Androsexual
Attraction to masculinity, whatever the person's gender.
Androsexual means attraction to masculinity: to men, to masculine people, or to masculinity itself, without the word assuming anything about the gender of the person feeling it.
That last part is the whole reason it exists. Saying someone is attracted to men usually implies something about who they are, and the implication is often wrong. Androsexual describes the attraction and leaves the person out of it, which matters for people whose own gender does not fit the assumptions built into gay, straight or bisexual.
It is particularly useful for nonbinary and agender people. If someone has no gender, straight and gay both become meaningless, because both are defined relative to the speaker's own. Androsexual describes what they are drawn to without requiring them to first fit themselves into a category they do not hold.
The counterpart is gynosexual, attraction to femininity, and the two are usually explained together. Someone drawn to both may use both, or use bisexual, or use nothing at all.
It describes attraction to masculinity rather than to a specific set of bodies. That distinction is deliberate: masculine nonbinary people, transmasc people and butch people can all be included, depending on the individual.
The prefix comes from the Greek andros, meaning man. The terms circulated in sexology before the community picked them up, and they arrived in general use in the 2010s alongside the rest of this vocabulary.
Androsexual is not a replacement for gay or straight
It is often introduced as a more modern version of the older words, which misses what it does. Gay and straight are relational: they describe the connection between the speaker's gender and the target's. Androsexual removes the speaker's gender from the equation entirely and describes only what draws them.
That makes it useful for people whose gender does not give the older words anything to work with, and largely unnecessary for people whose gender does. A cis gay man can call himself androsexual and would not be wrong, but gay already says it.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am androsexual.
- Attracted to masculinity, and my own gender does not come into it.
- Androsexual, because gay and straight both assume something untrue about me.
- Androsexual and gynosexual both, as it happens.
Not this
- So you are just gay
- That is a made-up word for straight women
- Androsexual means you only like cis men
- Why not use a normal word?
Questions people actually ask
What does androsexual mean?
Attraction to men, masculine people, or masculinity, described without any assumption about the gender of the person who feels it.
Why not just say gay or straight?
Because those words are defined relative to the speaker's own gender. For someone nonbinary or agender they have nothing to anchor to, while androsexual describes the attraction on its own.
What is the opposite of androsexual?
Gynosexual, meaning attraction to femininity. They are counterparts and are usually explained as a pair.
Can a woman be androsexual?
Yes. Anyone of any gender can be, since the word says nothing about who is feeling the attraction. Most women drawn to men simply say straight, because it is understood faster.
Does androsexual mean attraction only to cis men?
No. It describes attraction to masculinity, which can include trans men, transmasc people and masculine nonbinary people depending on the individual.
Is androsexual the same as androphilia?
They cover much the same ground. Androphilia is the research term, popularised with gynephilia by the psychologist Ron Langevin in the 1980s; androsexual is the word found in community glossaries.