The GenderBender- New Movements in Sexuality

My first exposure to the PANSEXUAL movement occurred while watching a Sex and the City episode. After watching it, I quickly forgot the notion until a few months ago while discussing sexuality in one of my graduate classes. During this discussion, special attention was paid to those who consider themselves gay, lesbian, straight, and bi, but what about other sexual orientations?


In today's American culture, most of us reside under the notion that sexuality doesn't exist on a continuum, but occurs in discrete and identifiable patterns. Generally we recognize three patterns of sexual attraction: heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. In the 1940s, a man named Alfred Kinsey (et. al), challenged the way society thought about sexuality. He introduced the idea of a sexual continuum on which all people exist. Needless to say, not all individuals were accepting of Kinsey's ideas. Here is a graphic representation of Kinsey's continuum:

Here's a copy of the rating scale criteria:
0- Exclusively heterosexual
1- Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
2- Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3- Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4- Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5- Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
6- Exclusively homosexual

Where do you exist?

(http://www.uis.edu/studentaffairs/safezone/resources/documents/sexuality%20continuum.pdf)

Alright, it's easy enough to say we all exist somewhere on this continuum, but what happens when you remove gender from the equation altogether? Suddenly gay and straight have become irrelevant. This idea is what the term Pansexual refers to. With the removal of gender as a consideration for attraction, the individual is free to feel attraction to the individual- regardless of gender. Oh what freedom! (and impending confusion...) But, what if the individual was free to exist outside of the sexual box?

I move on to the next interesting movement: Asexuality. Many of us feel sexual attraction to a specific gender, or, in the case of the pansexual, to compatible individuals. Those who are asexual are simply not interested in sex, and therefore, do not experience sexual desire. Such people may be interested in forming sex-less romantic relationships or may rely on a close group of friends for support. According to AVEN (The Asexual Visibility and Education Network), asexual individuals may consider themselves gay, lesbian, bi, or straight in their attraction to others but do not wish to form sexual relationships with these individuals.

None of this is to say that the asexual does not experience sexual arousal. However, arousal is not directed at another partner. For more information on Asexuality: http://www.asexuality.org/

What's the point of this discussion? Well it's a challenge to think outside the box when it comes to sexuality. It's a challenge to look at yourself on the sexual continuum in a non-defensive way; to understand that all people have their own attractive attributes regardless of gender.

Comments are encouraged =)