Pansexuality is a stupid label

[Violet Macbeth]

FuzzyBlueElf

Ok. So here's my problem with "pansexuality." As most people identify it, pansexuality is a natural sexual attraction to personalities and not physical sex. Let me ask you pansexuals something, why do you assume that bisexuals are naturally attracted to physical sex? Bisexuality is simply a sexual attraction to both men and women.

By calling yourselves pansexuals, instead of bisexuals, what you're doing is actually propogating the belief that bisexuals are slutty people who have an abnormal sexual need to be with people of both sexes.

Can someone please tell me why it is so very important for you to segregate and label yourself as something other than bisexual? Because I honestly don't see the need for it.

The only one I can maybe see is if you want to specifically express that you are okay with dating hermaphrodites and transexuals.

Ok. Go.

I am bisexual and not offended by this. I think that 'bisexual' implies that there are only two sexes you are attracted to, and 'pansexual' implies that you are attracted to *all* sexes. Seeing as I have never (to my knowledge) met any hermaphrodites or transsexual people, I don't feel I can correctly classify myself as pansexual, but I understand what they are getting at.

[G4 Insomniac]

it is not saying that bisexuals are sluts that seek only physical relationships, etc etc

that's a huge assumption/exaggeration, homes

pansexual is hard to explain
the way me and my friend worded it made sense to me

'bisexual is like, attraction to both male and female'

'yeah..but pan is just...'

'attraction.'

being attracted to people of any or no gender.

bi is two. pan is all. bi is male and female. pan is...well, anybody.

you dig?

if thats wrong i must not be pan. but thats how i understand it.

[Comrade Kotka]

I understand the rejection of the binary thing and I think it's perfectly legitimate.
Hmm, getting tangled up in labels can be annoying...
I'm just 'sexual'. *grins*

[ayentihwann]

I'm bisexual, and by that I mean I'm attracted to women and men. Women who are "masculine" are okay, and men who are "feminine" are okay, but generally, they must be recognizable as their biological sex for me to be attracted to them. I fit clearly into the definition of "bisexual" that people have been stating- attraction to exactly two sexes/genders. I can see how it would be an altogether different thing to really honestly not care about either biological sex or gender... but my problem with the "bi is two, pan is all" thing was perfectly summed up by the ice cream analogy. There are only two sexes. You can combine them in various ways, but there's still only two. I think the point of someone identifying as pansexual is more that they're saying it's some other characteristic of ice cream- its frozen-ness, or something- that they like, regardless of flavor.

It's possible that there could be considered to be more than two genders, if you want to consider people who don't think of themselves as particularly male or female as a separate gender (they're clearly not a separate sex, since they still have some equipment or none, but that identification could be considered not just a combination of "male" and "female" gender, I guess). In that case, would someone who was specifically attracted to exactly two genders- say, female and something-other-than-female-or-male- be considered bisexual? That would still be two, and therefore technically speaking "bi", but it would confuse a whole lot of people, given the usual assumption that the two things bisexual people are attracted to are women and men. I don't know, this just randomly occurred to me.

[Devils_Advocate_110]

I was under the impression that it meant that you would date anything that was legally able to give consent.

[rpmuleftw]

The difference between bisexuality and pansexuality:

Bisexuals are attracted to members of clear gender roles: male or female. Nothing in between.

Pansexuals are also attracted to those that are outside the gender binary: transgender people, androgynous people that do not label themselves either male or female, etc.

Nothing more, nothing less. They are similar but clearly different.

[lumnata]

FuzzyBlueElf

Ok. So here's my problem with "pansexuality." As most people identify it, pansexuality is a natural sexual attraction to personalities and not physical sex.

LOL, sounds like you are confusing two meanings of "sex"- one being a physical act, the other being biological gender.

Rephrased:
As most people identify it, pansexuality is a natural sexual attraction to personalities and not physical sex gender (not sex acts).

Quote:

Let me ask you pansexuals something, why do you assume that bisexuals are naturally attracted to physical sex? Bisexuality is simply a sexual attraction to both men and women.

No one is saying anything about having sex. Bisexuality is an attraction, as you said, to both men and women. They might have sex, but that's not necessarily part of the equation.

Pansexuality is attraction to any gender- male, female, MTF, FTM, etc.

Bisexuals, by my definition, are attracted only to biological males or biological females.

Quote:

By calling yourselves pansexuals, instead of bisexuals, what you're doing is actually propogating the belief that bisexuals are slutty people who have an abnormal sexual need to be with people of both sexes.

No. It has nothing to do with sex acts. It has to do with what sort of people someone is attracted to.

[FuzzyBlueElf]

lumnata

FuzzyBlueElf

Ok. So here's my problem with "pansexuality." As most people identify it, pansexuality is a natural sexual attraction to personalities and not physical sex.

LOL, sounds like you are confusing two meanings of "sex"- one being a physical act, the other being biological gender.

