# 'Homosexual' v. 'Homoerotic'. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2013, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381 "2013-10-16T07:00:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/1 "2013-10-16T07:00:47Z")
My Webster’s college dictionary lists them as synonyms. Under “homoerotic”, it simply says “HOMOSEXUAL” (i.e., look it up yourself). Freud seemed to use the terms interchangeably. But they are two different words, so they must have some difference in meaning, if only slight. What **is** the difference in meaning (and while we’re at it, history, general usage, etc.) between “homosexual” and “homoerotic”? Thank you in advance to all who reply:) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/2 "2013-10-16T08:32:29Z")
Homosexual is two+ people of the same sex who do certain things. Homoerotic is two+ people of uncertain preference who do things that make outside observers notice something is kind of gay, and might be appealing to people who are interested in that. Cf: Greco-Roman wrestling, Turkish wrestling. The individuals involved may be straight, gay, or deeply hiding something, as long as someone with same sex interest raises an eyebrow, and intent is not necessary. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/3 "2013-10-16T08:52:01Z")
Just my WAG… IMHO, ‘homosexual’ refers to the person, (think, clinical terminology) and ‘homoerotic’ refers to actions, activities and/or objects that are sexually arousing to homosexuals. 😕 Does that make any sense? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/4 "2013-10-16T09:06:03Z")
Homosexual is either a noun (someone who finds people of the same sex sexually arousing), or an adjective involving sexual activity or attraction between two people of the same sex… Homoerotic is an adjective to describe an image, act or person who arouses same sex attraction. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/5 "2013-10-17T03:55:06Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Homosexual is two+ people of the same sex who do certain things. > > Homoerotic is two+ people of uncertain preference who do things that make outside observers notice something is kind of gay, and might be appealing to people who are interested in that. Cf: Greco-Roman wrestling, Turkish wrestling. The individuals involved may be straight, gay, or deeply hiding something, as long as someone with same sex interest raises an eyebrow, and intent is not necessary. I’m constantly irritating my friends who like to watch MMA fighting by telling them how ‘homoerotic’ it is (cause they spend most of the time on the mat, wrestling front to back). They keep thinking I mean homosexual and go on about ‘how strong & manly’ these guys are! Whatever… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/6 "2013-10-17T04:39:44Z")
Same as the difference between “sexual” and “erotic”. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/7 "2013-10-17T07:53:37Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I’m constantly irritating my friends who like to watch MMA fighting by telling them how ‘homoerotic’ it is (cause they spend most of the time on the mat, wrestling front to back). They keep thinking I mean homosexual and go on about ‘how strong & manly’ these guys are! Whatever… 😃 Front to back is not a common position in MMA. Missionary - aka, full guard, is about the most common grappling you’ll see on the ground. While standing, the clinch against the cage is fairly common. “Taking someone’s back” is often the final step towards one of the most common submissions - the rear naked choke, so you may see it in a lot of replays. But it’s most often proceeded by a lot more time spent in less dominant grappling positions, like the full guard or side control. ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/8 "2013-10-17T08:45:37Z")
> [@](#): > > the rear naked choke Sounds pretty homoerotic. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/9 "2013-10-17T11:23:25Z")
> [@Krav\_Manga](#): > > Sounds pretty homoerotic. I guess if you like getting choked… not my thing really. Your tastes may vary. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/10 "2013-10-17T14:53:30Z")
_Brokeback Mountain_ = homosexual _300_ = homoerotic ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/11 "2013-10-17T15:02:14Z")
Erotic and sexual are not the same thing. If two people slither all over each other, it is probably erotic but is arguably not sexual. Once specific attention to erogenous zones starts with the intent to push arousal to orgasm, it’s sexual. Most ads for women’s things are homoerotic. I can’t think of any that are homosexual. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/12 "2013-10-17T16:02:27Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > “Taking someone’s back” is often the final step towards one of the most common submissions Yes. Yes it is. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/13 "2013-10-17T19:43:27Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > “Taking someone’s back” is often the final step towards one of the most common submissions Common? Usually it requires begging and only happens on your birthday anyway. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/14 "2013-10-17T20:20:12Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Same as the difference between “sexual” and “erotic”. Nicely done!! You win the Elegant Answer award for the day. Except you wouldn’t call someone “a sexual”. Maybe “asexual” but not “a sexual”. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/15 "2013-10-18T00:04:40Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Common? Usually it requires begging and only happens on your birthday anyway. No, no, no. It happens on _their_ birthday 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/16 "2013-10-18T00:38:13Z")
Is there a cross-gender equivalent of homoerotic? A term for describing things which appeal sexually to lesbians or latent lesbians? Obviously our society is overwhelmed with depictions of women as sex objects but presumably most of these are aimed at a straight male audience. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/17 "2013-10-18T01:23:26Z")
Well, that’s just the thing. Two scantily-clad men rubbing against each other is homoerotic. Two scantily-clad women rubbing against each other is heteroerotic, because it is presumed to be for the benefit of a male audience. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/18 "2013-10-18T05:07:42Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > Just my WAG… > IMHO, ‘homosexual’ refers to the person, (think, clinical terminology) and ‘homoerotic’ refers to actions, activities and/or objects that are sexually arousing to homosexuals. 😕 > Does that make any sense? The way I see it is that “homosexual” relates to an inner, fundamental sexual orientation that “is” without being affected by any specific instance of behavior, while “homoerotic” refers to specific same-sex acts or things associated with those acts (e.g. pictures) and applies regardless of the fundamental sexual orientations of the people involved. E.g. the stereotypical male-on-male sexuality of US prisons even among people who would not have done so outside or even considered it appealing would be described as homoerotic but not homosexual (unless one or more of the inmates was actually, deep down, honest injun, actually gay), and likewise a person with fundamental gay feelings who has made a personal decision not to engage in homoerotic conduct does not therefore make himself non-homosexual, just a celibate homosexual not currently engaged in homoeroticism. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/19 "2013-10-18T05:09:06Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Well, that’s just the thing. Two scantily-clad men rubbing against each other is homoerotic. Two scantily-clad women rubbing against each other is heteroerotic, because it is presumed to be for the benefit of a male audience. I knew women in college who claimed to be turned on by gay men getting it on. No, I didn’t perform any scientific measurements on this. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381/20 "2013-10-18T18:38:24Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > …_300_ = homoerotic Sarah Silverman joked that the movie’s title came from the studio’s question, “On a scale of 1 to 10, just how homoerotic is it?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexual-v-homoerotic/671381.md?page=2)