Pomosexual is a neologism used to describe sexual orientation, or more accurately, an attempt to reassess the boundaries of sexual orientation. A portmanteau word, coupling the prefix pomo- (shorthand for postmodern) and -sexual (suggesting a sexual preference or orientation), the term itself is oxymoronic since it is descriptive of persons who do not identify with any essentially-defined sexual label, and is used in reference to oneself as a protest against such labels. 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."
See also
External links
- Word Spy entry for pomosexual
- Queen, Carol & Schimel, Lawrence, Eds. PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality, Cleis Press, 1997. Preface by Kate Bornstein ISBN 1-57344-074-4
