What Exactly Is Abrosexuality?

Long before society was willing to accept it, sexologist Dr. Alfred Kinsey knew that sexuality was on a spectrum. In his book "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male," Dr. Kinsey said, "Only the human mind invents categories and tries to force facts into separated pigeonholes." And he couldn't have been more right. His research, although unfinished because he died at the young age of 62, set the groundwork for what we know about sexual orientation and gender identity: It's fluid. It may have been controversial at the time, and among certain circles remains so, but it's not exactly up for debate. It's hard to debate fact.

"Fluidity is an absolutely normal aspect of sexual orientation," therapist Will Zogg tells Healthline. "Attraction is far more complex than many people can communicate. And fluidity and the presentation of sexuality vary widely across cultures, age, access, and region."

What this means is the sexual orientation you are today may not be the same later in life or even a few days from now. In fact, you may spend your life sliding up and down the continuum until you're old and gray. Not because you're looking for a sexual orientation that fits you best, but because you're inherently fluid in your attraction to others. And there is a term to describe this exact way of being. 

When it comes to terms that define sexual orientation, abrosexuality has one of the loveliest. "Abro" is the Greek prefix that means "delicate" or "graceful," symbolizing fluid movement and the fact that people can change and "gracefully" move in and out of that transformation, according to WebMD. There's a freedom in being able to slide, effortlessly, up and down a spectrum of orientations, and that's exactly what abrosexuals do.

"An abrosexual person may be drawn toward androgynous partners and desire to have frequent sexual interactions for a year or two and then find themselves romantically attracted to hypermasculine partners but not have much interest in sex for the next six months," certified sex therapist Indigo Stray Conger, LMFT, CST, tells MindBodyGreen. "These fluctuations may occur over various periods of time for different people but indicate a pattern of significant fluctuation in sexual orientation."

Of course, to those who don't understand, abrosexuals may appear to be confused or lost, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Abroseuxals are just the epitome of what fluidity looks like. They're people who are so comfortable in their sexual orientation that they don't hesitate to lean into how they're feeling at the moment, something that can be scary for people who don't understand. People tend to be afraid of not only what they can't comprehend, but of the ultimate confidence another person might have in themselves on a sexual level.

Like all sexual orientations, this is something you can only answer for yourself. Abrosexuality may look like pansexuality and polysexuality, both of which are similar (but different!) in their own right, as they involve being attracted to people no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, per HerStyleAsia. But abrosexuality is how one chooses to identify themselves. It's more about identity than to whom they might be attracted as they slide up and down the spectrum.

"There is no overarching clue, personality trait, or physical aesthetic that signifies a person's sexuality, and this is just as true for abrosexuality as it is for any other sexual orientation or gender," queer sex scholar Nadège tells Cosmopolitan.

If you're someone whose sexuality changes often and maybe even quickly, for example within hours or days, you might be abroseuxal (via Medical News Today). No, you're not bored, you're not confused, and there's certainly nothing wrong if your sexual orientation changes from one day to the next. You may be abrosexual and that's a cool orientation to be — gracefully sliding along and doing your thing. Embrace it.