Sex/uality Artifacts

My artifact was a shirt that stated “Pansexual Pirate Likes All Kinds of Booty”. I chose this shirt because it related to the topic of sexual orientation, but also brought in the question of gender identity. I identify as pansexual, so to me it means to be attracted to all genders. I also see it as interchangeable with queer, since pansexual is an older term. Where this gets a little complicated is the concept of gender as a spectrum instead of a binary. As was explained in class, gender identity, expression, and sexual orientation are all different aspects of a person. So someone who is pansexual would be attracted to people of any gender, not just the social construct of a binary (man and woman). This includes all sorts of folks. I have found the easiest way to explain to others the idea of gender as a spectrum is to label the spectrum as agender/no gender to pangender/all gender. A pansexual person, like myself would find any person in that spectrum attractive.

Pansexuality is also considered a “middle sexuality”. This means that it would be in the area of a 3 on a Kinsey scale. One of the things that middle sexualities face would be erasure. There are people both in and out of the queer community that continue to think or say that bi-, pan-, and even ace/aro- identifying folks don’t exist. This comes from the idea that there is only homosexual or heterosexual; a person can’t like multiple genders because there are only those two options. An example would be if I were to be attracted to and with a straight, cisgendered man. Someone might say that because of that relationship, I am actually straight. Or if I were to be with a cisgendered woman, I would actually be gay. This binary way of thinking contributes to the erasure and invalidity of middle sexualities. Luckily, more folks are speaking out about it and having their voices heard.

I had mentioned in my presentation that I also identified as panromantic. For me, this means I am also romantically attracted to any gender. The separation between sexual and romantic attraction is important because not only does it make understanding one’s own identity, it also includes those who are aromantic as well. These would be folks who aren’t romantically attracted to anyone. I find this distinction in my identity to be important in explaining that we all have different parts of our identities.

A question that was raised during my presentation was if I think my sexuality is a choice, in relation to the articles read. I personally believe that it is a combination of nature and nurture. I might’ve been “born this way”, but my environment shaped who I am and who I like.

I cannot speak for all pansexual or middle sexuality folks, this is just my opinion based on my experiences and what I’ve learned from others.

LookHuman is known for stealing artwork, please be careful before purchasing their items.

Shirt from: http://www.lookhuman.com/design/66330-pansexual-pirate-likes-all-kinds-of-booty