levels of attraction when it comes to the opposite sex (or even same sex). That is 1. Physical attraction (Do I find this person to be hot, sexy, beautiful, handsome, or cute?) 2. Emotional attraction (Do I find myself with butterflies in my stomach around this person, do I have a crush on them, do I have romantic feelings for them, do I love them??) 3. Sexual attraction (do I find the idea of having sex with them to be stimulating and arousing, does being around them or performing bodily contact with them sexually arouse me?)

    With that being said, when its comes to girls I have extremely extremely powerful physical and emotional attractions to girls. And when I say powerful I mean powerful. Feelings that cannot be denied. I have a strong strong desire to be in love with a girl, to be married to a girl, to be in a relationship with a girl. These are not feelings and desires I have tried to trick myself into btw to fit in with society. They are legitimate powerful and natural feelings. But my sexual desire for them are nonexistant. Besides making out, kissing, and groping (which I have strong desires for as well) I have no bodily desire to actually have sex with a girl; thats oral or vaginal. And the idea doesnt turn me on at all. I dont get aroused to it. The idea of having sex with a girl doesnt gross me out though. In matter of fact MENTALLY, I really want to have sex with a girl. I think I would enjoy it a lot but my body, it just doesnt want to co-operate.

    Then you get to guys. As far as physical attraction goes, I only think a few guys are cute or even hot. These guys are very very rare as 95-98% of all guys are repulsive to me. This attraction is weaker then it is for girls. And I find my attraction for girls to be a much broader spectrum then for the limited ammount of guys. As far as emotional attraction goes, I just have never felt in love with a guy. I felt fleeting feelings of butterflies with a guy every now and then I have felt a light crush on a guy through that thai guy but thats it. The guys I do crush on are also very rare and these feelings are dwarfed by the powerful extremely powerful emotions i have for girls. I suppose they show some potential but thats it. Then you get to sexual attraction and the idea of having sex with a guy (again from the bottom role) drives me crazy and turns me on a lot. I love the idea and its about all I ever masterbate too. Its so powerful I can actually get hard just by thought by it. While girls I always have to help "touch" myself to get hard for and as soon as i stop touching, I go soft again.

    I just don't understand it and I am so confused. I almost feel like a straight guy (with maybe a slight dose of bi-curiosity) trapped in an exclusively gay guys body. Why wont my body co-operate with me. Why does it mentally and physically turn me on with guys and have no reaction whatsoever with girls? I feel like I would be happier and stronger attracted to a straight relationship (this is a natural desire btw ignoring trying to fit in with societys pressures) then a gay one. But since my body doesn't get aroused by girls, I feel like I am doomed as soon as sex comes into play. And then with guys, there are so very very very few I feel attracted to so I feel like my chance of finding a bf is very very rare and I feel like my feelings for such wont be nearly as powerful and fulfilling as it is with girls. But I would have an amazing and fulfilling sex life.

    I just don't know what to do. Im tired of being confused, I rather be exclusively gay and have all three physical, emotional, and sexual attractions match up for a shift then them being split so much. But of course at the end of the day I really would just like to be sexually turned on by girls so a normal relationship would seem feasible. Im just angry and frustrated at the situation. Im confused and scared because of the idea of being gay could destroy my life and family relations (even friends). And Im depressed and sad about it in that I dont think I will ever get this resolved and ever find someone who makes me happy (or I can make them happy). Because honestly I could be with a girl and not barely ever sex if at all and be happy. But that would be unfair for her. And the idea of not being able to perform for a girl and her seeing me unaroused is humiliating.

    As stated before, I dont know what to do. I know the typical response will be "dont worry about labels and go for who you want or like" but I feel like that still wont help me I wont be able to sexually perform for who I like and want (girls) and I dont think I ever will find a "Mr. Right" due to what a small part of the male population I find attractive and I dont think it would be as emotionally/ physically fulfilling as it would be with a girl since those feelings are so weak for guys when compared to women. And I dont see my situation changing in the future. I feel like my options are A. Keep going after girls like I desire and enjoy but watch every attempt with them crumble when sex comes eventually. As much as want to or try to, seeing myself unable to perform B. Hope I find a guy I like but he either neither comes due to the rarity of my attraction in them or I do find him and find myself not as happy I would be with a girl. or C. Say screw it and just stay celibate and single the rest of my life and die alone.

