wclfstar replied to your post “Guys it’s 12:27 in the afternoon and I’m researching the differences...”
your theory is very interesting but i personally feel as though it is up to an individual what they choose to identify as. i identify as both pansexual AND bisexual. so
Oh, no, of course it is, you’re totally right. Everyone should identify as whatever terms or labels they feel comfortable with. I just know that the two terms can be very confusing for some people that want to understand themselves better, and I always struggled with what the term “bisexual” could mean in a non-binary sense. I meant the post just to be something someone might come across and go, “oh, okay!”, not really to redefine the sexualities entirely, or dictate what people should identify as.
For me, the big realization was that bisexuality has a lot to do with gender identity, the same way that homosexuality and heterosexuality do. But this doesn’t mean that homosexual individuals are only attracted to cis male or females, the same way that bisexuals aren’t attracted only to cis males and females. It was the idea of “sameness” and “otherness,” (or difference, perhaps), like how homosexuality is attraction to “sameness” (though not strictly the same), and heterosexuality is attraction to “otherness” (so any gender that feels different than how one identifies themselves). It’s all about broad circles of gender inclusion, really.
My talking about pansexuality really wasn’t as sophisticated an argument because I was focused more on bisexuality, honestly. I’d never felt comfortable with the idea that bisexuals could only be attracted to cis males/females, so I felt like making a post now that I finally could understand the difference. I just included pansexuality because I roughly understand it, but the two are different in a sense.
However, that being said, sexuality is something individual for everyone, as you’ve said, and it should only exist in a way to make you feel more sure about yourself. So of course it’s totally up to you, but sometimes we just have no idea what these words really mean and talking about it can be good for people who are questioning! (But there really is no need to identify, or identify 100% with a predetermined definition of a label. Everyone’s different.)
