Alright, so, today I wanna talk about something that I’ve been trying to get my head around: the difference between sexual orientation and gender. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, but I think I’ve finally got it, and I wanted to share my journey with you all.
First off, I started by just, like, looking around, seeing what other folks were saying. I found out that gender isn’t just about what’s between your legs. It’s more about how you feel inside and how society sees you. Like, there are men, women, and people who don’t fit into either of those boxes. I remember when I was a child, I’m always being told that boys should be brave and girls should be gentle. I didn’t know what it was called at that time, but I think these things are actually part of gender, according to what I saw online.
Then, I dug a bit deeper into this whole “sexual orientation” thing. And guess what? It’s all about who you’re into. Who makes your heart go pitter-patter. It’s about who you get butterflies for, who you wanna hold hands with, who you wanna watch the sunset with or spend the rest of your life with. You can be attracted to people of the same gender, the opposite gender, both, or maybe you’re not really into anyone at all. And that’s all totally cool.
So, after all this digging, I think I get the difference now. Gender is about who you are, while sexual orientation is about who you’re attracted to. At first, I was confused about this because a friend of mine was born a boy but now she identifies herself as a girl. And she said she’s into boys. So I was like, “Wait, does that make her straight or gay?” Now I realize that her gender and sexual orientation are two different things, and both are completely okay.
Putting it all together, it’s like this:
- Gender: How you see yourself and how the world sees you.
- Sexual orientation: Who you’re into, if anyone.
Figuring this stuff out has been a real journey for me. It’s made me think a lot about how we see ourselves and each other. And I think it’s super important to remember that everyone’s different, and that’s what makes the world an interesting place. So, let’s all try to be a bit more understanding and accepting, yeah? It’ll make the world a much nicer place for all of us.
