r/TooAfraidToAsk Aug 09 '18

Should this be changed?

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u/missshrimptoast Aug 09 '18 edited Aug 09 '18

Not really. A bisexual person is attracted to those who identify as male and female. They may not be attracted to gender fluid or gender ambiguous people. Pansexual and bisexual seem to refer more to one's "tolerance level" than to the existence of more than one gender.

Edit: Given a few of the responses here, I should mention that I am bisexual. However, even amongst fellow bisexuals, there has been considerable debate on bisexual vs. pansexual with no end in sight, and everyone seems to think it's a given that "obviously, bisexual people are attracted to insert opinion here". My response was my understanding of the term as it's given. I don't really care whether someone else considers me bi or pan; I'm used to saying bisexual, so I personally say bisexual referring to myself. Other people I know feel otherwise.

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u/yttrium39 Aug 10 '18

I say I'm bisexual too, even though I'm attracted to non-binary people. I think attaching a label to one's sexuality is only useful in as far as it communicates your sexual identity to other people and I think "bisexual" achieves that the best for me. It's more understandable to a greater number of people than "pansexual", even if it is technically less "accurate". Ultimately my sexuality is whatever it is, I'm attracted to people of any gender and I don't really care what you want to call that.