    Also another note to why I wonder if I could truly be gay or am scared to be gay. Is, I just dont identify or even really like (if I may be honest) gay culture. I dont feel a part of the gay community or relate to it. If anything I relate and feel a part of the straight community and relate to straight guys. Im pretty masculine acting and have masculine interests. Pretty much your typical guy. And also the rare 3%-5% of guys Im attracted to, Im also attracted to the masculine "straight acting" behaviour. I dont care to be around "stereotypical" effeminate acting gay guys and find some of the extremely flamboyent's one's behaviour to be a bit unsettling if annoying. I just dont care to be around it if I am to be honest with myself. But to anyone who reads this that does feel they fit more of the stereotypical mold or the effiminate mold, please do not be offended. I have nothing against gays who fit the more steretypical image. I realize they are who they are and I respect that. I just dont relate to them or care to be around that behavior myself. I would never judge or be mean to a gay person like this though. Normally I wouldnt even bring this up out of respect for every gay guy like this out there and keep these feelings to myself but I feel like they might be important to figuring out my orientation. And also I do realize that there are many different types of gays and the "stereotypical" image is just one group of them. In closing of this paragraph, my sincerest and deepest apologies if this paragraph offended anyone.

    So to those who have read this huge book of a post. I appreciate it. All opinions and thoughts or welcomed. Is there any way I can gain either a sexual attraction for girls or a physical/emotional attraction for guys and a wider spectrum of guys?
     
  2. Chip

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    Re: Help! I have no idea what my orientation is. Im confused, angry, depressed, scare

    Hi, and welcome to EC.

    From reading through your post, I can see why you're conflicted, but actually, I think you'll find that your experiences mirror a lot of EC members. And the feelings and confusion are common to someone just coming to terms with their sexuality, because your first response is to deny, avoid, rationalize, or otherwise explain away the feelings that you don't want.

    IT seems pretty clear to me that you're gay. The fact you fantasize about men, and it's men -- and not women -- that get you off makes that pretty obvious. The rest of the things you're describing are common among gay men; feeling an emotional connection to women, admiring their attractiveness... none of those things make you straight. And straight men don't fantasize about dicks up their asses, or whack off to thoughts of guys.

    This may not be what you want to hear but it seems pretty likely from what you're describing. If you poke around EC a bit, you'll find plenty of others who thought the way you did but eventually figured out where their true attractions are. It isn't always easy or fun, but once you do get to a place of understanding and accepting yourself, you'll be a lot happier.
     
  3. SFSorrow

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    Re: Help! I have no idea what my orientation is. Im confused, angry, depressed, scare

    Hi there, this is my first post on here too but I've been reading around on here for some time. Your predicament sounds very similar to mine, feeling far more physically and emotionally attracted to girls but fantasising about men exclusively, plus lots of other details you mention are familiar.

    I'm afraid I can't really offer much advice because I'm in pretty much the same place as you, just wanted to say that you're not alone, and that was kind of reassuring to me. Until I found this place I felt weirder as I'd not found anybody else's stories that seemed to match mine.

    Anyway, sorry I can't be of more help.
     
  4. ukeye

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    Re: Help! I have no idea what my orientation is. Im confused, angry, depressed, scare

    ^^ Yes!! You just mirror imaged my life when I was your age. I came out at 22. I note that you are trying very hard to rationalize your attraction to women throughout that post.

    To me you sound like a very good person. You also sound very scared and in denial. This is a very normal path of coming out. Two points I think need further mention is 1) you talk about your attraction to a slim percentage of guys, but this is where your sexual desires lay. Well, let me tell you I'm the same and I'd say a lot of us are here.

