captain-consent: themeaningofbisexuality: Via The Bisexual Index on Twitter [Picture is a serie

captain-consent:

themeaningofbisexuality:

Via The Bisexual Index on Twitter

[Picture is a series of tweets by The Bisexual Index which read:]

We don’t say “bisexuality is attraction to two or more genders”. We say “bisexuality is attraction to more than one gender”.

If you don’t see a difference then why not use our version?

There is a difference. 1) Saying “It’s not 2, it’s 2 (or more)” doesn’t really get away from the outdated “there’s two” model.

1a) And it footnotes other genders. No need to! 2) And as with our list of points, more than one can include ‘not entirely two’.

But again - if you see genders or your attractions purely as integers then don’t worry: More than one totally includes two.

Part of the @bisexualindex mission statement is to promote “more than one” over “two” or “two+”.

We think it’s more inclusive and reflective of the bisexual community. Other bi orgs disagree and that’s cool. It’s not mandatory.

But when people who don’t use the bisexual label tell you we’re wrong, feel free to tell them we don’t care. Our label, our definition.

This is a very interesting thread and they make some good points as to why “more than one” would be preferable to “two or more”.

I specifically dislike the “same and other genders” definition due to the way it submits to the “bi = 2″ definition and also specifies a particular gender you have to be attracted to and, in The Bisexual Index’s words, “it footnotes the other genders”. (and since the SGA discourse I really don’t trust people who use it for the whole community).

But I also feel that “more than one” and “two or more” are equally inclusive and reflective of everyone in the bi community so they can be used more interchangeably than some other definitions, though I’ll definitely consider promoting the “more than one” definition a bit more going forward.

i prefer the term “pansexual” for me because no matter how you define “bisexual” “bi” still means two, and not “more than one” or “two or more”.
I really don’t see the “same and other gender_s_” in “bi”. It feels like people notices their (conservation) word for identity doesn’t match the actualised idea of gender and instead of letting the word go as something outdated they cling to it :x
The word “bi” only then doesn’t support the idea if two genders when it’s unknown or questioned and that’s not often enough for me.

I’m okay with people identifying as bi though, it’s just the reason I don’t.

As ever many pansexual people continue to have biphobic reasons for IDing as pansexual.

The definitions can overlap and the different identities are still valid - and pansexuality isn’t some “new” term to replace the “outdated” bisexuality, bisexuality is an identity with its own history and community that has developed over decades.