In my novel I have a character that is pansexual. I only have a inkling of what it entails. I could use some help how to protest this in the story. It is a female character that is also a woodsmith.
So any direct terms, how Thier preferences work and other nuances.
I have a friend of mine who identified as pansexual, now identifies as panromantic demisexual, and I’ll tell you what she told me. Pansexuals have the capability to feel attraction to a wide swathe of gender identities, not just male and female. As a whole, my friend words it as: “What is in their head, instead of what is between their legs.” It should be mentioned that just because they can feel attraction to any gender identity, it does not mean they find everyone attractive.
Isn’t that normal bisexuality?
That’s why this is very difficult because what sets them apart from someone that is bisexual? So far it just sounds like a different label for the same thing.
The main difference is how many genders is a person attracted to. Bisexuals, at least in theory, only feel attraction to males or females, and not to any non-binary gender (such as: Agender, transgender, genderfluid.) However, this is just in theory, and in fact some bisexuals can feel attraction to these other genders as well. Pansexuals can feel attraction to these other genders.
In short, it is very similar bisexuality, though people who are pansexual can feel attraction to more genders than those given by the gender binary (male and female.)
That’s a bit more clearer but those other gender types do not appear in this novel(gender is a very complicated thing in the story since only females are seen. At least until much later.) It may be part of the next novel though.
Identity’s a complex thing. That non-binary, trans, and intersex folks don’t appear in the novel may not preclude the character from considering the fact that they might be attracted to them all the same. Still, identity is one of those things we feel most acutely when it’s challenged, which might make sense in your story where only female characters are seen, so it’d be understandable for the character to feel friction over this.