Pomosexual, or undefined sexuality, is a neologism used to describe a person who shuns sexual orientation labels (such as heterosexual and homosexual) that define individuals, and in turn chooses not to label oneself with a sexual orientation.[1]
Etymology
Pomosexuality is formed by adding the prefix pomo- (shorthand for postmodern) to the adjective -sexual, and is used in reference to oneself as a protest against such labels.[2]
Origin
Sex-positive activist writers and editors Carol Queen and Lawrence Schimel popularized the term by using it as the title of an anthology of essays published in 1997. In it, they describe pomosexuality as the "erotic reality beyond the boundaries of gender, separatism, and essentialist notions of sexual orientation." In the introduction, they state,
| “ |
We don't propose that 'pomosexual' replace LGBT&F. We're not interested in adding another new name to the slew we already have, though we acknowledge the usefulness of having one name by which all LGBT&Fs might be called. 'Pomosexual' references homosexuality even as it describes the community's outsiders, the queer queers who can't seem to stay put within a nice, simple identity. We coin the term to situate this book and its essays within and in relation to the LGBT&F community. It is in every way an artifact of, and in many ways a backlash toward, this community--or rather, to certain assumptions widely held within and/or about it, essentialist assumptions about what it means to be queer. We react against these assumptions in the same way that in the art world Postmodernism was a reaction against Modernism."[3] |
” |
Criticisms
The concept of pomosexuality has become the source of some criticism from those who see it as a new fad the same way bisexuality and pansexuality have been criticized. According to andrologist Sudhakar Krishnamurthy, pomosexuality "is nothing but another lifestyle label. People are creating different categories every single day but this doesn’t mean that these are new phenomena. It is now fashionable to belong to a new category. As far as pomosexuality goes, the fad is about not believing in any of the compartmentalisations."[2]
See also
References
External links
|
