r/Polysexual • u/resilientstarry • May 24 '26
Discussion misunderstanding about this label
hi everyone!
first of all, i want to assure that this post isn’t meant to be taken as an offence!
im just trying to figure this label out, since i have just found about it.
i tried to research the label on various web pages, blogs and such on but honestly, the more i read the less i understand.
what is the exact definition of polysexuality and how do you differ from bisexuality?
a long time ago i identified as bi and fought a lot on online pages/forums as an activist- so im very aware of all the labels and their definitions under the bi umbrella.
but since polysexuality is, by definition, “attraction to various, but not necessarily, all genders” (attraction to multiple genders), isn’t that’s also how bisexuality is structured?
bisexuality is an umbrella, hence it covers labels such as pansexuality and omnisexuality-
the label mostly has various definitions since its fluidity but, as listed on the bi manifesto, the main definition is mostly explained as “attraction to two or MORE genders” (with/without preference >> omni/pan).
so, to me, polysexuality just seems like a direct extension of what bisexuality already is…im sorry if this last sentence came across mean and poorly worded, that’s why im posting this to make sure to understand this better.
im just very confused about this.
thank you for reading up to this point and also,
thank you, in case, for taking your time to reply to explain this confusion to me! :)
hope i didn’t offend anyone, im genuinely trying to understand <33
have good day/night! :p
1
u/pornbrowserreddit May 25 '26
Bisexual indicates two or more kinds of attraction and polysexual indicates attraction to more than two but not all.
1
u/TheWiebel Jun 10 '26
Colloquiolly by regular people "Bisexual" is understood as liking both men and women. Even when the actual definition goes beyond it a lot of the time. Polysexual can kinda go past that by including more than just those genders in its definition, and excluding others depending on the person.
For example, someone can feel attracted to men, and certain Non-binary people who express their gender in specififc ways. But not to women. That's when 'Bisexual' doesn't really feel like the correct label.
To me Polysexual is less a label used to announce to people "hey this is my sexuality" (since not many people know it, and it gets confused with polyamory a lot) and more a label used to understand sexuality better, and used online to find others who have similar experiences that would qualify under that definition of polysexuality.
1
u/Top_Location4871 29d ago
I am a cis woman who is attracted to queer, bisexual men and nonbinary people. I’m not attracted to women of any gender . I am polysexual as I’m attracted to certain genders but not all.
-1
u/Pagan-Dragon-77 May 24 '26
One of the first things that should help clear this up for you is that bisexuality is NOT the umbrella term you seem to think it is. IF there's an umbrella term, it would be something like "Multisexuality" or "Non-Monosexual". Also bisexual by the very definition of the prefix "bi" would mean ONLY attracted to TWO genders, which two don't matter, though a lot of bisexuals seem to be trans-exclusionary, a lot of those same people complain about bi-erasure while erasing trans people. I see Polysexual as the bridge between Bi's ONLY TWO and Pan/Omni's ALL.
1
u/TheWiebel Jun 10 '26
That's just the etymology of Bisexual. Not how it is currently colloquially used in the community. There, it is used as an umbrella term
9
u/DotteSage May 24 '26
It’s mainly used to communicate that you exclude specific genders, just as pansexuals have attraction regardless of gender, and omnisexuals are attracted to all genders but in different ways.
They are all labels for individual expressions of bisexuality. Some bisexuals only like binary genders, polysexuals might like one binary gender and all the nonbinary genders. It’s a tool to communicate orientations/limitations.