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Time for me to be a big boy and come out and admit that I don’t know the difference between bisexuals and pansexuals. I have heard each definition. My brain can not comprehend a difference.
Friday, 21-Feb-20 01:18:49 UTC from web- Jonathan Chouinard likes this.
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@mrmattimation I'm kinda with you, here. Like, shouldn't a Bi at least not be into intersex or enby or something to justify two terms? I feel like Pans are saying "any and all" and Bis are "any and there are only two to choose from." But, I also kinda think that clearly can't be right? I dunno...
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@mrmattimation @scribus I think ultimately it's a semantic difference more than anything. some people interpret "bi" as a term that excludes enby/intersex folks but this is obviously not necessarily true - for some people it might just be more convenient as it's pretty widely understood, or it might just sound better to them. "pan" is a more recent prefix to sound more all-encompassing, but this will inevitably be subject to confusion and the same joke over and over. i don't think either term is inherently exclusionary (although i do think most terms for sexuality are clunky and outdated at this point) and it kind of just comes down to what word you prefer the sound/feel of and how you want to present yourself
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citation: me, who has dabbled in both terms and settled on just using "??!?"
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@tiff I guess this makes sense. My pan/bi ex used them interchangeably because, in her own words, “bi” was easier for people to understand in casual conversation and “pan” was technically more correct, though she didn’t mind being called either.
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@mrmattimation yup that tracks. when I came out (almost 10 years ago now dang!) i used the term "pan" because i think it also had an air of "personality over body" or whatever and even now i have friends who will use that term over "bi" when referring to me which is neat i guess, but honestly neither term feels right for me in my dumb head so i sort of just don't call myself anything these days
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he says as if he doesn't walk around saying "I'M GAY" or some variation of every 5 seconds lol
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@tiff I always preferred label-free, anyway. Twenty years ago, I was "hetero" because "I may only be attracted to the opposite sex, but I'm not misogynistic or homophobic like those STRAIGHTS over there..."
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@scribus yeah we're breaking down all these identity norms anyway, may as well do away with it all and quit worrying about labels
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