Omnisexuality??? Ok, I accept that as Gen X Iām old. I grew up stating I was Bi because thatās the term we had at the time. Now I still say Bi, but clarify āor really Pan as the kids call it nowadays because I believe all the toys in toy box are fun to play with and I value the person (and personality) over plumbingā. Now what is Omni?
Bi: attraction to more than one gender
Pan: attraction regardless of gender
Omni: attraction to all genders
The difference between pan and omni is small and theyāre often used synonymously. Most people I know, that fall into this category, identify as either bi or pan. Omni is exceedingly rare but itās also not that new. I remember it already being an established thing when I first read about it almost a decade ago.
That seems to be making a distinction just to make a distinction. Pan and omni mean the same thing: all. It just sounds like someone wanted to feel more special than the people calling themselves pan so created a new word that means the exact same thing.
If youāre attracted to someone regardless of gender then youāre attracted to all genders. Attraction doesnāt mean you always like them, it means you have a lustful desire to them. Both pan and poly can feel that for anyone, but neither feels it for everyone obviously. Unless Iām getting something wrong here, theyāre the same thing with the meaning you gave and the words even mean the same thing.
Yea, itās obviously not about who you get the hots for, at that point. In both cases, everyoneās on the menu.
The commonly used distinction is, that pan is often described as āgender-blindā, meaning, gender has no role in attraction. A guy is hot, because heās hot, not because heās a guy, while this can be very much the case with omni.
But yes, itās a very small distinction. It doesnāt make enough of a difference for most people. Thereās a reason very few people identify as omni. But let them have their fun, if that small distinction matters to them. Thereās no reason to police labels.
Sure, Iām not going to police it. If someone wants to call themselves omni Iām not going to tell them theyāre wrong. Theyāre free to do whatever they want. Iām just saying it does seem to make sense to have a different term, beside just having fun.
For example though, Iām a straight man, but Iām still attracted to some more masculine appearing women. Iām just attracted to who Iām attracted to. There doesnāt need to be an additional term for straight people who can be attracted to both masculine and feminine appearing people of the opposite sex. Thatād be absurd, and Iām sure the omni people would agree.
Thats what it sounds like āomniā is trying to do. Youāre attracted to anyone, regardless of gender, which is pan. You just have a preference for particular gendered appearances. Thatās still pan, but you have preferences for appearances, like everyone else. We donāt need a word for every single persons preferences or we wouldnāt be able to have a conversation about it. We donāt need a word for people attracted to people with tattoos, for example.
There doesnāt need to be an additional term for straight people who can be attracted to both masculine and feminine appearing people of the opposite sex.
No, the word for that is straight. But there are certainly words for people who are attracted to masculinity or femininity, regardless of gender. And of course thereās having a type. But thatās got nothing to do with sexuality. Pan folks can have types, too.
Youāre attracted to anyone, regardless of gender, which is pan.
Well no. Omnisexuality is explicitly not regardless of gender. The gender is being regarded. Thatās the whole point of the distinction. Itās just that all of them are being regarded. That has nothing to do with expression, type or appearance. The attraction to different genders might just be different, before type even plays a role.
At least, thatās how I understand it. Iām pan. I barely get how one can care about gender at all. I cannot speak out of experience here, only from what Iāve been told. I get omnisexuality about as little as I get exclusively gay/straight people. This feels a bit like a blind person explaining green to someone who canāt see colours.
Depends on the band. There are words for only attracted to fem guys and women, or masc women and men, but i forget them. Im sure someones made a word for other bands too
Androsexuality and gynosexuality. Honestly I would like those even if I wasnāt bi, much clearer than heterosexual/homosexual. Also they work better with nonbinary people
That definition of bisexuality would exclude 100% of the bisexual people I know, including myself. I donāt think itās grounded in any sort of reality for bisexual people.
Iām pan, and I think of it like this:
Pan means youāre attracted to people regardless of their gender. Bi means youāre attracted to more than one gender.
No hate though, if anyone else defines them differently. Thatās just how I see it.
Yea, pan here, too. Thatās how I always understood it. Gets a bit more nuanced though, when you include omnisexuality.
Omnisexuality??? Ok, I accept that as Gen X Iām old. I grew up stating I was Bi because thatās the term we had at the time. Now I still say Bi, but clarify āor really Pan as the kids call it nowadays because I believe all the toys in toy box are fun to play with and I value the person (and personality) over plumbingā. Now what is Omni?
