Have You Heard About Pansexuality? The New Sexual Orientation

Pansexuality is referred to a sexual orientation in which a person feels attracted to someone irrespective of his/her sex or gender identity. In the past few years, pansexuality has evolved as a greater term as it helped people identify their sexuality in a better way. Derived from Greek prefix 'pan', which means 'all', pansexual is referred to people who can spiritually, sexually and emotionally fall in love with people of all genders. They are open to males, females, transgenders, intersex or gender queer.

Sexuality is perceived and not chosen

Sexuality is not objective, and is something which is perceived. An individual determines his/her sexual identity on the basis of their feels and experiences. Mere attraction towards both biological sexes does not make you bisexual.

Getting sexual and romantic feelings towards each sex will make you bisexual or pansexual. Moreover, it is more important to embrace your sexuality before you can identify yourself with it.

Pansexuals can have their preferences

While pansexuals are open to people with all kinds of sexual orientations, they can have their physical preferences. Their identity of being a pansexual is merely to define their openness and fluidity in terms of their sexuality.

Difference between pansexual and bisexual

Pansexuals are often confused with bisexuals. However, there is a wide and clear and difference between the two.

1) Bisexuals are people who attracted, sexually and romantically, to males and females or both. They can have strong and deep relationships with both males and females and might even have preference of one gender to the other.

2) Pansexuals, on the other hand might be attracted to both males and females. But alongside, they can also get attached to people other sexual orientations and gender identities.

3) Pansexual individuals are able to freely express that irrespective of their falling within the gender binary, they are attracted to people of different sexual identities.

4) The fact that pansexuals are able to identify with people of such different sexual and gender identities, is one of the most important aspects of their pansexual identity.

5) Bisexuals do not give the same importance to gender identity awareness as pansexuals. They are simply attracted to the two biological sexes which are generally accepted.

6) Another difference between the two is that pansexuals might identify themselves bisexuals for the sake of convenience, the latter being the more popular sexual identity. And some bisexuals might be attracted to people who do not fit in the gender binary.

Pansexuality is very under-explored/studied 

However, it is a fact that pansexuality is a very under-explored sexual identity. For instance, the very prevalence of pansexuals is yet unknown. Their history, origins, characteristics of personality, the variations in their sociodemographic factors like race, social class, ethnicity, beliefs or social attitudes, are all yet to be studied and examined in detail.

In present times, when the millennial youth is struggling to define themselves with their sexual identity, exploring pansexuality is a matter of grave importance.