The Pansexual Revolution
Just as it could be credibly argued that there has been a gender revolution within the current cultural ideology, people are also beginning to change how they think about orientation. There are of course a myriad of ways that people can identify, be that Homosexual, Bisexual or even Demisexual. Within this context perhaps the most interesting orientation identity to emerge is Pansexual. Pansexuality is said to come under the Bisexual ‘umbrella’ together with such terms as Polysexual, Homo-flexible and Les-Bi-flexible. The last two specifically describe individuals who are usually attracted to genders similar to their own- but can or might occasionally be attracted to different genders to their own.
However, before we look into how Pansexuality is actually defined it would serve us well to look at the history of the term. The prefix of the word, in this case ‘Pan’, comes from the Greek and means simply ‘All’ and is related to such words as panorama, pan-cultural and the most depressing word at the moment pandemic.
The term Pansexuality has in fact been around since the early 1900’s first appearing either in 1914 or 1917 in the ‘Journal of Abnormal Psychology’- in the form of ‘Pan-sexualism’, thus, it is not just a current trend as many have mistakenly assumed. It was in fact a psychoanalytic term, Pansexual and Pan-sexualism both being hybrid words, which both express the idea: “That the sex instinct plays the primary part in all human activity, mental and physical”. In other words Sigmund Freud, who is credited with the above quote had theorized that as sex was the motivating factor in everything-we thus arrive at ‘Pan-sexuality’. As such, in its earliest usage the term was characterised as a form of ‘sexual deviancy’ however, it eventually evolved into the more simple term ‘Pansexual’ that characterised a form of sexual orientation identity, which many are now proud to proclaim. For the record I don’t agree with Freud that the unconscious sexual instinct is the motivating factor in absolutely everything we do and prefer the theories of the eminent Doctor of Psychology Carl Gustav Jung.
Pansexuality was unfortunately misunderstood and individuals who ‘loved across’ or outside ‘labels and boundaries’, who were scrutinized in Harlem and Chicago’s South Side were simply seen as people suffering from a mental disorder. Furthermore, Pope Pius in 1952 in a speech stated that the “‘Pansexual’ method of psychoanalytic therapy went against Christian values.” However, the innovative pioneer Sex Researcher Alfred Kinsey explained that sexuality operated on a continuum. However, despite this, in order to describe sexual orientation labels were introduced. Lastly, it wasn’t until the 1970’s that the word Pansexual began to approximate today’s usage.
The New York Times in 1975 used the word Pansexual to describe ‘androgynous’ British Glam Rock artist Brian Eno who was a member of the group Roxy Music-the paper described him as “Bizarre synthesizer wizard with the Pansexual image.”
Having looked at the historical usage of the term we can now discuss what it actually means. First of all Pansexuality can be confused with Bisexuality and in fact it isn’t the only word to describe this form of orientation as some people prefer to identify as ‘Omnisexual’ rather than Pansexual. However, Pansexual can be briefly described as ‘Anyone attracted to people of all genders and sexes or regardless of sex and gender and who identifies as ‘Pan’ or ‘Omni’.’ This form of orientation can also be confused with the identity ‘Polysexual’-who can be attracted to many genders/sexes, but not necessarily all. Also, Polyamorous and Gender-fluid are not the same as Pansexual.
Pansexuality is intrinsically a form of sexual orientation which is considered a branch of Bisexuality. Pansexuality also rejects the heteronormative notion/concept of the gender binary, and thus it is more inclusive than the term Bisexual. Pansexuals are open to relationships with people who do not strictly identify as men or women, thus; Transgender, Genderqueer, Non-binary and Genderfluid.
Lana Peswani, volunteer at Stonewall and who identifies as Pansexual, explained Pansexuality in Cosmopolitan. She said that realising that you are Pansexual can come as a revelation especially after the word has been explained to you. This is precisely the experience that Lana had when she was just 17. Peswani explained: “I’d always known I was attracted to a person’s presence.” Also adding:“I feel I experience sexual attraction differently to the average person.”
In fact it has been said that Pansexuals ‘don’t see gender’ as individuals who identify in this way describe themselves as ‘gender blind’. In other words gender and sex are not the determining factors in attraction, whether that is sexual or romantic.
Furthermore, there have been a growing number of Celebrities who have come out as Pansexual. In other words there is slowly beginning to be more Pansexual visibility, due to Pansexual Celebrities such as, for example, Janelle Monae and Bella Thorne, both of whom speak openly about their sexuality. It has been argued that Miley Cyrus brought ‘unprecedented mainstream attention to the identity’ after they had proclaimed themselves to be Pansexual; coming out in Elle UK. Cyrus, also describing themselves as Genderqueer said: “I don’t relate to what people would say defines a girl or a boy.”
The beautiful young Transwoman Jazz Jennings, Trans-advocate and star of the American reality show ‘I am Jazz’, who also identifies as Pansexual said: “Being Pansexual basically means to me that you are attracted to anyone, no matter their sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, everything.”
A few more examples of what celebrities have said about Pansexuality should I think suffice here, thus; Agender Rapper Angel Haze said in an interview with Fusion TV: “To identify as Pansexual, to me, means to just want love. To have a connection with anyone.” Lastly here, Caroline Rose Giuliani, daughter of the former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in an Essay for Vanity Fair, said that identifying as Pansexual felt more precise than Bisexual.
Corey Flanders Phd, an associate Professor of Psychology and Education stated that the common misconception that Pansexuality doesn’t exist is ‘absolutely false’. Another common misconception about Pansexuals is that they are attracted to everyone they encounter which simply isn’t true. Pansexuals can be attracted to people of all genders, not just Cisgender and Transgender, but also Non-binary-gender nonconforming individuals who identify outside of the heteronormative gender binary.
However, I think it is important to say something more about Bisexuality and Pansexuality, for although the identity Pansexual comes under the Bisexual ‘umbrella’ it is not the same thing. Despite this, there are close similarities. Bisexuality ‘isn’t inherently binary’ and the terms Bisexual and Pansexual can be used interchangeably. The truth is that some Bisexual individuals also identify as Pansexual. As such, the very word Pansexual challenges how we think about gender, sexuality and desire.
I wanted to finish here by stating that the term Pansexual can be used to describe individuals attracted emotionally, romantically or sexually to people of any gender, according to Human Rights Campaign. It should also be stated that being Pansexual isn’t necessarily the thing that ultimately defines you. A Pansexual individual can be from any ethnic background, can be Transgender, old, young or even disabled- or a combination of any of the above-each individual being unique.
