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Sexual attraction: What's the difference between romantic attraction and sexual attraction?

320 Answers
Last Updated: 01/20/2020 at 3:57pm
Sexual attraction: What's the difference between romantic attraction and sexual attraction?
★ This question about LGBTQ+ Issues was starred by a moderator on 5/12/2016.
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Top Rated Answers
Corinne12341
March 25th, 2016 2:56am
When you are sexually attracted to someone that means that you wish to have sex with this person while if you are romantically attracted to someone you do not wish to have sex just cuddle and such.
Anonymous
March 26th, 2016 4:19am
Romantic attraction is more of when someone is aesteciaclly pleaseing, like you would feel comfortable laying on a couch and having a relationship with someone. Sexual attraction is where you feel sexually attracted to someone in more then just or not at all in a dating way.
Anonymous
March 26th, 2016 3:20pm
Romantic attraction is a feeling that causes people to desire a romantic relationship with a specific other person. Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest.
starryNatural85
March 27th, 2016 12:43am
I think of romantic attraction as an attraction to personality-to spending time with the person. I think of sexual attraction as a physical-to looks.
colourfulUnicorns83
May 13th, 2016 4:35pm
Sexual attraction means that you have a physical attraction to another person, whom you wish to have an intimate relationship or encounter with. A romantic attraction is someone who you wish to be in a committed relationship mostly because you love that person, in these types of relationships, sexual encounters do not matter 100% of the time.
RileyTwiggs
May 24th, 2016 2:18am
Romantic attraction comes from the feelings you have for a person based on their personality, mannerisms, and social characteristics. Sexual attraction is based on your liking of a person's physical characteristics and outward appearance.
Anonymous
June 5th, 2016 10:51pm
Romantic Attraction: You love someone for who they are. Sexual attraction is physical pleasure......
Anonymous
June 8th, 2016 10:50am
Sexual attraction is when you want to do sexual stuff with them and you're attracted to them because the person is sexy (?) and romantic attraction is when you're attracted to the person because they're romantic and you want to do romantic things with them.
Anonymous
June 9th, 2016 2:12pm
Romantic attraction is when you feel more than just sexual with someone,you kind of need that person to be in your life,as for sexual attraction is someone you just want to have sexual stuff and no strings attached
JaketheTransguyFTM
June 9th, 2016 6:10pm
Sexual attraction is when you want to have sex with someone. Romantic attraction is when you love someone, not necessarily in a sexual way.
Artemidesia
July 3rd, 2017 3:29am
The most simplistic way to explain it is that sexual attraction is just that: a natural desire to have sex with a specific person, it can be an immediate desire upon seeing them or a more gradual one that develops over time, but in the end the base desire is for sex with that person. Romantic attraction is a desire for whatever you perceive is a romantic relationship with a specific person, can also be immediate or more gradual.
Anonymous
November 20th, 2017 7:05pm
Romatic attractions :What your heart wants vs. Sexual attractions:What your gentiles want. Sometimes they never gel, sometimes they do.
EndlesslyDreaming
November 21st, 2017 3:42pm
love and lust, I'm ace or I don't experience or like the idea of sex/sexual attraction but I really want to date someone! its like you want to have sex with the person verses you want to cuddle and love them! that's what I think.
Anonymous
June 2nd, 2018 11:06am
Sexual attraction is defined as an allure or a pull towards a person in which you would like to have sexual activities with them. Romantic attraction is defined as the same as sexual attraction, but instead of having sexual desires with them, you want more of a romantic date or feelings with them.
KiaraTheBored
August 21st, 2018 12:44pm
Romantic attraction is when you are attracted to someone in way that you would date them, but not have sex or participate in any sexual activities with them. Sexual attraction is when you are attracted to someone in a way that you WOULD have sex with them. Types of attraction can differ depending on many things, such as gender, age and appearance. It is possible to feel both romantic and sexual attraction to someone. It is also possible to feel only sexually attracted to one gender and only romantically attracted to another. These are all completely normal things that are seen in multiple people.
Clarisse29
October 2nd, 2018 9:30am
Romantic attraction is when you feel like taking care of someone and making them feel loved and giving them compliments. It is not solely based upon their looks. You just get the butterflies when you see them. Whereas sexual attraction is just when you’re attracted to their bodies and don’t really feel much for them. Romantic attraction also involves the feeling that you can look at or listen to them for hours on an end and you just wish to be with them and spend time with them. While romantics attraction takes awhile to fade. Sexual attraction may fade sooner.
younity
December 3rd, 2018 1:23am
romantic interest develops through emotional connection with ones personality while sexual attraction is physical and develops through appearances and lust.
Aayla
- Expert in LGBTQ+ Issues
May 22nd, 2019 12:02am
Sexual attraction involves being attracted to a person in a physical way and having sexual desires about them. It's a purely physical dimension that only concerns the body. Romantic attraction involves being attracted to a person in an intellectual and/or emotional way, independently from sex and the physical dimension. The two attractions can coincide, you can feel both for the same person, but they don't necessarily go together. There are also people whose sexual and romantic orientations do not coincide, so they can feel, for example, romantic attraction towards one gender and sexual attraction towards more than one, or viceversa, or any other combination.
Anonymous
January 18th, 2020 9:41pm
Hi everyone. Well, according to Medium, sexual attraction involves the desire for sexual contact with someone, while romantic attraction focuses more on the desire for a romantic relationship with someone, not purely related to sex. When I met my girlfriend the first thing that appeared between us was, of course, romantic attraction. We were over the moon, our relationships seemed to be so tender and unique. Then after some time especially when we found a nice forum https://elliquiy.com about sexual life our relationships found a new side - sexual attraction. So in my opinion first comes romantic attraction and then sexual and there is a difference between them, but it's much better when these concepts come together.
Anonymous
January 20th, 2020 3:57pm
Hi everyone. Well, according to Medium, sexual attraction involves the desire for sexual contact with someone, while romantic attraction focuses more on the desire for a romantic relationship with someone, not purely related to sex. When I met my girlfriend the first thing that appeared between us was, of course, romantic attraction. We were over the moon, our relationships seemed to be so tender and unique. Then after some time especially when we found a nice forum about sexual life our relationships found a new side - sexual attraction. So in my opinion first comes romantic attraction and then sexual and there is a difference between them, but it's much better when these concepts come together.