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Pansexuality is the lack of sexual feelings at all, Ben.

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 {{Sexual orientation}}
+'''Pansexuality''' is the lack of sexual feelings at all, Ben.
-'''Pansexuality''', or '''omnisexuality''',<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/omnisexual The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language] – Fourth Edition. Retrieved February 9, 2007, from Dictionary.com website</ref> is [[sexual attraction]], [[sexual desire]], [[Romance (love)|romantic love]], or emotional attraction toward people of all [[gender identity|gender identities]] and biological [[sex]]es.<ref name="mental health">{{cite book |title=Mental health issues in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities |last1=Hill |first1=Marjorie J. |last2=Jones |first2=Billy E. |year=2002 |publisher=American Psychiatric Pub |isbn=978-1-58562-069-2 |page=95 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0NxXRsIfcpgC |accessdate=28 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="Sex and society">{{cite book|editor=Marshall Cavendish|title=Sex and Society|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YtsxeWE7VD0C&pg=PA593|accessdate=July 28, 2013|volume=2|year=2010|publisher=[[Marshall Cavendish]]|isbn=978-0-7614-7907-9|page=593}}</ref> Self-identified pansexuals may consider pansexuality a [[sexual orientation]],<ref name="Sex and society"/> and refer to themselves as [[gender-blind]], asserting that [[gender]] and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others.<ref>Diamond, L., & Butterworth, M. (2008). Questioning gender and sexual identity: Dynamic links over time. ''Sex Roles''. Published online March 29, 2008.</ref> The ''[[Oxford Dictionary of English]]'' defines pansexuality as, "not limited or inhibited in sexual choice with regard to gender or activity".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0602230#m_en_gb0602230|title=definition of pansexual from Oxford Dictionaries Online |publisher=Oxforddictionaries.com |date=|accessdate=2012-06-20}}</ref>
-The concept of pansexuality deliberately rejects the [[gender binary]], the "notion of two genders and indeed of specific sexual orientations",<ref name="Sex and society"/> as pansexual people are open to relationships with people who do not identify as strictly men or women.<ref name="Sex and society"/><ref name="Soble">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=IMTEiTtqqPcC|title=Sex from Plato to Paglia: a philosophical encyclopedia|volume=1|page=115|last=Soble|first=Alan|isbn=978-0-313-32686-8|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2006|chapter=Bisexuality|accessdate=28 February 2011}}</ref>
-==Etymology==
-The prefix ''[[wikt:pan-|pan-]]'' comes from an [[Ancient Greek]] term meaning "all" or "every". ''[[wikt:omni-|Omni-]]'' comes from a Latin term meaning "all". "Pansexual" is derived from the word "pansexualism," dated back to 1917, which is the view "that [[Libido|the sex instinct]] plays the primary part in all human activity, mental and physical".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pansexual |title='&#39;Online Etymology Dictionary'&#39; |publisher=Etymonline.com |date= |accessdate=2012-06-20}}</ref><ref name="Bi-Gay-Pansexual">{{cite web|title=Bi, gay, pansexual: What do I call myself?|publisher=[[Go Ask Alice!]]|date=December 12, 2003 (Last Updated/Reviewed on September 14, 2012)|accessdate=October 3, 2012|url=http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/bi-gay-pansexual-what-do-i-call-myself}}</ref> Credited to [[Sigmund Freud]], it is a term of reproach leveled at early [[psychology]], and is also defined as "the pervasion of all conduct and experience with sexual emotions".<ref>''The Free Dictionary'' http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pansexualism</ref>
-The conceptualization of "pansexuality" as distinct from "pansexualism" contrasts with predominant prefixes attached to the ''-sexual'' and ''-gender'' roots. Traditional thought employs the prefixes ''hetero-'' (opposite), ''homo-'' (same), ''bi-'' (two) and ''trans-'' ('across'). A [[transgender]] identity opens up a gender continuum rather than a [[gender binary]] [[rubric]], but does not discard or disregard the idea of gender altogether.
