Defining sexuality can be challenging, given that people still disagree on sexual identity and gender basic concepts. Recent studies have shown that sexuality exists on a spectrum. At one end of the spectrum are individuals who feel attracted to people of the opposite gender or binary. It could include a heterosexual female who finds only males attractive. Individuals attracted to people of the same sex or gender fall on the opposite end of the spectrum. Those drawn to multiple genders are somewhere in the middle of the range.
People often use the terms pansexuality and bisexuality interchangeably to describe sexual orientation. Pansexuality refers to attraction to any gender xxx, while bisexuality is an attraction to a specific gender. But the definition of the two terms may vary across people. While the two terms are related, they are distinct concepts.
Here are some of the differences between pansexuality and bisexuality.
Pansexuality
A pansexual refers to a person who feels attracted to any gender. It can include individuals who don’t belong to any gender. Their attraction is more focused on the personality but not the gender. A person with a pansexual orientation can get attracted to individuals who don’t have a gender. A pansexual person may equally find a gender-filled person, male or female attractive. Pansexual people are like heterosexual men who don’t see every woman as attractive. So, identifying as a pansexual doesn’t mean you find everyone attractive.
Bisexuality
Different people define bisexuality differently. While some people see themselves as gender-fluid, others base their gender on their biological sex. Some people describe bisexuality as only feeling attracted to a specific gender. But to others, it can mean finding multiple gender identities attractive. But generally, bisexuality identifies with individuals who see more than one gender as attractive. To some people, the world bisexual seems controversial, given that it focuses only on two genders. But most people of the bisexual orientation acknowledge that there are more than two genders.
Differences between Pansexuality and Bisexuality
It is widely agreed that pansexuality refers to all genders, while bisexuality is attracted to multiple genders. While the two terms are somehow similar, they are distinct. A pansexual person can find people of any gender attractive. On the other hand, a person who identifies with the bisexual orientation may feel attracted to a male or gender-fluid person but not a female. For both a bisexual and pansexual person, the type of attraction experienced may vary for different genders. For example, a person may feel a sexual attraction to one gender and a romantic attraction to another.
Different people define pansexuality and bisexuality differently. But generally, bisexuality refers to people who find more than one gender attractive. Contrary, people who identify with the pansexual orientation find different people attractive regardless of their gender. The two terms differ because bisexual people only find certain genders attractive. There exists a wide range of sexual orientations. Your sexual identity depends on how you define sex and gender. The debate on sexual identity has changed and will continue to evolve.
