What is Sexuality?

Sexuality is how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings. Sexuality can encompass sexual intercourse and sexual contact in all its forms as well as the psychological aspects of sexual behavior. Sexuality in humans generates profound emotional and psychological responses. Our gender identity impacts our sexuality. Gender identity is a person’s sense of identification as female, male, both, neither or somewhere in between.

Our sexuality is shaped by the desire for pleasure, our desire to have intimacy with a partner and our interactions with other people as well as our emotions. Attraction is an important aspect of sexuality. Each individual has different preferences in qualities about another person. A person’s sexual orientation has a significant influence on which qualities they find attractive. A person’s sexual orientation is their pattern of attraction to men, women, both or none.

Different people develop attractions at different times in their lives. The teenage years for some, is a time when these feelings are developing rapidly. It is normal to have sexual thoughts and feelings especially during the time of puberty. Some people are confused by these emotions but as time progresses people become more sure of themselves and their preferences. Some people become especially confused about their sexual feelings if they feel attracted to persons of the same gender as them. This is called Homosexuality and you can read more about it on our Homosexuality page.