Asexuality

Asexuality is a sexual orientation. Asexual people usually do not have sexual attraction towards anyone, no matter what gender they are. Asexuality has nothing to do with a person's romantic/aesthetic/sensual attraction. The opposite of an asexual is an allosexual. Allosexuality means that you feel sexual desires.[1]

Asexual pride flag

Meaning

Asexuality is described as a spectrum. Demisexual people are on the asexual spectrum. They feel sexual attraction, but only to people who they feel a connection to. About 1% of people identify as asexual. Alfred Kinsey used the label "X" to describe asexual people. [2] Grey-asexual people are people who feel like they are not asexual, but they're not sexual either. For example, a grey-asexual person doesn't feel sexual attraction often. Some asexuals also identify with a romantic identity as well, meaning they may feel the need to form relationships, while others may not. Some asexual people identify as queer. However, some people think that 'queer' is not an appropriate word for asexual people. Not having sex (celibacy), is not always asexuality. Some homosexuals, for example, don't want to have sex because they feel guilty about their sexual attraction.[3][4]

Studies

In 2001, David Jay started the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. A 2012 study found that asexual people are just as discriminated against as gay men, lesbians, or bisexuals people.[5] Asexuality has only recently been studied. One writer, S.E. Smith speculates that it has not increased, its just people have only just started noticing it. [6] Acceptance of asexuality as a subject of scientific has only begun recently. [7]

Libido

Libido, or sex drive, is the sexual arousal that humans feel. Some asexual people have a libido, this does not mean they are allosexual. They feel it as the body just doing it's thing, and often masturbate to relieve it.[8][9]

Romantic orientation
See the main article: Romantic orientation

Some asexual people are aromantic. This means that they do not feel romantic attraction such as getting a crush on someone. Others can be homoromantic, heteroromantic, biromantic, etc.[10]

References
  1. Powers, Olivia (25 April 2018). "Asexual student shares story of identity". The Gateway.
  2. Kinsey, Alfred C. (1948). Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. W.B. Saunders. ISBN 0-253-33412-8.
  3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gay-christians-choosing-celibacy-emerge-from-the-shadows/2014/12/13/51c73aea-6ab2-11e4-9fb4-a622dae742a2_story.html
  4. Margaret Jordan Halter, Elizabeth M. Varcarolis (2013). Varcarolis' Foundations of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 382. ISBN 1-4557-5358-0. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  5. "SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research". SAGE Journals. doi:10.1177/1368430212442419. S2CID 3056711.
  6. Smith, S. E. (21 August 2012). "Asexuality always existed, you just didn't notice it - SE Smith". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. "Toward a conceptual understanding of asexuality". Archived from the original on 2012-01-14. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  8. Prause, Nicole; Graham, Cynthia A. (2007-06-01). "Asexuality: Classification and Characterization". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 36 (3): 341–356. doi:10.1007/s10508-006-9142-3. ISSN 1573-2800. PMID 17345167. S2CID 12034925.
  9. Yule, Morag A.; Brotto, Lori A.; Gorzalka, Boris B. (August 2014). "Sexual fantasy and masturbation among asexual individuals". The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. 23 (2): 89–95. doi:10.3138/cjhs.2409. ISSN 1188-4517. S2CID 4091448.
  10. MacNeela, Pádraig; Murphy, Aisling (2015-04-01). "Freedom, Invisibility, and Community: A Qualitative Study of Self-Identification with Asexuality". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 44 (3): 799–812. doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0458-0. ISSN 1573-2800. PMID 25548065. S2CID 23757013.
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