Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Gay or Straight or Something In Between?

I've been in the process of re-watching the first 4 seasons of "Orange is the New Black" in preparation for the June 9th release of season 5. I rediscovered the idea of sexual orientation as a spectrum, which I 100% agree with. There, of course, are people who are stuck at the far ends of the spectrum, whether it be at the 'straight' end or the 'gay' end. I don't, however, believe that everyone else falls directly at the midpoint. Even though I do believe that there are people at the bookends of the spectrum, I think that where everyone else falls varies somewhere in the vast middle portion. I think a lot of people who identify as 'straight' are not necessarily located at the very end of the spectrum, but rather in the realm of that section on the spectrum. Do I think some people are 100% straight? Absolutely. I just believe that the majority are not. I also think that you can change locations on this spectrum. If you start out at one location when you are, say, fifteen, who's to say you'll be in the same locale at fifty? I also believe that there are many people that just tend to fall for a person regardless of gender - so they fall in love with the person and not the gender itself. I am extremely too sexualized (if I have lacked to make that evident in my earlier posts) and therefore have no idea where someone would fall if they identify as 'asexual'. Or maybe they have simply fallen OFF the spectrum completely. I was also recently introduced to the term 'pansexual' in a book I've been reading (yes, I read quite a bit - soaking up information like a sponge). This term, as I have found, seems to be an extension/more detailed version of 'bisexual' - prefix "bi-" indicating two sexes that you are attracted to. But pansexual takes us to a whole new level, confirming for us that there are not just 2 genders anymore (As LGBT extends its acronym, adding more letters, it further justifies that times are indeed changing). Correct me if I'm wrong, but "pansexual" seems to encompass just that - being (potentially) attracted to everyone (which I feel I am more able to relate to than being sexually attracted to no one or "asexual"). I will revisit this idea at a later time after I have researched it further.

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