• Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’ve always felt that bi = people of my sex or people of the other sex. Nothing about the word “bisexual” implies any gender to me, it just means I’m not explicitly gay or straight!

    • Stoneykins [any]@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Allow me to be more clear about why I said that.

      It is mostly because of the words themselves. The “bi” prefix means 2, or twice, etc. That would mean the word bisexual literally means “twice sexual”. Sexuality is inherently related to gender because it is a quality defined by relationships between people’s genders, and bisexual thus (literally, but often not functionally) means a person who is sexually attracted to two genders.

      The “pan” prefix on the other hand, means all, or including everything. Thus we can assume pansexual to (literally) mean a person who is sexually attracted to any and every gender that there is or could be.

      • stringere@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        The “pan” prefix on the other hand, means all, or including everything. Thus we can assume pansexual to (literally) mean a person who is sexually attracted to any and every gender that there is or could be.

        The “pan” prefix on the other hand, means all, or including everything. Thus we can assume pansexual to (literally) mean a person who is can be sexually attracted to any and every gender that there is or could be.___

        Hetero, bi, and gay people are not attracted to any or every of their preferred gender. It’s a small difference in language but I think pansexuals would agree that phrasing it as “is sexually attracted to any and every gender” implies pansexuals are out there trying to bang anything with a pulse whereas the truth is just that gender or sexuality are not barriers to them. I guess it would be more accurate to say “pansexuals are sexually attracted to partners independent of sex and/or gender identity”?

        This is probably oversimplified, but maybe helpful:

        Straight - consider themselves sexually attracted to opposite gender/sex

        Gay - consider themselves sexually attacted to same gender/sex

        Bi - consider themselves sexually attracted to either gender/sex

        Pan - consider themselves sexually attracted

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I feel as a straight man with few connections to the LGBT community that I should be able to define the differences between Pan and Bi