What does it actually mean to be asexual? (ace community)

[C C]

https://sciencenorway.no/gender-and-soci...al/1942273

EXCERPTS: “Asexuality is an identity on equal footing with heterosexuality, homosexuality and so on", says Sunniva Árja Tobiasen. [...] Unlike other sexual identities, people don’t talk much about being asexual in our society. For some individuals, it can therefore be difficult to reconcile themselves to the fact that they do not feel a sexual attraction to other people.

“There’s an expectation in society that at some point you will be sexual. So you can find it very difficult when you don’t feel sexual and think that something’s wrong with you,” says Tobiasen. Our understanding of this sexual identity is also relatively new. The first time asexuality was described in a way similar to how we think of it today was in 1954.

[...] The definition of asexuality has ... become more nuanced over time. The simple variant is that you are not sexually attracted to other people, but this does not cover the experience of everyone who identifies as asexual. “You can think of sexuality as a spectrum or a scale,” says Tobiasen.

Individuals who very rarely experience sexual attraction often call themselves greysexual. And people who need to have strong emotional ties to feel sexual attraction often use the term demisexual.

Since the 2000s, research on asexuality has taken off internationally. [...] There are .. no good figures on how many people identify as asexual in Norway. Part of the challenge is that the statistics are based on people's own experiences and what they themselves choose to identify as,” Gressgård says.

One estimate is that one percent of the population is asexual. But this number is unstable at best. “What we do know is that the number of self-identified asexuals has increased in line with increased visibility, especially among young people,” says Gressgård... (MORE - missing details)

[Syne]

The only spectrum is of the degree or severity of past trauma subverting the natural evolutionary drives, including heterosexuals who never want children.

[Leigha]

I remember a guy a few years back on a forum who identified as asexual - he seemed to think that sexual attraction was an automatic pathway to sexual addiction. Sure, sex addiction is a real thing, but it’s not an inevitable result of merely feeling sexual attraction.

[Magical Realist]

I found this article helpful in laying out some of the issues of asexuality, which I largely identify with.

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resourc...sexuality/

It’s important to remember that asexuality is an umbrella term, and exists on a spectrum. Asexual people – also known as “Ace” or “Aces” – may have little interest in having sex, even though most desire emotionally intimate relationships. Within the ace community there are many ways for people to identify.

Here are just a few common terms to explore:

Demisexual: People who only experience sexual attraction once they form a strong emotional connection with another person.

Grey-A: People who identify somewhere between sexual and asexual.

Queerplatonic: People who experience a type of non-romantic relationship where there is an intense emotional connection that goes beyond a traditional friendship.

Aces commonly use hetero-, homo-, bi-, and pan- in front of the word romantic to describe who they experience romantic attraction to. For example, a person who is hetero-romantic might be attracted to people of a different sex or gender, but not in a sexual way..."

[Syne]

Is being a hermit really asexual? Or is that more like an incel claiming to be asexual?

[Magical Realist]

Is being a hermit really asexual? Or is that more like an incel claiming to be asexual?

Being a hermit is asexual for me. I don't even surf for porn. And even when I'm out socializing sex with another person is the last thing on my mind. The orientation, or lack thereof, remains constant regardless of the environment.

[Syne]

Then the dysfunction may be more than orientation, as it has significant repercussions in your life.

[C C]

I found this article helpful in laying out some of the issues of asexuality, which I largely identify with.

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resourc...sexuality/

It’s important to remember that asexuality is an umbrella term, and exists on a spectrum. Asexual people – also known as “Ace” or “Aces” – may have little interest in having sex, even though most desire emotionally intimate relationships. Within the ace community there are many ways for people to identify.

Here are just a few common terms to explore:

Demisexual: People who only experience sexual attraction once they form a strong emotional connection with another person.

Grey-A: People who identify somewhere between sexual and asexual.

Queerplatonic: People who experience a type of non-romantic relationship where there is an intense emotional connection that goes beyond a traditional friendship.

