stfudiscoinfernoed
The idea that pansexual has become so mainstream that we just have to put up with it and try to integrate it into our understanding of bisexuality is so funny to me because you know what else was mainstream? Metrosexual. Mainstream doesn’t mean it will stay prominent.
Also. If pan is going to stay mainstream, than people who use pan are going to have to understand and accept why many bi people don’t like the label or want it to be used. They are going to have to understand that panphobia doesn’t really exist outside of biphobia because there is no structural or systemic discrimination against pan people specifically and criticism of pan as a label, including wanting the label to disappear, isn’t discriminatory. It’s unreasonable to put the onus of understanding on bi people, which is exactly what happens when you decide that bi people understanding the pan label can move past its biphobic and transphobic origins is the same as pan people understanding that bi is not an exclusionary or outdated label.
Activism and advocacy for bisexuality have been negatively impacted by pansexuality because we’ve had to spend more time on wrestling back what it means to be bi from pansexuality and fighting accusations of exclusion (of pan, omni, etc people) than actually fighting biphobia. . If pan people want to continue using pan, than they have to acknowledge that. If they don’t, they care more about getting affirmation to not call themselves bi than creating a pan community that’s reckoned with and worked to move away from its biphobic and transphobic origins.
