🫐 ever heard of 'berrisexuality'? 🫐

QUEER WORD
BERRISEXUALITY

What It Means:

A micro-label used to describe somebody whose primary attraction is to feminine-aligned and androgynous genders, with only occasional or minor interest in masculine-aligned genders or men. Think of it as pansexual or omnisexual, but with a strong preference for femininity (and, therefore, a much lighter pull toward masculinity).

Let’s Use It In A Sentence:

Kara patiently explained to her mother, for the seventeenth time, that her berrisexuality had nothing to do with wanting to settle down with a strawberry. 

A little bit of history:

It can be tempting to scrunch your nose up when hearing of a new micro-label to describe sexuality or gender, and I've been guilty of this numerous times.

‘What? Another one?’

‘It’s literally made up by someone on the internet!’

'Do we really need to go to this level of specificity?'

But then I think of the relief and clarity that comes for those who find language that helps explain who they are and what it is that they feel. The joy that spreads through someone who can finally articulate their being. And suddenly, the sneering and scoffing seems a little less justified (and a bit dick-ish, if I’m honest).

Which is my long, roundabout way of introducing this term….

Berrisexuality was first coined and shared by Tumblr user @genderstarbucks in November 2023. And, like most micro-labels, it came about because someone was trying to describe their own experience and realised there wasn't really a word for it yet.

At its core, the term describes people who feel attraction across all genders, but with a strong preference for feminine and androgynous presentations. The attraction to masculine-aligned people or men exists, sure, but it's more rare. It’s the kind of thing where you might go years without feeling it, and then suddenly meet someone who happens to be the exception.

How Is This Different From Other Labels?

Good question. There are a few similar micro-labels floating around, like:

Finssexual / Finsexual – Attraction exclusively to feminine people (women and feminine-aligned non-binary people). This one's stricter than berrisexual because it doesn't include that occasional pull toward masculinity.

Neptunic – Attraction to women, feminine non-binary people, and androgynous people, but not men. Again, a bit more rigid than berrisexual.

Pansexual / Omnisexual – Attraction to all genders, but without the acknowledged preference that berrisexuality describes.

The key difference with berrisexuality is that it acknowledges that there is an imbalance in attraction. You're not equally attracted to all genders (which is what some people assume pansexuality means, even though it doesn't have to). You have a clear idea of your preference, but you're still open to the occasional exception.

A few other things worth knowing:

• There’s a flag! The colours are soft pinks, whites, and berry-toned purples. And, if you’ve been wondering where the ‘berri’ comes in to all of this you’ll be pleased to learn that the colours of the flag are meant to evoke the imagery of berries ripening on a vine - soft, feminine, with just a hint of something unexpected.

• Berrisexuality is also sometimes referred to as Laurian.

• The romantic orientation equivalent is called (rather unsurprisingly) berriromantic.

• The inverse of berrisexual is almondsexual. Almondsexual describes someone whose primary attraction is to masculine and androgynous people, with only occasional interest in feminine people.

And finally, a reminder…

These labels aren't invented to confuse people or to be exclusionary. They exist because someone, somewhere, couldn't find the words to describe what they were feeling.

Berrisexuality might not be for you, and that's fine.

But for someone else, it might be the exact word they've been searching for.

(oof, sorry if that got a bit preachy! I hope you know what I mean!).

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