Omni people donāt like mixing Greek and Latin.
Or they really hate flutes
Generally, itās described as:
Bi: attraction to more than one gender
Pan: attraction regardless of gender
Omni: attraction to all genders
The difference between pan and omni is small and theyāre often used synonymously. Most people I know, that fall into this category, identify as either bi or pan. Omni is exceedingly rare but itās also not that new. I remember it already being an established thing when I first read about it almost a decade ago.
Edit: formatting
That seems to be making a distinction just to make a distinction. Pan and omni mean the same thing: all. It just sounds like someone wanted to feel more special than the people calling themselves pan so created a new word that means the exact same thing.
If youāre attracted to someone regardless of gender then youāre attracted to all genders. Attraction doesnāt mean you always like them, it means you have a lustful desire to them. Both pan and poly can feel that for anyone, but neither feels it for everyone obviously. Unless Iām getting something wrong here, theyāre the same thing with the meaning you gave and the words even mean the same thing.
Yea, itās obviously not about who you get the hots for, at that point. In both cases, everyoneās on the menu.
The commonly used distinction is, that pan is often described as āgender-blindā, meaning, gender has no role in attraction. A guy is hot, because heās hot, not because heās a guy, while this can be very much the case with omni.
But yes, itās a very small distinction. It doesnāt make enough of a difference for most people. Thereās a reason very few people identify as omni. But let them have their fun, if that small distinction matters to them. Thereās no reason to police labels.
Sure, Iām not going to police it. If someone wants to call themselves omni Iām not going to tell them theyāre wrong. Theyāre free to do whatever they want. Iām just saying it does seem to make sense to have a different term, beside just having fun.
For example though, Iām a straight man, but Iām still attracted to some more masculine appearing women. Iām just attracted to who Iām attracted to. There doesnāt need to be an additional term for straight people who can be attracted to both masculine and feminine appearing people of the opposite sex. Thatād be absurd, and Iām sure the omni people would agree.
Thats what it sounds like āomniā is trying to do. Youāre attracted to anyone, regardless of gender, which is pan. You just have a preference for particular gendered appearances. Thatās still pan, but you have preferences for appearances, like everyone else. We donāt need a word for every single persons preferences or we wouldnāt be able to have a conversation about it. We donāt need a word for people attracted to people with tattoos, for example.
No, the word for that is straight. But there are certainly words for people who are attracted to masculinity or femininity, regardless of gender. And of course thereās having a type. But thatās got nothing to do with sexuality. Pan folks can have types, too.
Well no. Omnisexuality is explicitly not regardless of gender. The gender is being regarded. Thatās the whole point of the distinction. Itās just that all of them are being regarded. That has nothing to do with expression, type or appearance. The attraction to different genders might just be different, before type even plays a role.
At least, thatās how I understand it. Iām pan. I barely get how one can care about gender at all. I cannot speak out of experience here, only from what Iāve been told. I get omnisexuality about as little as I get exclusively gay/straight people. This feels a bit like a blind person explaining green to someone who canāt see colours.
So what would be attraction to a specific band of aesthetic characteristics independent of sex or gender be?
Depends on the band. There are words for only attracted to fem guys and women, or masc women and men, but i forget them. Im sure someones made a word for other bands too
Androsexuality and gynosexuality. Honestly I would like those even if I wasnāt bi, much clearer than heterosexual/homosexual. Also they work better with nonbinary people
I cannot answer you that but there are certainly labels that describe specific cases of that.
bisexual.py:def is_sexually_attracted_to(self, other): return other.gender in self.preferred_genderpansexual.py:def is_sexually_attracted_to(self, other): # TODO: factors based on other traits TBI return TrueClose enough?
Accurate.
I think of it like this: bi is attraction to masc men and fem women.
Pan is attraction to all configurations of gender, genitals, and presentation.
Nah, people like twinks and femboys also more likely to call themselves bi.
That definition of bisexuality would exclude 100% of the bisexual people I know, including myself. I donāt think itās grounded in any sort of reality for bisexual people.
yeah, this is how iāve always seen it
I never thought of that because I never tried to define it. Iām just happy you found something that makes you happy.