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Sexual Orientation Originally: (the process of) orientation with respect
to a sexual goal, potential
mate, partner, etc. Later chiefly: a person's sexual identity in relation
to the gender to whom he or she is usually attracted; (broadly) the fact
of being heterosexual, bisexual,
or homosexual. 1931 J. P. LICHTENBERGER Divorce xv. 369 Courtship..is a normal, but in the absence of sex knowledge often a bungling process of sexual orientation. 1946 G. H. SEWARD Sex & Social Order xi. 153 Deviant sexual orientation in later life may originate in the child's inability to identify himself with his like-sexed parent. 1953 Amer. Q. 5 340, I was dealing with..psychoanalytic characterologies which are based on sexual orientation Freud's oral, anal and genital types. 1967 N.Y. Times Mag. 3 Dec. 32/2 He calls for research on how homosexuals become homosexuals... We must research why heterosexuals become heterosexuals or rather, what forces determine sexual orientation in general 2002 Independent (Electronic ed.) 28 Mar. 8 Heterosexual teachers don't realise how often they reinforce their sexual orientation... They wear a wedding ring, talk about their spouse in class and relay stories about their children. |
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