If we know the meaning of bisexuality in broad outline, pansexuality is a recent term that has tended to become popular in recent years . If the two sexual orientations have points in common, they also have differences.

Photo Rodnae Productions

For some, pansexuality and bisexuality are the same thing. Yes and no. But before delving further into the subject, let us recall the definitions. Bisexuality is a broad term describing sexual and/or romantic attraction to two, more, or all genders. She may feel attraction to both genders equally, or have a stronger preference for one of the two. Pansexuality, on the other hand, refers to the sexual and/or romantic attraction towards an individual regardless of gender. Here, gender doesn’t matter, what matters is the person, their personality. Gender doesn’t matter.

So much for the reminder (or learning, don’t tell me thank you). And thank you to singer Miley Cyrus for shedding light on pansexuality, allowing many people to know who they are and finally have fun without guilt.

Let’s talk non-binary

To fully understand the context, it is necessary to understand that there are two worlds: that of the binaries and that of the non-binaries. No, nothing to do with intelligence but rather with sexual orientation.

Binary people are cisgender people for whom there are two genders, male and female, and two sexualities: heterosexuality and homosexuality. Non-binaries are neither masculine, nor feminine, nor neutral. They are also agender (no gender), neutrois (gender neutral), xenogender (“people of non-binary gender who express themselves through a metaphor”), maveric (“people whose non-binary gender is neither xenogender nor neuter”) Thus, they use pronouns like “ul”, “ol”, or “iel” (contraction of “he” and “she”).

Add to the non-binarity that it is to be attracted (romantically or sexually) by men, women, but also  people who are not in the male-female binary  (which we call non-binary) . Bi is the general term, polysexual the term to say when you like more than two genders but not necessarily all of them, and pan when it’s all genders

Photo Tim Samuel

Is pansexuality more inclusive than bisexuality ?

Not quite. To understand, you have to go back in time and look a little at history. Homosexuality was the third possible sexual orientation and it was repressed for a long time (still today but it is no longer criminally punishable in many countries). When the first bisexuals came out of the closet (and we’re talking about recent times here), we were living in a binary world, two genders, two sexualities.

Except that the astounding world of sexuality is bigger than that, and we are now putting names to hitherto unknown directions. Since the prefix “bi” means two, some argue that bisexuality perpetuates binary gender stereotypes. And we can say without fear of being wrong that bisexual people can be influenced by gender, while pansexual people are attached to the personality, and prefer to consider the person as a whole, hence the prefix “pan”.

Another small point to remember, let’s forget the erroneous idea that bisexual people are only attracted to cisgender women and men. If this is the case for some of them, it is not the case for all. They can therefore be attracted to different genders and this will be important for the attraction to be possible. At the same time, it’s good to vary, otherwise we’d be bored… Finally, it’s fair to say that, whether the person is pan or bi, they can be in a heterosexual relationship. As I said, anything is possible.

Photo Rodnae productions

Case example

Sometimes when you’re attracted to different genders or different personalities, you can get a little lost. It is therefore legitimate to ask questions. Especially when you multiply different encounters and sexual relations of the same order. Let’s take an example to understand.

Imagine the situation. You are cisgender (so “classic” straight white male) and you wonder if you are gay, bisexual or pansexual. Why? Because you thought you were gay as a teenager and you came out. But you did some years later a threesome  with a woman. A few more years later, you are dating a trans man. So you are open to dating both men and women, you identify as bisexual but have a male preference. He there is something to be lost, let’s face it.

So, to separate things between bisexuality and pansexuality, you would have to ask yourself what kinds of feelings you can have for the two genders. You should also ask yourself what the two words mean to you, and where you recognize yourself the most. For example, if you are bi, you can have affairs with both genders, but only one can develop a real love affair. Whereas pansexual with any sex or gender.

Photo Rodnae productions

What is the difference between pansexual and polysexual ? 

The word polysexual comes from the Greek prefix “poly” which means “many”, and the term has been around since the 1920s or 30s, if not earlier. There is some overlap between pansexual and polysexual, as both appear under the term Bisexual+. The main difference is that a person who identifies as polysexual is not necessarily attracted to all genders, but to several. Example, the pan will like all the colors of the rainbow, while the poly may like several but not all. It is clearer ?

That said, polysexual people are generally not attracted to binary people. Finally, polysexuality has nothing to do with polyamory where there we will rather speak of consensual relationships, which is different from sexuality.

Say stop to clichés

Contrary to what you might have heard, sexual orientation is not a “whim”. If the person has tendencies other than those known to the binary world, it is not because they are indecisive. It will not pass with time, forget this idea.

And just because once you’ve had a relationship with someone of the same gender doesn’t automatically mean you’re gay or whatever. A curiosity doesn’t lock you into a category, fortunately.

To settle, let’s say that the difference between bisexuality and pansexuality is more a question of experience that we have with our own sexual attraction, rather than a question of people for whom we feel it.

Photo Yan Krukov

Some examples of pansexual stars

If you think they are rare, think again. We will name a few, you will surely recognize them: Janelle Moane, Miley Cyrus, Cara Delavigne, Angel Haze, Jazz Jennings, Brendan Urie, Yungblud, Nico Totorella, Courtney Act, Bella Thorne, Joe Lycett, Tess Holiday, Christine and the Queens, …

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