    For some an emotional connection needs to be formed before the sex side of things comes into play. I don't know if you were close to your asian friend, but that may be why he was more noticed? Over time you became friends and this turned into something intimate for you?

    I appreciate your honesty about your feelings on the gay culture. I remember I shared near on the same views. Look, gay clubs aren't for everyone and its easy to throw up stereotypes about femme gay guys. My advice would be to try hard to be open minded. Not all gay guys are femme acting, and those ones you may find 'annoying'... Well, if you get to know them you will find that they are people too, with faults and aspirations just like you. No one is perfect regardless of sexuality.

    It really is amazing reading your post and how similar it was to my experience 3 years ago. If you want to chat more about it, feel free to PM me.
     
  5. J Snow

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    Re: Help! I have no idea what my orientation is. Im confused, angry, depressed, scare

    Hello and welcome to the site =) I'll be honest, I was a little intimidated by the size of your post but I'm so glad I took the time to read it because I feel like about 95% would have be true of myself, but I'll share my own experiences with trying to discover my own sexuality.

    When I was 12 or 13 I started pretending to be a girl in online chat rooms. Even though I played sports, went hunting, was addicted to video games, and basically did all boy things, I loved the feeling of being perceived as a girl (before I had ever even ever masturbated for the first time, was totally sexually ignorant). After learning about transsexual people I started to question if I could be.

    While online I tried to discuss this with people in some random chat room. Someone asked me if I like to have sex like a girl. Being totally ignorant, they had to explain anal sex. My first experience trying it was kind of a mess (No pun intended) so I kept doing it but only in the shower.

    I kept doing this, and alternating between straight and gay porn. Usually while watching porn or fantasizing I pretended I was the girl. Despite all this, I found girls attractive, but not guys. I assumed I was bi, but I could just ignore guys and go with girls cause it was easier to do that. Yet when I heard guys talking about sex with girls or the typical "I'd do her" stuff, I just found myself not relating at all. In fact I kind of found myself thinking, "wow, what a pig." And wondering why they weren't interested in being in a relationship with someone who respected them. Surprisingly girls appear to be interested in guys that are like to have sex with them. Go figure.

    Well I was in Catholic school until I was 18, and lived at home until I was 20. Nothing really changed until I moved out. Within the first few weeks of moving out, I finally realized I was free, and I got fed up with not knowing. I put up an ad online and lost my virginity to some guy I'd never met. It wasn't a good idea and I didn't like it. Afterwards I finally admitted to myself I was bi though, and put that I was bi on a dating site. Even though I knew I could have sex with a man, I didn't think I could have feelings for one.

    Well I met someone in no time, and as of now I've been dating them for over a year. Despite thinking I was straight until I was 20, and still finding girls attractive, I like being penetrated. "Topping" for either a man or a woman just doesn't sound interesting to me. Being the one being penetrated just seems so much more appealing and intimate to me. Plus penis just makes me drool and vaginae are disgusting.

    That being said, just because its hard to picture you in a relationship with a guy doesn't mean you wouldn't like it. I having strong arms wrapped around me, or rest my head on on a strong chest. Kissing a guy was probably my biggest mental barrier. Kissing the hook up guy was so awkward and uncomfortable, but my first kiss with my bf was magical.

    I can't tell you what you are. Only you can do that. There are so many feeling you expressed in your OP that I related to though. I think you are for sure bi. Honestly I'm probably bi to some extent. I don't think I could be in a relationship with a girl though. I think I would just feel jealous of the girl because I'd rather have her role in sex. Identifying as gay doesn't necessarily mean you aren't attracted to women at all, in fact in most cases I don't think that's the case. It just means you are interested in having sex with men but not women. Its possible you could be homosexual but hetero-romantic, though I find it much more likely you have a lot of anxiety around being in a relationship with a man.

    Again welcome to the site, and I wish you the best of luck with these questions. I know it isn't always easy.