As I was trying to decide what I would write about this week for Sexuality Sunday, Julie Andrews as Maria in The Sound of Music (one of my all time favorite movies) started singing “Let’s start at the very beginning.  A very good place to start.”

I decided to take her advice after realizing I have never actually defined sexuality and what it covers.  

Sexuality covers biological sex, gender identity,

gender expression, and attraction (orientation).

The Gender Unicorn
Biological sex aka gender assigned at birth

Is defined as the chromosomes, hormones, and sex organs identifiable at birth.  These include:

  •             Female – having a vagina and clitoris
  •             Male – having a penis and testes
  •             Intersex – having both female and male sex organs
Gender identity

Is defined as how a person thinks about themselves and feels internally.  These include:

  • Female
  • Male
  • Transgender
  • Non-binary
Gender expression

Is defined as how a person chooses to express or demonstrate their gender identity.  This can include feminine, masculine, and non-binary.

Attraction aka orientation

Who a person is emotionally, physically, romantically and/or spiritually attracted to in expressing feelings of affection and sexually.

Other than biological sex, there are many ways to label, explain and understand the various aspects of sexuality.  I will dive deeper into these in future blogs as it can be a lot of information.

Dr. Irgang
Dr. Lisa Irgang is a Clinical Psychologist and the Owner of Relationship Solutions Center. She provides a variety of services to meet her clients needs. Dr. Lisa has worked with people throughout Chicagoland, helping with adjusting to significant life changes, ADHD, Alternative Sexualities, Anxiety Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Dealing with Chronic Illness, Depression, Low self-esteem, Parenting special needs children, Relationship concerns, and Trauma. She's a graduate of Argosy University Chicago and a Fellow at CLII - Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois.
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