-==Compared with bisexuality and other sexual identities==
-A literal [[denotation|dictionary definition]] of ''[[bisexuality]]'', due to the prefix ''[[wikt:bi-#English|bi-]]'', is sexual or romantic attraction to two [[sex]]es ([[male]]s and [[female]]s), or to two [[gender]]s ([[Man|men]] and [[Woman|women]]).<ref name="glaad">{{cite web|title=GLAAD Media Reference Guide|accessdate=March 14, 2012 |publisher=[[Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation]]|url=http://www.glaad.org/document.doc?id=99|archivedate=January 1, 2011|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110101043203/http://www.glaad.org/document.doc?id=99}}</ref> Pansexuality, however, composed with the prefix ''[[wikt:pan-#English|pan-]]'', is the sexual attraction to people of all sexes and genders. Using these definitions, pansexuality is different in that it includes people who are [[intersex]] and/or fall outside the [[gender binary]].<ref name="Sex and society"/><ref name="Bi-Gay-Pansexual"/> [[Go Ask Alice!]] states that pansexuals can be attracted to cismen, ciswomen (meaning [[cisgender]]), "[[trans man|transmen]], [[trans woman|transwomen]], intersex people, [[Androgyny|androgynous]] people, and everything else. It is generally considered a more inclusive term than bisexual".<ref name="Bi-Gay-Pansexual"/> Volume 2 of [[Marshall Cavendish|Cavendish]]'s ''Sex and Society'', however, clarifies that "[a]lthough the term's literal meaning can be interpreted as 'attracted to everything,' people who identify as pansexual do not include [[paraphilia]]s, such as [[Zoophilia|bestiality]], [[pedophilia]], and [[necrophilia]], in their definition" and that they "stress that the term pansexuality describes only consensual adult sexual behaviors".<ref name="Sex and society"/>
-The definition of pansexuality encourages the belief that it is the only category that covers individuals who do not cleanly fit into the categories of male/man or female/woman.<ref name="mental health">{{cite book |title=Mental health issues in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities |last1=Hill |first1=Marjorie J. |last2=Jones |first2=Billy E. |year=2002 |publisher=American Psychiatric Pub |isbn=978-1-58562-069-2|page=95 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0NxXRsIfcpgC |accessdate=28 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="Soble">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=IMTEiTtqqPcC|title=Sex from Plato to Paglia: a philosophical encyclopedia|volume=1|page=115|last=Soble|first=Alan|isbn=978-0-313-32686-8|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2006|chapter=Bisexuality|accessdate=28 February 2011}}</ref> However, bisexual-identified people may object to the notion that bisexuality means sexual attraction to only two genders, arguing that since ''bisexual'' is not simply about attraction to two sexes and encompasses gender as well, it can include attraction to more than two genders.<ref name="bisexuality">{{cite web|url=http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/Bisexuality#binary|title=What is Bisexuality?|work=The Bisexual Index}}</ref><ref name="biresource.net">{{cite web |title =BRC Brochure 2010 |year =2010 |publisher =Bisexual Resource Council/[[Bisexual Resource Center]] |work =http://www.biresource.net/ |accessdate =July 8, 2013|url =http://www.biresource.net/BRC_Brochure_2010.pdf}}</ref>  The [[Bisexual Resource Center]] defines bisexuality as "an umbrella term for people who recognize and honor their potential for sexual and emotional attraction to more than one gender".<ref name="biresource.net"/>
-Gender is considered more complex, as it includes genetic, hormonal, social, and environmental factors,<ref name="Sex and society"/> and there are [[gender identity|gender identities]] that are wholly similar to each other.<ref name="bisexuality"/> The term ''pansexuality'' is used interchangeably with ''bisexuality'', and, similarly, people who identify as bisexual may "feel that gender, biological sex, and sexual orientation should not be a focal point in potential [romantic/sexual] relationships".<ref name="Sex and society"/> In one study analyzing [[Sexual identity|sexual identities]], described as alternative terms for bisexual or bi-self labels, "[h]alf of all bisexual and bisexual-identified respondents also chose alternative self-labels such as ''[[queer]]'', ''pansexual'', ''pansensual,'' ''polyfidelitous,'' ''ambisexual,'' ''[[Polysexuality|polysexual]],'' or personalized identities such as 'byke' or 'biphilic'".<ref name="Firestein">{{cite book|last=Firestein|first=Beth A.|title=Becoming Visible: Counseling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1pCKkZmBU1EC&pg=PA9|accessdate=July 28, 2013|year=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-13724-9|page=9}}</ref>
-Polysexuality is similar to pansexuality in definition, meaning "encompassing more than one sexuality," but not necessarily encompassing all sexualities. This is distinct from [[polyamory]], which means more than one intimate relationship at the same time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved.
-==See also==
-*[[Gender neutrality]]
-*[[Heteroflexibility]]
-*[[Human sexuality]]
-*[[LGBT]]
-*[[Transcending Boundaries Conference]]
-==References==
-{{Reflist|2}}
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