Pansexual? What is it to you?

[jameskelly]

I see people using terms other than gay, bisexual, straight, queer, etc to define themselves.

Pansexual comes up a lot...but what does it mean?

Or is there some other term you use, and can you explain?

Thanks.

 

[Dodger712]

Pansexual usually means that "anything goes" and by that I mean ANYTHING... men, women, children, animals, bottles, fruit and veggies, a knothole in the deck out back, a sock, an apple pie,... anything!
These people, the REAL pansexuals, have no boundaries and can be quite dangerous as they also have no compunction about being sexual with whatever. Some of us might think about something but don't do it because we have a barrier that stops us. Pansexuals seem to lack that and just go for anyone or anything that strikes their fancy at the moment.

 

[frankfrank]

I'm not sure, but I always thought that "pansexual" very possibly involves some elements outside of the limitations of being attracted only to humans. (Possibly animals, possibly various inanimate objects, etc.)

WARNING, WILL ROBINSON!

I've never seen it defined, though, so I may be wrong.

I guess it could also mean that the person is capable of being attracted to almost any human that walks, regardless of things such as age, weight, ethnicity and the like. (In this case the attraction is probably limited to humans.) I don't think that it necessarily requires being attracted to minors.

I'm curious how this is defined, because I'm not even entirely sure I would trust a definition that I'd find on the internet - it seems like one of those words that could easily be evolving as I write this.

 

[jizzeater]

Pansexual means one is attracted to people of all gender identities.

 

[Sam Blum]

Pansexual is jargon or shorthand to address sexuality that spreads into all domains, including objects/fetishisms, other animal species and also plant matter, and elements. It is used to include whatever GLBT and Hetero exclude.

 

[EJMichaels]

I prefer that label for myself, and I use it to indicate I don't make decisions about sexual relationships based on the biological sex of the person. It's a lot like bisexuality, but lacking the dichotomy inherent in that term. I mean instead of saying I do both sexes, I say that the sex of the person isn't the point. The actual activities I do aren't especially unusual - it's more of an attitude. (Well, except that I do a lot of BDSM, mostly the D/s.) It also includes non-genital activities, like various fetishes, which is what some of the people here are saying. I'm open to a wide variety of sexual expression, but probably not much more than people who call themselves gay or straight.

 

[mbamike]

This is something new to me. I am learning something here. So, thanks for asking the question.

 

[roadtripboy]

Pansexual is jargon or shorthand to address sexuality that spreads into all domains, including objects/fetishisms, other animal species and also plant matter, and elements. It is used to include whatever GLBT and Hetero exclude.

^This what I always thought it meant. That's why (in another thread) I said I thought characters on Torchwood are pansexual. They have sex each other as well with some of the aliens.

 

[Sam Blum]

^This what I always thought it meant. That's why (in another thread) I said I thought characters on Torchwood are pansexual. They have sex each other as well with some of the aliens.

Hmm, and that opens up a new topic as the 'aliens' on Torchwood stand for 'otherness,' in the sense that since we have yet to prove the existence of sentient alien life, the representation of such beings in our culture speaks entirely to ourselves and feelings of marginalisation, unsuitability, displacement and or being controlled and excised, as much as to feelings of investigation, discovery and reinvention and increased relevancy and 'meaning.' Torchwood's super cool. I never remember names of characters, but I'd certainly fall in love in the lead - whatever his name is!

And like a naughty student, I failed to nail my point: Torchwood's sexual liaisons with aliens and 'earthlings' nods to our vicarious (& cathartic) experience of discovering, investigating and understanding our own sexual possibilities and proclivities, doesn't it?

 

[bankside]

I have never heard pansexual used to refer to fetishes and sexual abuse.
I have heard it used by people who reject homo, hetero, and bi, and also the idea underpinning that system of two fixed, opposite, gender identities.

 

[Ryuukie]

Pan means all. To me it means you'll have sex with anyone and everyone.

 

[glorff]

Sounds like a friend of mine that says he is trysexual. If it is sexual he will try it, twice to make sure and a third time if he likes it.

 

[TickTockMan]

Some of you guys are real idiots. Do some research.


Simply put it just means if you find someone attractive you would be willing to be with them.

 

[anchihiro]

Someone who is attracted to kitchenware

 

[gdude30]

Oh SHIT I could say soo much about this.

But I'll just leave it as this. The "other"

Or not.

It means. "Gay, straight, bi, semi bi, half bi, quart bi, transgender, bi transgender, 80% more to women, and so forth"

For once I think Ke$ha can have a meaningful purpose in life and explain it best. "Blah, blah blah blah blah"

 

[Girlesque]

Pansexuality is also known as omnisexuality.

Pansexualism is about transcending gender and sexual identity, in adult humans. It is emphatically not about the inclusion of extreme sexuality like pedophilia, zoophilia, objectophilia and other kinds of paraphilias.

 

[Girlesque]

Do I want to know what objectophilia is?

Objectophilia is a sexual and emotional attraction to objects.

 

[jizzeater]

Pansexualism is about transcending gender and sexual identity, in adult humans. It is emphatically not about the inclusion of extreme sexuality like pedophilia, zoophilia, objectophilia and other kinds of paraphilias.

......

 

[justsimon]

Some of you are much too literal.

 

[Sam Blum]

Pansexuality is also known as omnisexuality.

Pansexualism is about transcending gender and sexual identity, in adult humans. It is emphatically not about the inclusion of extreme sexuality like pedophilia, zoophilia, objectophilia and other kinds of paraphilias.

I speak from a literary perspective, where the notion of 'pansexuality' speaks to all sexuality.

I will add that the word pansexualism is something else; it is a nickname used by critics of Freudian classical views regarding the origins of our sexuality, used to reduce that theory. Pansexualism and pansexuality are different things.

And finally, as you acknowledge, pan and omni mean basically the same thing - 'all.' Sexuality does have huge scope, just as language comes to 'mean' different things to different people, and also as Sinfulsimon suggests, there are literal and subjective understandings. Mine is literal, because of the extreme importance I understand the use and abuse of language to have on the operation, potential and restriction of people in social play. Perhaps you feel "emphatically" hostile towards various expressions of sexuality, but that does not also mean that you get to redefine the value of Greek and Latin words that have meant the same thing for thousands of years. The first question in this thread asked for a definition, which I accurately gave - not an approximation nor a popularised misinterpretation, nor any pseudo-definition.