Rephrased:
As most people identify it, pansexuality is a natural sexual attraction to personalities and not physical sex gender (not sex acts).

Quote:

Let me ask you pansexuals something, why do you assume that bisexuals are naturally attracted to physical sex? Bisexuality is simply a sexual attraction to both men and women.

No one is saying anything about having sex. Bisexuality is an attraction, as you said, to both men and women. They might have sex, but that's not necessarily part of the equation.

Pansexuality is attraction to any gender- male, female, MTF, FTM, etc.

Bisexuals, by my definition, are attracted only to biological males or biological females.

Quote:

By calling yourselves pansexuals, instead of bisexuals, what you're doing is actually propogating the belief that bisexuals are slutty people who have an abnormal sexual need to be with people of both sexes.

No. It has nothing to do with sex acts. It has to do with what sort of people someone is attracted to.

What sort of people people are SEXUALLY attracted to. Hence, sexuality. It's not just attraction. I can be attracted to a painting, that doesn't mean my sexuality includes paintings as potential sexual encounters.

And your first correction is WAY off. Biological sex may have been a better phrasing of the sentence you quoted, but anything including the word gender is considered socially constructed. Bisexuals aren't necessarily sexually attracted to people who fill male and/or female gender roles.


I think the previous point about possible alternative genders and the repercussion for the term "bisexuality" is a very interesting question. If someone is attracted to biological men, and post-op MTF persons, is he still considered "bisexual." He's not "pansexual" because he doesn't find biological women or FTM persons sexually attractive. Hmm.

[Kayle Kitty]

FuzzyBlueElf

Can someone please tell me why it is so very important for you to segregate and label yourself as something other than bisexual?

'Cuz it's true. stare

[kami two]

for a second i was actually caring about this. but. it actually doesnt make sense. If i happen to like a girl.. so be it.. if my lover would have a sex change, I don't know what I'd do. and if i stay with this guy forever, I'd never had a relationship with a girl ever in my life, does that make me straight? and i really dont know if id be pansexual .. like wat... if someone i llove happens to have had a sex change, so be it. but I guess I'll never find out.

[FuzzyBlueElf]

kami two

for a second i was actually caring about this. but. it actually doesnt make sense. If i happen to like a girl.. so be it.. if my lover would have a sex change, I don't know what I'd do. and if i stay with this guy forever, I'd never had a relationship with a girl ever in my life, does that make me straight? and i really dont know if id be pansexual .. like wat... if someone i llove happens to have had a sex change, so be it. but I guess I'll never find out.

But what I'm talking about is the dynamic within the community and making alternative sexuality more relatable, understandable, and discussion based. Everyone understands what bisexuality is--if you have other sorts of things that you feel fit into your sexuality, I think, as previously stated, it is more of a philosophy than a sexuality. It needs to be discussed if and when it's appropriate instead of just slapping a label over it that nobody really quite understands. And also a label that a lot of people really apply to a variety of very specific or different situations. Talk about the situation instead of generalizing and perhaps people would understand a little more about sexuality in general. How it works for you specifically since labeling yourself is meant to identify you as a person anyway. It doesn't make sense to use a label that nobody gets or that everyone thinks means something different.

That's like me saying, "I'm a glubbertiwink." "Huh? What's that mean?" "Oh. Well I think it means that I like to wink and glub. But other people say that it means they like to glub and wink. But nobody is quite certain of the order: I glub then wink. And sometimes there are glubbertiwinks that only glub, but think they would probably like winking but haven't tried it yet. I'm kind of like that. I only glubbed this one time. And it was on accident. But I think, maybe, I'd do it again. The only reason it didn't work was because I didn't know until it was too late. It's like ordering vanilla icecream and finding out it's actually peach schnapps flavored."

ETC ETC ETC ETC ETC ETC?
gonk

[kami two]

Rayne Nightrose

I've had an argument with someone about this before.

Generally, bisexual is a person who is attracted to both men and women. Thus the term BIsexual (Bi meaning two).

Being pansexual means you are "gender-blind". You take no gender preference, whether the person is male, female, transgender or a hermaphrodite.

can you add other stuff to that list>? like animals and robots and stuff

[calamito]

I honestly don't understand this. neutral

In order to be attracted to someone you've gotta like their personality, as well as their looks. I'm sorry, but it's true. What I don't understand is this obsession with giving yourself a label. Everyone seems to want a label, just so they can get mad at other people for labeling them. It's seriously pissing me off.

People love people. That's it. You might like a guy, girl, whatever. It doesn't matter. I don't understand why we need all of these asinine terms for every single type of person. Seriously.

[error-dot-tar]

calamito

In order to be attracted to someone you've gotta like their personality, as well as their looks.

There goes the porn industry.

[SubDivi]

I was under the impression that pansexual persons were capable of being attracted to anything.

Men, Women, Chairs, Pie, USB Ports, etc.