Hey So, what it says on the tin, where do you draw the line at what counts as a 'real' identity and what counts as a 'fake' identity? Please try to be respectful of others when stating your opinion. I made this thread as recently I've seen more and more people saying that Pansexual is too far, and I'm interested to know what others think. These are the sexualities I personally recognise currently. The brackets contain whatever conditions there are for being a person of that sexuality, but there are exceptions. If I have any of them wrong, please tell me and I will fix it, it is not my intention to offend people. These are just sexual orientations, not romantic ones, because it would take forever to type all the combinations out. Attracted to Men. Gay (men) Androsexual (Non-binary or transitioning) Straight (women) Attracted to women. Gay/Lesbian (women) Gynosexual (non-binary or transitioning) (hope I spelled that correctly) Straight (men) Attracted to more than one. Bisexual (more than one) Pansexual (Attracted to all genders, no exceptions) Not attracted. (unless in specific circumstances) Asexual (any gender) Demi-sexual (Only when a strong emotional connection is shared) Grey-asexual (rare occurrences) Other. Chooses not to use labels. Of course, if you tell me your sexuality is not one of these, I will accept that fully and I will not disrespect you for it. I believe they should teach these ones in sex-end/pse. How about you?
Pan-sapio-demi-gray/ace-leaning-homoromantic-with-a-dash-of-cinnamon-sexual right over here! Kidding, of course. Here's how I see it ~ You've got 2 main categories with labeling. The broad umbrella terms, which most people are familiar with and which have credible scientific research to back them up. And then the super-specific, often so personalized that no one else has the same "orientation" as you - which can lead some to believe you have a case of SSS (special snowflake syndrome). Sure method #2 can be useful if you want to pinpoint exactly who, what, where, when, how, and to what extend to your particular sexuality extends to... but whether that comes off as intelligible to the listener, is hardly plausible. Personally, I'll recognize and probably understand anyone's particular orientation because I'm very well versed in it. If someone tells me they are pansexual, I'll know what they mean. But if you tell uncle Jimmy from down the street you're pansexual, you may get a few weird looks and an odd suspicion that you make love to frying-pans in your spare time. For myself, I stick with gay as it sums up the core components of my sexuality and attractions (both physical and emotional). Not all of it in every circumstance, but the core. If someone, a potential partner perhaps, wanted more info - then I may specify my grey-asexuality, or random attraction to the occasional woman. But what I'm getting at is this: if it's not an essential, and generally true, part of your sexuality, then why does it need an entire other label? Then again - being the contradictory bloke I am - I like the added specificity in labels. The more info the better, because it paints a more accurate and thought-out response than an arbitrary "gay, straight, bi, or ace" answer. Just my bitcoin.
When labels become an impediment to (rather than a tool of) communication with anybody of a sound general education, you might want to revise your use of those labels.
I'm definitely all for people self-identifying as however they feel they are when it comes to labeling their gender and sexuality. However, I think there's a certain cutoff at some undefinable point where certain labels are so niche that they end up losing their use of simplifying very not simple categories such as sexuality and gender.
Good point. Labels should be for ease of access. The way I see it, if it takes more than 10 seconds to explain, you're doing something wrong.
These are the labels I think are most "simple." They are mine, and shouldn't be used to disparage how others believe they should label themselves. These are more for "practicality."
