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johanna-swann · 3 years

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Something that bothers me about bi & pan headcanons (long post):

[Seriously, this is a long post, but I wanna get it right and explain what exactly I mean, there will be examples from different fandoms.]

For starters, I myself am bi and very accepting of other mspec (attraction to multiple genders) labels. Idc which label you use and why you picked it as long as it's not blatently biphobic (which is a conversation for another day, I wanna get to my point).

So, since even in the year of 2021 there's sadly very little canon mspec representation (and even less representation with specific labels), us fans often take it into our own hands to make that representation. That in itself is great and I love those posts as much as anyone, especially when the media in question has very little to no queer characters to begin with, eg the MCU or Harry Potter.

So as I said, generally a great idea, thanks everybody for your service. There's just one trend that I noticed recently and it really bothers me because it plays riiight into one of the most persistent stereotypes considering bisexuality: "The promiscuous bisexual."

A lot of the time when fans post their headcanons about characters' sexualities they'll take one look at the outgoing, flirty one and go "yep that one's bi". Examples: Tony Stark (MCU), Dean Winchester (Supernatural), Sir Gwaine (bbc Merlin), Snotlout (how to train your dragon) and the list goes on. Now I don't directly disagree with those headcanons, on the contrary. They all have canonically shown interest in various women while also showing signs of same-sex attraction which sadly are rarely ever confirmed:

Tony Stark was confirmed mspec in a comic (so it's only natural to transfer that to MCU Tony), Dean Winchester (do I even have to explain this one?) is often described as a womanizer while having insane chemistry with other male characters, Gwaine is seen flirting with several girls on the show but fans mostly ship him with Sir Percival or Merlin, Snotlout has had crushes on both Astrid and Heather (minor character on the tv show) but also gushed about a male character on the show.

So the fact that they're all considered bi by fans is not surprising nor upsetting, but here comes the "BUT". Posts compiling queer headcanons like the ones mentioned above often combine the promiscuous bisexual with the much softer pansexual and that is where in my opinion it becomes a liiiiittle problematic. It seems that to every loud and proud bisexual there is a quiet, shy, less aggressive pansexual character:

In the MCU it's himbo Thor, for Supernatural it's sometimes Cas (unless his attraction to female characters is completely glossed over and erased, but again, topic for another day) or uwu smol bean Jack or #nicer brother Sam, on bbc's Merlin it's the caring, nurturing Guinevere or gentle giant Percival, and the httyd fandom often headcanons Hiccup who's a lot less aggressive and flirty than Snotlout as pan.

Again, in general I don't care which label you use to describe a character's (or your own) mspec attraction, bi or pan or poly or omni, all these characters could be either of those. But maybe it's time to ask yourself why is it always like this, that the confident flirts are bi and the shy cinnamon rolls are pan? Please for the love of god, mix it up a little! Pansexuals can enjoy sex and flirting! Bisexuals can be socially awkward virgins! It's time to stop this biphobic stereotype bullshit!

#bisexuality #pansexuality #headcanons #fandom #mcu #marvel #bbc merlin #merlin #how to train your dragon #httyd #supernatural #spn #long post #mspec #mspec characters

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