The Sexuality Spectrum Continued
We’ve already covered asexuality and aromantic identities, which fall under the ‘sexual’ spectrum. The idea that some one can only exclusively like someone romantically or exclusively like someone sexually is a differentiation that isn’t common among most of the population, therefore when one says heterosexual, it is assumed that they are sexually and romantically attracted to that of the opposite sex. This is the case with most sexual orientation identities but one must remember that sexual attraction and romantic attraction are two separate spectrums. Some one can be heterosexual, that meaning they are only sexualy attracted to the person of the opposite gender, and no romantic feelings are felt.
I would like to note that polygamy is a religious practice of having multiple partners while polyamory has nothing to do with religion, but a person will still be interested in multiple partners.
As mentioned before, I am pansexual, this means that I am sexually attracted to all genders. Some people describe pansexuality as not seeing gender but that isn’t the case for me. I see gender and I’m typically more attracted to/have a preference for, males above any other gender, this doesn’t take away from the fact that I am pansexual as I’m still attracted to all genders. Gay and lesbian are common terms used for someone who likes the same gender, specifically male to male for gay and female to female for lesbian. Polysexual is a term that refers to someone liking more than 2 genders, but not all. So some one who is polysexual will be, for example, attracted to females, genderfluid people and pangender people.
Bisexuality is usually seen as someone being attracted to their own gender and that of the opposite gender, so a female will like females as well as males. In recent years the meaning of bisexuality has expanded to include some one liking there own gender and one other gender as well as someone just liking two specific genders. There is a term called bi-erasure that deals with the idea that bisexual people are ‘confused,’and ‘must pick a side.’ The idea furthers with gay people believing bi people are ‘too straight’to be gay and straight people would see bi people as ‘too gay.’ I noticed this being an issue on social media a couple of years ago but it has gotten a lot better in recent years. Bisexuals are queer and valid.
Having come to an end and understanding all of the previous blogs, here comes the fun part (in my opinion) – labelling!
Labelling is naturally how you label yourself. There are people in the lgbt+ community who dislike labels as they believe it is just people judging you, putting you in a box, but I’ve always loved labels. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I’ve gone through some pretty confusing, questioning times and labels helped me. I found my identity and didn’t feel so lost anymore, I felt understood.
So, what am I? Well, I’m a cisgendered female who is pansexual (with a preference for males) and panromantic (with no preference.) What about you? (:
Peace,
– A
A's Explanations 