Well, first off I'm not sure everyone would agree that those two are different things, so don't feel bad if you're confused. Second - I didn't really start to feel different about the two until I...
Well, first off I'm not sure everyone would agree that those two are different things, so don't feel bad if you're confused.
Second - I didn't really start to feel different about the two until I was into my twenties and understood my own emotions and reactions better. Until that point, I considered the physical and sexual sides of attraction to be basically the same thing. (Really, I kind of still do. But I'm trying to work off the premise here, because I do understand what you mean.) So don't feel bad. It may begin to make more sense as you get older.
Now, sensuality is an enormously difficult thing to explain through the written word. And really, that's what "sexual attraction" is. What sensuality is - or sexual attraction, or sultriness, or seductiveness, or rakishness or eroticism (I told you - it's hard to define: that's why there are so many words for it) is - is a sort of smouldering, carnal appeal. Let's pause for a moment and come back to that, because we haven't gotten anywhere at all.
There are many ways to have sex; that's part of what makes it so much fun. One of the key aspects of sex is passion. Roughly defined, "passion" in sex is how lost in the moment one gets. The more wholly one commits, the more passionate one is.
That's important because sexual attraction is, more than anything else, the sense that you and the object of your interest would make a very passionate pairing. Really, that's what all of those words (sensual, sultry, etc) are trying to convey. Someone seductive is someone who makes us believe that when they are with us, there's nothing else in the world that they'd rather be doing.
And that is a very powerful feeling indeed. There's that appeal we were talking about before.
Physical attraction is more objective (there are agreed-upon criteria), usually more immediately apparent, and, ultimately, much less interesting.
This pretty much matches what I consider the difference to be for me. To me, physical attraction means "that person is cute/pretty/beautiful/etc, they have attractive features". Sexual attraction...
This pretty much matches what I consider the difference to be for me. To me, physical attraction means "that person is cute/pretty/beautiful/etc, they have attractive features". Sexual attraction goes deeper, and at least for me, has some degree of an emotional component to it (which is what fuels the passion that you're talking about).
Sorry, I'm going to need to remove this. Having a sexually-oriented discussion (even when it's as indirect as this one) with someone who identified themselves as a minor is extremely dicey.
Sorry, I'm going to need to remove this. Having a sexually-oriented discussion (even when it's as indirect as this one) with someone who identified themselves as a minor is extremely dicey.
"You're hot" vs "I'm into you." I knew this one woman who I considered attractive. Then she made some rather unsavory comments about Hispanics (well, she said 'Mexicans' but ya know) and she...
"You're hot" vs "I'm into you."
I knew this one woman who I considered attractive. Then she made some rather unsavory comments about Hispanics (well, she said 'Mexicans' but ya know) and she instantly was no longer anyone I'd be attracted to. She may have still been hot but I wasn't into her.
You can still be involved (as in, sexually) with someone you're only physically attracted to and if that's enough for you, okay, no worries. As long as you're both honest about it. But, personally, a sexual attraction is like "no, you're not some objective 10 that transcends cultures but the way you talk about your hobbies makes me want to see you naked."
They're kind of the same and kind of different. I've been with people where I thought there was a connection but it turned out that I really didn't care for any of the same things as them. I've also thought "I don't usually like X but she's something else!" Which I guess kind of informs the ways our brains are culturally formed and how we form ourselves.
Well, first off I'm not sure everyone would agree that those two are different things, so don't feel bad if you're confused.
Second - I didn't really start to feel different about the two until I was into my twenties and understood my own emotions and reactions better. Until that point, I considered the physical and sexual sides of attraction to be basically the same thing. (Really, I kind of still do. But I'm trying to work off the premise here, because I do understand what you mean.) So don't feel bad. It may begin to make more sense as you get older.
Now, sensuality is an enormously difficult thing to explain through the written word. And really, that's what "sexual attraction" is. What sensuality is - or sexual attraction, or sultriness, or seductiveness, or rakishness or eroticism (I told you - it's hard to define: that's why there are so many words for it) is - is a sort of smouldering, carnal appeal. Let's pause for a moment and come back to that, because we haven't gotten anywhere at all.
There are many ways to have sex; that's part of what makes it so much fun. One of the key aspects of sex is passion. Roughly defined, "passion" in sex is how lost in the moment one gets. The more wholly one commits, the more passionate one is.
That's important because sexual attraction is, more than anything else, the sense that you and the object of your interest would make a very passionate pairing. Really, that's what all of those words (sensual, sultry, etc) are trying to convey. Someone seductive is someone who makes us believe that when they are with us, there's nothing else in the world that they'd rather be doing.
And that is a very powerful feeling indeed. There's that appeal we were talking about before.
Physical attraction is more objective (there are agreed-upon criteria), usually more immediately apparent, and, ultimately, much less interesting.
This pretty much matches what I consider the difference to be for me. To me, physical attraction means "that person is cute/pretty/beautiful/etc, they have attractive features". Sexual attraction goes deeper, and at least for me, has some degree of an emotional component to it (which is what fuels the passion that you're talking about).
Sorry, I'm going to need to remove this. Having a sexually-oriented discussion (even when it's as indirect as this one) with someone who identified themselves as a minor is extremely dicey.
"You're hot" vs "I'm into you."
I knew this one woman who I considered attractive. Then she made some rather unsavory comments about Hispanics (well, she said 'Mexicans' but ya know) and she instantly was no longer anyone I'd be attracted to. She may have still been hot but I wasn't into her.
You can still be involved (as in, sexually) with someone you're only physically attracted to and if that's enough for you, okay, no worries. As long as you're both honest about it. But, personally, a sexual attraction is like "no, you're not some objective 10 that transcends cultures but the way you talk about your hobbies makes me want to see you naked."
They're kind of the same and kind of different. I've been with people where I thought there was a connection but it turned out that I really didn't care for any of the same things as them. I've also thought "I don't usually like X but she's something else!" Which I guess kind of informs the ways our brains are culturally formed and how we form ourselves.