glossary

androphilia: sexual attraction to males; a sexual orientation towards sexually mature males.

autogynephilia: in a biological male, arousal to the idea of being or becoming a woman; see this post.

fa'afafine: in Samoa, biological males who live "in the manner of women"; see this post.

fetish: an item that causes a particular person to become consistently sexually aroused, or a term for that type of object-specific arousal. Fetishes may involve items of clothing (like shoes), particular types of material (leather or spandex, for example), or parts of the body (classically feet).

gynephilia: sexual attraction to females; a sexual orientation towards sexually mature females.

hebephilia: sexual attraction to pubescent children; a sexual orientation towards pubescent children; see this post.

paraphilias: sexual kinks.

partialism: a fetish that is focused on a particular part of the body.

pedophilia: sexual attraction to prepubescent children; a sexual orientation towards prepubescent children. ("Pedophilia" is sometimes used to refer to attraction to pubescent and post-pubescent minors, but this is an inappropriate use. See this post.)

polyandry: when a woman has more than one recognized husband at a time.

polygamy: the general case of simultaneous multiple spouses: either a man with more than one recognized wife or a woman with more than one recognized husband.

polygyny: when a man has more than one recognized wife at a time.

sexual orientation: a person's sexual arousal patterns in terms of attractions (or lack thereof) towards particular body types.

teleiophilia: sexual attraction toward sexually mature people; a sexual orientation towards sexually mature people.