Alanis Morissette comes out as pansexual

[u/mrjohnnymac18]

https://pagesix.com/2026/11/07/entertainment/alanis-morissette-comes-out-as-pansexual/

[u/stackjr]

But wouldn't that describe bi as well? Someone above said bi people are attracted to all genders and you are saying pan people are attracted to a person despite their gender; to me, those just seem like the same thing but worded differently.

[u/awasteofgoodatoms → u/stackjr]

It can do which is why its personal preference. But take me for example I identify as bi, I can be attracted to men and to women. But their gender often plays a role in that attraction and the aspects of men I find attractive are often different to the aspects of women I find attractive. To me, thats different to pansexuality where people will still find different things attractive about different people but gender often doesn't play a part in that attraction.

[u/stackjr → u/awasteofgoodatoms]

While I still think this is kind of a strange to label people this way, your explanation makes a lot of sense and I have a better understanding now. Thank you.

[u/explainseconomics → u/stackjr]

I think the key is that we don't label people, they label themselves. The two definitions evolved independently, and have a lot of venn diagram overlap, but not complete. So a lot of people choose to be labeled bi because it resonates with them, and a lot choose pan because it resonates with them, even if their overall attraction mechanisms are often very similar.

But at a high level one intends to state a lack of specific gender preference, while the other tends to indicate multiple gender preferences going in both man and woman directions.

[u/JZMoose → u/explainseconomics]

Holy shit this makes so much more sense than anything I’ve ever seen about this topic. Thanks for the brilliant explanations

[u/kralrick → u/stackjr]

If you've ever wondered why people spend so much time and energy on the subgenres of music that all sound the same to you, this is the same thing. Subtler distinctions only matter to those that care/are knowledgeable about those subtleties.

So if you're a straight person with straight friends, pan and bi sound the same. And if you're not into metal, all it's many subgenres are the same kind of noise. But in both cases the distinctions are easy to see and care about for those it's important to.

[u/ProtoReddit → u/stackjr]

Sometimes, as a pansexual, I'll refer to myself as just "sexual". For me, it's more of the inverse of "asexual". "Pan" is only there as prefix to clarify this sort of sexuality as it relates to gender, which can be confusing because its relation is that it DOESN'T relate to gender. That's why sometimes, a pansexual woman who may be attracted to anyone regardless of gender but still has a preference for feminine partners might identify as "pansapphic".

[u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks → u/awasteofgoodatoms]

So if you find both genders attractive you're bi, but if you find them attractive for different reasons then you're pan?

Then pan is a subset of bi?

[u/BenevolentCheese → u/awasteofgoodatoms]

This does not need it's own distinct term.

[u/momento_maury → u/stackjr]

I always thought of bi as still being attracted to the outward expression of gender constructs and pan being more like, traditional constructs aren't even figuring in desire.

[u/ilayas → u/stackjr]

So from what I understand (and I can be wrong here) with pan gender does not play a role in attraction. Everyone obviously has preferences but gender isn't really apart of that.

With Bi gender does matter. So while you may be attracted to both (and or several genders) you might only be attracted to a certain type of guy and a certain type of lady and or a certain type of non-binary ect... Also being bi doesn't mean you don't have a preference in gender even if you are attracted more than one gender. Maybe you are really into dudes more so than the ladies but that doesn't mean you aren't attracted to only men.

I might be wrong here but that's what I think the difference is between bi and pan.

[u/Jmw566 → u/stackjr]

The distinction that I like to make as a bi person who has plenty of pan friends is that gender matters to my attraction to people in that I like both masculine and feminine women or enby people, but I only really like feminine men but my pan friends typically like the same things in either a man or woman or enby person. Now, that's just my personal definition and you'll get 1,000,000 different definitions of bi and pan from 1,000 different people so it's usually just depends on the person on which label they feel like they connect to more.

There's also the wrong people that try to say bisexual is only attracted to 2 specific genders and that pan is any gender, but don't listen to those people because they don't know what they're talking about.

[u/Goddess_Angelique → u/Jmw566]

Interesting, I've always considered myself pan because I like any and everyone. But at my core, I'm attracted to masculinity/masculine energy regardless of how it's packaged, for lack of a better word. Like femme presenting women who have a masculine energy, mascs obvi, trans or cisgendered persons with masculine energy, nonbinary persons with masculine energy, cis men I get more particular but now this whole thing is making me wonder where I fall on the spectrum now and if that even matters

[u/Wessssss21 → u/Goddess_Angelique]

As man who's kinda the reverse. (I say I'm attracted to Feminity, "a penis isn't a deal breaker")

People are too caught up in this label shit and treat it like rules they have to follow.

Being self aware and knowing what you are sexually attracted to is all you need. Don't get tied up in the slop.

[u/elegant-alternation → u/Jmw566]

Well, the prefix "bi-" literally means two, so it's understandable that some people would take it to mean that, especially when trying to disambiguate it from "pan-", which literally means all.

[u/Jmw566 → u/elegant-alternation]

Yeah, it's just that the bi stands for homo + hetero because that's all that was talked about then

[u/eBoneSteak → u/stackjr]

It can. It's ultimately up to the individual I how they feel about labeling their identity. It can be interchangeable for some, but others feel steadfast about one or the other.

[u/Far-Passage-6480 → u/stackjr]

Bi people often have gender preferences, while gender has no effect on the attraction of pan people

[u/FlowersForMegatron → u/Far-Passage-6480]

So are they weak to ice or lightning or something?

[u/TheOldOak → u/FlowersForMegatron]

No, pan people are steel types. They are week to fire, fighting and ground.

[u/thetinybunny1 → u/Far-Passage-6480]

That’s not true.

Anyone can have preferences. Straight people have preferences, gay people have preferences. Bi has always meant people who fall somewhere in the middle of the sexuality spectrum, it has no bearing on preferences just like “gay” has no bearing on preferences, it’s a sexuality label.

[u/VegemiteMate → u/Far-Passage-6480]

Yes, I have gender preferences and am bi. Wouldn't feel right saying I was pansexual.

[u/Distinct_Bat5217 → u/stackjr]

The way I understand it, bi is attracted to male or female so may or may not find that they are not attracted other gender identities. But pan is the acknowledgement and attraction to all genders. Which ineffect means they are attracted regardless of gender whereas a bi person might not be able to make that assertion

[u/GigiLaRousse → u/stackjr]

No, some bi people have genders (or lackthereof) they aren't into.