Bisexuality vs. Pansexuality: My Guest Article for Kinky Karrot

A few months ago, an Instagram artist and creator I adore, @kinkykarrot, asked for volunteer article contributions for her website's magazine. As a fan of her work and her mission, I jumped on board immediately.

According to their website, Kinky Karrot intends to inspire open-minded people to explore and better understand their sexuality through fun and quirky sex-positive art and female-tailored products.

After sending in a few topic ideas, I was given the green light to write about something I'd been discussing with my friends in the LGBTQ+ community quite a bit lately: what's the difference between bisexuality and pansexuality? Is one more valid than the other? How did these terms even come about?

I did a lot of research, asked people in the community what they thought, and added my own perspective in the mix to create this article. You can read it in full here. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or email me if you're interested in discussing further.

Here's a preview:

"The topic of sexual identities and their labels has been a hot topic in popular culture for quite some time, including in the LGBTQ+ community. Though many of the terms we use today have existed for centuries, more and more labels have come to light in recent years, usually more specific and inclusive than their generalized predecessors. This phenomenon, coined “the alphabet soup explosion” by Robyn Ochs, the editor of Bi Women Quarterly, has led to the adoption of terms like “panromantic” and “demisexual” and, consequently, expanded the LGBT acronym to LGBTQQIAAP2+ (often shortened to LGBTQ+). In fact, according to a 2019 report by The Trevor Project, a survey of tens of thousands of LGBTQ youth aged 13-24 presented more than 100 different labels to describe their sexuality.

However, as we know, language continues to evolve over time, some words losing their original meanings entirely and eventually meaning the complete opposite. This fact, in addition to the recent influx of new labels, has led to a lot of overlap - and sometimes misunderstanding - in the LGBTQ+ community and society as a whole. A perfect example of this is the difference between the terms “bisexual” and “pansexual”..."

Don't forget to check out the Kinky Karrot Magazine, Marie's art, and follow her on Instagram.

Cover image courtesy of Marie Sann of Kinky Karrot.