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Pansexual. Yes, there is such a thing...
Just when you thought we had all sexualities covered comes this...
http://news.optuszoo.com.au/2015/03/02/im-not-gay-straight-or-bisexual/
HETEROSEXUALS, homosexuals, bisexuals, oh my! There can’t possibly be another sexuality to talk about?
Think again.
Last year Shailene Woodley, star of the wildly popular dystopic movie franchise Divergent, was incorrectly labelled bisexual when she said she “falls in love with human beings based on who they are, not what they do or what sex they are”.
Josh Hutcherson expressed similar views in Out magazine. The 22-year-old Hunger Games actor said, “Right now I’m 100 per cent straight. But who knows? In a year I could meet a guy and be like, ‘Whoa, I’m attracted to this person.’”
Research published in The New York Times found “an increasing number of guys [Hutcherson’s] age identify as ‘mostly straight’”.
American rapper Angel Haze, who has dated model Ireland Baldwin (daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger), has said, for her, “love is boundary-less. If you can make me feel, if you can make me laugh… then I can be with you. I don’t care if you’re a hermaphrodite or whatever.” Interesting words, and ones that usher in a brave new world of pansexuality.
First things first: this has nothing to do with a fondness for kitchenware. A pansexual is someone who can be attracted to males, females, transgender people and those who identify as non-binary (not female or male). Biological sex (the physical gender you’re born with) and gender identity (the gender you most identify with) are irrelevant.
Google the term and you’ll see conflicting definitions confusing pansexuality with bisexuality or calling it the greedy, non-committal sibling that wants to have sex with everyone. The prefix comes from the Greek work pan which means ‘all’ or ‘every’. But a pansexual’s idea of love is not a self-serve, all-you-can-eat buffet where everyone’s on the menu. It’s just that everyone has the opportunity to be on the menu.
The term ‘pansexuality’ has been in use since the mid-1990s, but Google trends show it wasn’t until 2010 that people started searching for it in significant numbers. Sexologist Dr Nikki Goldstein believes the term may be trending now in part because her parents’ generation “weren’t so in touch with themselves” that they’d have identified as pansexual – even if they’d known the word.
If bisexuals are attracted to two sexes based on their gender, pansexuals are ‘gender-blind’. They find attraction beyond it – in personality, ideals and emotions.
Pansexuals themselves can struggle to find an appropriate term to describe their feelings towards others. This is where it’s a good thing when a celebrity comes out.
“One celebrity [raising an issue] is the equivalent of a few thousand people,” says Goldstein. “The problem is when they get the definition wrong or they use it as a [publicity] tactic when they’re not really pansexual. It’s becoming a trendy thing – it’s PC to say, ‘I’m attracted to their personality, not their gender.’ But how many practise it?”
This is a sore point for many pansexuals, who know there’s a clear difference between bisexuality and pansexuality. “Identifying as bisexual did not seem right or fitting to me after learning it was only inclusive of cis folks [‘cis’ refers to people whose experience of gender matches the biological one they were born with],” says pansexual Kristen Ritchie, 24. “The Tumblr community helped me with resources and support, [and] I had a better understanding of my sexuality when I started dating my girlfriend, who’s trans MTF [male to female].”
This Tumblr community Ritchie speaks of contributes to the growth of sites from Pan Pride to Pansexuality FTW (that’s internet-speak for ‘for the win’). Could this be because people are more curious as more stars such as Haze identify publicly as pan?
“[That] definitely encourages knowledge and acceptance in wider communities,” says Ritchie. “It starts with visibility, which then leads to discussion, and that makes me so happy! Elevating our everyday conversation has to start somewhere, and it can definitely start with those in the public eye.”
On the other hand, when celebrities refuse to identify their sexuality, it raises the question of labels. The ‘wrong’ label can stifle a star’s pulling power – it was suggested actor Matt Bomer missed out on the lead role in 50 Shades of Grey because he is gay. Fellow gay leading man Rupert Everett said coming out ruined his career, and suggested young actors stay in the closet to better their chances of snagging lead roles.
When celebrities refuse to be honest, it helps the uninformed stay uninformed. “It would be amazing if we didn’t have to explain our sexuality,” Ritchie says. “But we’re such curious creatures, aren’t we? Needing questions answered; matching qualities and characteristics on the checklist of who falls under what category. I guess it helps people cope if we choose not to challenge the idea of gender and sexuality and how our acceptance can be manipulated by our society and culture.”
Perhaps Haze sums it up best: “I’m not gay, I’m not straight, I’m not bisexual – I don’t care,” she says. “At the end of the day, I just want someone to connect with.”
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Originally Posted by brooks85