Aces commonly use hetero-, homo-, bi-, and pan- in front of the word romantic to describe who they experience romantic attraction to. For example, a person who is hetero-romantic might be attracted to people of a different sex or gender, but not in a sexual way..."

The category has certainly expanded in refinements since I first encountered it -- either that or it took the information establishment that long to finally become familiar with it. 

"Asexuals also face prejudice from the LGBT community. Many LGBT people assume that anyone who is not homosexual or bisexual must be straight and frequently exclude asexuals from their definitions of queer. Although many well-known organizations devoted to aiding LGBTQ communities exist, these organizations generally do not reach out to asexuals and do not provide library materials about asexuality. Upon coming out as asexual, activist Sara Beth Brooks was told by many LGBT people that asexuals are mistaken in their self-identification and seek undeserved attention within the social justice movement." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality

Alfred Hitchcock touted himself as being celibate later in life, after having a daughter, and despite still being married. Before the 20th-century, asexuality would apparently have been bundled under celibacy or undifferentiated from it. (However, a diagnosis of "undersexed" may have bounced around in medical circles.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celibacy

[...] Classical Hindu culture encouraged asceticism and celibacy in the later stages of life, after one has met one's societal obligations.

[...] In Sparta and many other Greek cities, failure to marry was grounds for loss of citizenship, and could be prosecuted as a crime.

[...] The Balkans. Women who become sworn virgins make a vow of celibacy, and are allowed to take on the social role of men: inheriting land, wearing male clothing, etc.

[Magical Realist]

I found this article helpful in laying out some of the issues of asexuality, which I largely identify with.

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resourc...sexuality/

It’s important to remember that asexuality is an umbrella term, and exists on a spectrum. Asexual people – also known as “Ace” or “Aces” – may have little interest in having sex, even though most desire emotionally intimate relationships. Within the ace community there are many ways for people to identify.

Here are just a few common terms to explore:

Demisexual: People who only experience sexual attraction once they form a strong emotional connection with another person.

Grey-A: People who identify somewhere between sexual and asexual.

Queerplatonic: People who experience a type of non-romantic relationship where there is an intense emotional connection that goes beyond a traditional friendship.

Aces commonly use hetero-, homo-, bi-, and pan- in front of the word romantic to describe who they experience romantic attraction to. For example, a person who is hetero-romantic might be attracted to people of a different sex or gender, but not in a sexual way..."

The category has certainly expanded in refinements since I first encountered it -- either that or it took the information establishment that long to finally become familiar with it. 

"Asexuals also face prejudice from the LGBT community. Many LGBT people assume that anyone who is not homosexual or bisexual must be straight and frequently exclude asexuals from their definitions of queer. Although many well-known organizations devoted to aiding LGBTQ communities exist, these organizations generally do not reach out to asexuals and do not provide library materials about asexuality. Upon coming out as asexual, activist Sara Beth Brooks was told by many LGBT people that asexuals are mistaken in their self-identification and seek undeserved attention within the social justice movement." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality

Alfred Hitchcock touted himself as being celibate later in life, after having a daughter, and despite still being married. Before the 20th-century, asexuality would apparently have been bundled under celibacy or undifferentiated from it. (However, a diagnosis of "undersexed" may have bounced around in medical circles.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celibacy

[...] Classical Hindu culture encouraged asceticism and celibacy in the later stages of life, after one has met one's societal obligations.

[...] In Sparta and many other Greek cities, failure to marry was grounds for loss of citizenship, and could be prosecuted as a crime.

[...] The Balkans. Women who become sworn virgins make a vow of celibacy, and are allowed to take on the social role of men: inheriting land, wearing male clothing, etc.

I remember back in the 80's there was a resistance among gay men and women to the bisexual orientation, as though it was just a matter of having to decide on one gender. Eventually it became recognized though. Evidently asexuals have a long way to go for acceptance. But it's not like they haven't been around a long time:

https://aminoapps.com/c/lgbt-1/page/blog...kgprqLdJpJ