Anonymous: Hey I just read a snapchat newsfeed about bisexuality and pansexuality being kinda partially the same thing. What do you think about that? Are they the same thing? I'm asking because I'm confused AF right now 😅
Heya. So, I get it. I get why people don’t understand the difference because at first, it does sound the same.
Bisexuality: being attracted to both the male and female gender
Pansexuality: being attracted to people regardless of their gender.
You might say that’s the same, right? But pansexuality is different because there’s also an attraction to people who identify as androgynous, transsexual etc.
Some people who consider themselves bisexual aren’t unable to fall for someone who identifies as androgynous, trans, etc, though, which might make things more difficult. But with bisexuality, there’s mostly a preference or difference between falling for one of the many genders (imo gender is a scale and male and female are either ends of the scale). I identify as bisexual but am able to get attracted to androgynous/trans/etc people. Does that make me pansexual? That is a tough question because the difference isn’t always clear. I think it’s way more about yourself and the way you identify than about the difference between pansexual and bisexual.
So there is, in fact, a difference, and I think there should be. Saying there’s no difference is literally telling people that the image they have of themselves is wrong, doesn’t exist, and that they should identify as something they don’t feel like.
i have a few problems with your answer, im not bi so i dont wanna talk over your experience of your orientation but im pan & nb/trans so i can speak for those parts. i know some pan people (myself included) prefer the “attracted to all genders” definition to the “regardless of” one because that’s what the root pan means (all) and pan peeps can have preferences. also im guessing that by androgyne you meant non binary people? androgyne is a non binary gender but not the only one. honestly those are small nitpicks so it’s whatever. you also used “transsexual”, trans actually stands for transgender (though older trans people tend to use it, you can’t force the term on others without their immediate permition). its also a question of terminology but that word can make some trans peeps unconfortable. now i do have a bigger problem with the breakdown of the genders. you seperated man & woman from trans wich is transphobic. a transman is a man and a transwoman is a woman in the same way that a cisman is a man and a ciswoman a woman. so all bi peeps can be attracted to trans peeps (unless theyre transphobic). im not saying you yourself are but the way you phrased things is. i dont mean to sound rude, i just wanted to let you know so you’re aware of those few things in the future!
