Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Sapphism
Umbrella term for women loving women From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Sapphism is an umbrella term for any woman attracted to women or in a relationship with another woman, regardless of their sexual orientations, and encompassing the romantic love between women.
The term is inclusive of individuals who are lesbian, bisexual, aromantic, asexual. There are also sapphic people who are non-binary.[7][8][9] It is the female equivalent of achillean.
Remove ads
Etymology

The term sapphism has been used since the 1890s,[10] and derives from Sappho, a Greek poet whose verses mainly focused on love between women and her own homosexual passions.[11] She was born on the Greek island Lesbos, which also inspired the term lesbianism.[12][13]
Sappho's work is one of the few ancient references to sapphic love. Her poetry, significant in quality, is a rare example of female sexuality separated from reproduction in history.[14][15]
Remove ads
Use
The term sapphic encompasses the experiences of lesbians and bisexual women, for example, among other gynephilic individuals.[16][17] Asexual and aromantic women who are attracted to a woman are also sapphic.[18][19]
Using the term more broadly, some sapphic individuals may be non-binary.[20][21] There are also equivalent terms for relationships between men (Uranian, Achillean[22]) between a man and a woman (Dionian, duaric), and involving at least one non-binary person (diamoric or enbian).[23][24]
Sapphic is also used in LGBT literature for works involving at least one relationship between women, regardless of whether they are lesbian or not.[25][26][27]
Remove ads
See also
Look up sapphic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads