the-nerdy-curvy-feminist-archive: Hey I forgot to mention this on your post, but fyi: "Poly" is short for Polynesian, and "Ply" is short for polysexual. "Polyam" is short for polyamorous. People used to use "poly" for all 3 and it was creating confusion, and because it was hurtful to Polynesians who have a long history of using "poly," we had to change the abbreviations. Just thought I'd let you know!
thanks for the info! i’ll go edit my post for that.
#asks
What is pansexuality?
And how is it different from bisexuality?
Can anyone help an ignoramus?
I’m pan so I may be wrong on some things about the other orientations, someone correct me if thats the case!
The mostly used definitions I’ve seen are, bi is attracted to 2 or more genders & pan is to all.
Bi people can be attracted to enbies and pan people can have preferences, though some don’t and that’s ok. What’s not ok though is to use the term “genderblind” as it erases one’s gender identity, wich can be very important to some.
Theres some overlap between the terms but not a problem, its ok to id as bi if youre attracted to all genders, and its ok to id as both!
Theres also more multisexualities/romantism, like poly- or omni-, though they’re less well-known. I’m not sure of the omni- definition but I know that poly- is “attracted to multiple genders/3+ genders”.
Like with pan/bi, its ok to id as more than one of those, as there’s a lot of overlap!
I hope it was helpful! Feel free to ask if some stuff still isn’t clear :)
Panic! At The Disco // Girls/Girls/Boys
Fact: Some bisexual people identify with gayness. Just as “gay” has been used as an umbrella term to refer to gay marriage, gay rights, and gay liberation, “gay” can also be used as an umbrella term that includes bisexual and other mga people such as pansexuals and polysexuals.
I just heard about polysexuality for the first time. I think I might not be pansexual, but polysexual.
I keep feeling like pansexual doesn’t really describe me because I’m not really attracted to ANY genders. I’m especially not attracted to masculine cis men or feminine cis women. And polysexual apparently means you’re attracted to many, but not necessarily all genders.
If anyone has more info or can help me out with understanding this please let me know.
from my understanding, it is exactly what polysexuality is! I’m pan so I can’t really for sure tell you but if it feels like the right label then im pretty sure it is :) I’m so happy for you that you found an accurate label for yourself!
Anonymous: Is it cool for someone to identify as bi/pan without choosing one? And like in a venn diagram sense, what would the two identifications not have in common? Like a pan person may (blank)...while a bi person may not?
I obviously can’t speak for the pan community, but I don’t see a problem identifying with both. As far as differences go, it’s kind of hard to pin down. The explanation that has seemed clearest to me personally is that bi people are attracted to two or more genders, whereas pan people experience attraction regardless of gender. But if someone from the pansexual would like to add anything onto that please do!
- bi gal
As a pansexual person, I don’t see any problem with identifying with multiple labels at the same time! :) If you feel like both bi and pan suit you, there’s nothing stoping you from identifying with both!
The most common definition for pan- is ‘attracted to all genders’ though a part of the community uses ‘regardless of gender’ you must be careful when using it because it can erase someone’s gender identity (that’s why the term ‘genderblind’ must not be used)
I’d say that the main difference between the two orientation is that a pan person can be attracted to every gender whereas a bi person may only be attracted to 2 or 3 genders instead, though someone who’s bi can be attracted to every gender.
You may also want to look into “poly” if you didn’t already!
being interested in girls romantically but also being really close to your girl friends can sometimes make you so anxious because you appreciate their friendship a lot and pretty much do everything friends do like have them lay their head on your shoulder and give them hugs but you constantly feel like if you ever told them that you like girls, they’d stop acting that way and probably question your whole friendship and that shit is scary. yes, you’re interested in girls but that doesn’t mean you’re incapable of appreciating them for what they really are, good friends that you’re happy to have in your life
Anonymous: Polysexuality as an identity is bi erasure. People say it's okay because overlap. Yeah, overlap can be fine. There's some btwn bi and pan, but they're separate identities with separate meanings. There's no difference between "two or more" and "multiple." Plys only identity as such because of the nasty connotations associated with being bisexual. Most try to force us to redefine our own identity to make theirs seem more legitimate. It's ridiculous how many bi blogs don't get it. This is biphobia!
No label is erasure of any other label - people are allowed to choose the label they feel most comfortable with.
Since I replied to that post about polysexuality I have had a few people in my inbox privately asking if they were being biphobic by IDing as polysexual/romantic.
One person was non binary and is attracted to all genders except men, and as long as they don’t tell other people with the same attractions that they can’t ID as bi then that isn’t a biphobic way to ID as polysexual/romantic.
In fact in that particular case I would say it was possibly a case of personal safety because if they were afab and came out as bi then they may attract unwanted attention from cis straight men who misgender them - so polysexual is a label that makes it a little more clear that they aren’t attracted to some genders.
Some people may have internalised biphobia that makes them pick polysexual as a label, but if they feel more comfortable with that and don’t try to redefine bisexuality in the process then that isn’t biphobia.
There are a lot more labels that people attracted to more than one gender can use other than bi or pan, and that isn’t erasure of bisexuality if they feel more comfortable with that label - I really don’t agree with you anon, sorry.
Yo also, idk, I’ve never seen this said around here, but if you’ve associated as gay your whole life and realize you might actually be bisexual/pansexual later on that’s totally okay! Sexuality is fluid and sometimes it changes. You’re not a traitor to your sexuality or to the lgbt community. You’re still very much a part of it.
I’m so pissed atm.
We are studying Human Sexuality in class (STD prevention, hetero sex, etc)
We obviously get into a conversation about gays and how that happens.
This teacher says, “I believe we have genes that we can just turn off and on, like how our hair colour changes as we get older.”
I almost lost my shit.
He’s claiming that gay people can turn off their attraction to the opposite sex and back on due to their genes.
Are you fucking kidding me?
I’m gay, not because it’s cool to be, not because I’ve flipped off my genes coded for male attraction, not because it’s safe to be. It’s who I am, who I’ve always been. Do you think in a perfect world I’d want to be straight? Hell no. Boobs are great. But I don’t flip my gay genes on to admire some breasts.
Even if this theory by a 9th grade biology teacher held the smallest bit of truth– Explain Bi, Pan, and polysexualities. Are their genes flipped on for their specific preferences?
How about the Asexuality/Aromantic spectrums, do they have their genes flipped off, or halfway off?
GENES ARE NOT FUCKING LIGHT SWITCHES.
NEITHER ARE SEXUALITIES.
(this may be the least factual argument ever, I’m not a scientist but this truly pissed me off so fucking much.)
omg. I hope you don’t mind me adding on your post but the fact that our hair changes color as we grow older has *nothing* to do with willingly flipping genes on and off like. wow. Genes do not work that way omg. Maybe they tried to explain their point of view in a simple way and miserably failed but the thing is, they’re a teacher, their job is not to give their (heteronormative) opinion but to teach *facts* to their students.
Bisexuality: Sexual attraction to two or more genders.
Asexuality: No sexual attraction.
Heterosexuality: Sexual attraction to another gender.
Pansexuality: Sexual attraction to all genders.
Polysexuality: Sexual attraction to many genders.
Homosexuality: Sexual attraction to the same genders.
Demisexuality: Sexual attraction only after a personal band is formed.
From www.meetbisexualfriends.com