What is the difference between bisexuality and pansexuality?
In: Culture
The labels we wear are complicated things. They’re (or least they can be!) deeply personal; they are part of how we view ourselves and also how we define ourselves to others.
And because labels are such personal things, one individual’s definition of a word might not be same as another person’s.
Here’s an example:
Adam is a man who is bisexual. To him, this means he is attracted to other men and to women. He sees bisexual as meaning “attraction to people who are the same gender as me and the opposite”.
Stacy is a woman and she’s bisexual too. To her, it means that she is attracted to 2 -or more- genders. She likes women, men, and a lot of other folks who might fall inbetween or outside of the binary (such as non-binary or agender people).
Adam and Stacy are both bisexual, but their views on what the word means are different. Those definitions are both accepted these days though.
Here’s another example:
Avery is a non-binary person who is pansexual. They state their sexual orientation as being “attraction to all kinds of people, with gender being of aboslutely no importance.”
Emma is a woman who is pansexual. She defines her orientation as being “attraction to people regardless of their gender”.
Avery and Emma are both pansexual, but they don’t see eye-to-eye on the meaning of the word. The way they identify is personal and it fits them in their own ways. That’s totally valid.
My point is these words have different definitions so it’s hard to give you a black and white answer. And in some cases a bisexual person and pansexual person – might – have very similiar definitions.
If I was going to simplify to the most basic of terms and not give thought to the nuisance of it? Bisexual is potential attraction to – 2 or more – and pansexual is potential attraction to – all -.
But what it really comes down to is what someone is comfortable identifying as. I am a bisexual man and my fiancé is a pansexual man. While our definitions are almost identical, we wear the labels we think fit us best.
I don’t know if I did a good job at ELI5, but I hope I’m able to help at least a little.
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