Hi!! Thanks so much for giving the time to shoot me an ask, I really appreciate it :) I have some pretty ignorant stuff, but I’d like to know your opinions and whatever else! Now, I already know that bisexuality is the sexual attraction to one’s own and the opposite gender, while pansexuality is sexual attraction to anyone, DESPITE gender. I’m curious because the BI- prefix means two, while the PAN- prefix means all, so wouldn’t bisexuals be ignoring nonbinary genders/genderfluids/etc, which implies nonbinary erasure and possibly transphobia/erasure? Or was that just a thing before modern day where gender became an issue, and all people knew were the gender binary? If so, does that mean modern-day bisexuals also are sexually attracted to trans/nonbinary genders? If not, isn’t that a little offensive/exclusive and pan should become the norm (as in terminology) when considering any-gender love? TL;DR: what is your opinion on the defining line between pansexuality and bisexuality, and does bisexuality have any negative connotations towards gender identity? If this question is a bother to answer, don’t worry yourself over it; I’ll completely understand if you don’t respond. Thanks in advance though :)
This is too long for an ask and I think I need to be following for a certain amount of time to send fanmail so here's an answer for thegreatsomewhere
So the “bi means two” thing and the distinction between pansexuality is actually something a looot of people discuss because it’s super confusing to a lot of people (tbh I’m still not 100% sure I get it).
The bisexual community has actually moved away from the ‘bi means two’ definition and define bisexuality as ‘two or more genders” (or “same and other genders”, which personally I prefer, but some bisexuals aren’t attracted to their own gender). The reason the definition has changed is for the exact reason you said – two genders is a very binarist approach and totally overlooks the existence of non-binary genders. So essentially yes, the bi=2 thing is a throwback to when people firmly believed that there was male, female and nothing else. This also gives fuel to the “bisexuality is transphobic and reinforces the gender binary and is therefore a problematic sexuality” an argument (which, realistically, is just based totally in biphoba). In fact, as far as I'm aware, the bi community has actually been closer allies with the trans community than the general lgbt+ community, but that's just based on stuff I've read and I have no evidence to back that up :)
The line between pansexuality and bisexuality is…more blurry that it would seem. I actually answered an ask on this yesterday which is here if you’re interested, I'll just link that instead of repeating myself because this is already long :)
Otherwise you have ‘two or more” genders” and “all genders”, which seems (and is) fairly similar. One potential difference is that a bisexual individual may only be attracted to two genders (eg male and female, female and non-binary etc), or they may be attracted to different genders in different ways or with different strengths, while pansexuals are equally attracted to almost everybody? (I’m not sure about that one though)
For me though, the biggest difference is a matter of personal identity – the biggest difference between a bisexual and a pansexual is how they both chose to identify, and there’s a bunch of reasons for and against each one. It is important to note that they are individual sexualities though, despite the closeness in their definitions, so calling pansexuals “basically bisexuals” can be kinda offensive to pansexual people (in the same way that some bi girls object to being called lesbians).
Some people do use bisexuality as an ‘umbrella term’ for multi-gender attracted people though. Others use multisexual, and there’s polysexual, multi gender attracted (MGA) etc. Some people also identify as polysexual as an identity and honestly I don’t really know the difference there.
TL;DR “bi means two” is an outdated definition with binarist origins and has been updated (in the 1990s actually) to mean “two or more” for the exact purpose of including people outside the gender binary. Pansexuality and bisexuality are very similar because of this, and there’s a number of reasons somebody may choose to identify as one or the other.
Another note – I learnt so much about bisexuality from bi tumblr, by following bi blogs and checking tags and stuff. If you’re interested, I quite like a-little-bi-furious, bisexual-community and nonmono-perspective. bifacts is pretty entertaining bi blog, and bidyke has a big list of people who blog about bi stuff. And of course it's importat to note that I'm not pan (although i did ID that was a few years back) so I may be missing some of the important reasons :)
answer all the questions set by the person that tagged you and write 11 new questions of your own for the people you are tagging
tag 11 people
Questions:
1. how did you get into kpop?
well i've always been surrounded by kpop, since im korean. also my parents love those survival singing shows. but i think i really got into it right before exo came around.
2. list your top 5 favorite kpop songs.
oooh wow okay
exo- baby don't cry
bap- coma
vixx- hyde
exo- growl
t-ara- mammamia
3. favorite kpop vocalist
luhan for sure. his voice is just aghhh
4. favorite kpop rapper
chanyeol woop woop
5. favorite kpop dancer
yixing becaue hot damn
6. favorite kpop visual
i never knew what visual actually meant cos i mean everybodys got the face for the group so ill just name taehyung cos wow hes really wow
7. favorite kpop mv
teenager by jjy wow hes cute
8. kpop group rec for a new fan
if you want hot/cute boys, then exo. if you want hella derps, then bts. if you want sexy new group, aoa.
9. can i sing/dance?
of course i can sing and dance... that doesnt mean im any good at it... lol ive covered some exo songs with my friends (THEYRE TERRIBLE) and ive covered the growl dance and am planning on covering a version of doom dada soon.
10. dream job?
all-around entertainer in soko, kinda like yoo jae-suk
11. which countries have you been to?
canada, south korea, the us, aaand thats it :D
my questions for le tagged!
what is your favorite kpop group (or if you're not into kpop, just any group in particular)?
favorite tv show/k-drama/k-variety shows?
a place that holds a lot of memories
your top 3 best friends~ and tag them if they have tumblrs
now describe those 3 friends in 3 words each
your lowest score on your finals >:D nah jk thats cruel. your favorite subject at school
dream place to live?
dream job?
any dream you have?
favorite movie
have you ever dropped your phone on your face (provided by sara)
how do you think ludwig sleeps? (i want someone to talk about ludwig to me and i like your headcanons the best)
oh boy
well i think it depends? i dunno. like if someone else is sharing the bed he'd obviously change to accommodate them for the most part. but i kinda see him as either a back sleeper or a stomach sleeper otherwise. back sleeper bc its rigid and soldier like, and also bc imo its better when you're having back pain. and then stomach sleeper when hes more relaxed. w/ an arm draped over someone or something.
