Alanis Morissette has come out as pansexual, joking that she “gets everything” while shedding light on a sexual identity that is often misunderstood.
On Nov. 3, singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette joined comedians Fortune Feimster, Tig Notaro and Mae Martin on the Handsome podcast, where the conversation turned to the heartbreak behind some of her biggest hits, including “You Oughta Know.”
Morissette – who shares three children with rapper Mario “Souleye” Treadway – was discussing her past relationships when Feimster expressed her appreciation for the music those experiences inspired.
“I’m sorry for the men that hurt you, but I’m not sorry for the songs that came from it. Those are pretty amazing,” Feimster said, before asking, “Did it make you want to be a lesbian at any point?”
“That’s kind…I’m pansexual, so yeah,” the 52-year-old replied. “I get everything.”
The admission surprised Notaro, who asked, “Wait, you’re not really pansexual, are you?”
“I am,” the Canadian artist confirmed.
When Notaro joked that the singer should have shared the news at the start of the episode, Morissette had a playful explanation.
“You know, I like to leave it for the epilogue,” she quipped. “I like to confuse people on the way out.”
What is pansexuality?
While Morissette described her sexuality by saying she “gets everything,” pansexuality doesn’t mean someone is attracted to everyone.
According to WebMD, “pansexuality is the romantic, emotional, and/or sexual attraction to people regardless of their gender.”
The identity is sometimes confused with bisexuality, which generally refers to attraction to more than one gender, whereas pansexuality includes trans and non-binary people.
“Bisexuality often refers to being attracted to either those who are biologically male or female,” clinical sexologist Ness Cooper told Tyla.
“There are some who will use either interchangeably,” she said, adding that “it can still be loaded for others.”
Miley Cyrus explains pansexuality
It’s a distinction Miley Cyrus, 33, has also explored, explaining that she never felt the term bisexual fully captured her sexuality and preferred not to be confined by labels.
“My whole life, I didn’t understand my own gender and my own sexuality. I always hated the word ‘bisexual,’ because that’s even putting me in a box. I don’t ever think about someone being a boy or someone being a girl,” a 23-year-old Cyrus told Variety in 2016.
“I never related to loving being a girl. And then, being a boy didn’t sound fun to me. I think the LGBTQ alphabet could continue forever. But there’s a ‘P’ that should happen, for ‘pansexual.’”
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