Abstract

In this paper, we report on our survey research which sought to explore how pansexual and panromantic people experience and understand their identities. Eighty participants, mainly in the U.K., were recruited via social media and internet forums. Thematic analysis resulted in the development of two key themes. In The label depends on the context: It’s like bisexuality, but it isn’t, we report the blurred lines between pansexual and bisexual identities and discuss how, despite often having a preference for pansexual and panromantic, these participants nonetheless engaged in strategic use of both bi and pan terms. In the second theme entitled Educated and enlightened pansexuals we report how participants portrayed pansexual and panromantic identities as requiring an advanced understanding of gender and sexuality. This meant that those who engaged in these terms were represented as educated and enlightened. In the subtheme An internet education: Tumblr-ing into pan identities and communities, we discuss how educational resources and inclusive spaces were largely understood to exist only online. In this research, participants understood pansexual and panromantic identities to be related to, but distinct from, other identities (including bisexuality) and presented their identities as entailing distinctive experiences, including of prejudice and discrimination. We discuss the contribution and implications of our findings.

摘要

在本文中，我们报告了我们的调查研究，该研究旨在探索泛性恋和泛浪漫的人如何体验和理解他们的身份。通过社交媒体和互联网论坛招募了 80 名参与者，主要在英国。专题分析导致了两个关键主题的发展。在标签取决于上下文：这就像双性恋，但事实并非如此，我们报告了泛性恋和双性恋身份之间的模糊界限，并讨论了尽管经常偏爱泛性恋和泛浪漫，但这些参与者仍然参与了bi 和 pan 术语。在题为受过教育和开明的泛性恋者的第二个主题中我们报告了参与者如何将泛性和泛性身份描述为需要对性别和性行为有深入的了解。这意味着那些使用这些术语的人被描述为受过教育和开明。在副主题“互联网教育：进入泛身份和社区”中，我们讨论了教育资源和包容性空间如何在很大程度上被理解为仅存在于网上。在这项研究中，参与者理解泛性恋和泛浪漫主义身份与其他身份（包括双性恋）相关但又有所不同，并将他们的身份呈现为包含独特的经历，包括偏见和歧视。我们讨论了我们的发现的贡献和影响。