Nov 30, 2024 12:32 AM
https://blog.apaonline.org/2024/11/26/as...cureanism/
INTRO: What makes sex desirable? Aren’t there lots of risks and downsides? Unless you’re trying to reproduce, why have sex at all?
Maybe you’ve considered these questions, or maybe they seem silly to you. Perhaps they seem silly because your social norms and your experience are shaped by sexual attraction, i.e., a particular desire to have sex with a certain other person. If sexual attraction justifies having sex, then the questions above either don’t arise or they’re rather weak.
But people like me who are asexual or ace (the A in LGBTQIA) don’t experience sexual attraction in this sense. Some ace folks have sex and some don’t, but what’s common to ace folks’ sexual decision-making is that it doesn’t rely on sexual attraction.
As Angela Chen discusses in her book Ace, ace folks’ experiences raise an important question for everyone: what role should sexual attraction play in sexual decision-making? Chen suggests that those who do experience sexual attraction should be wary of relying on it much in their decision-making.
If that’s right, then ace perspectives can point the way toward a more fulfilling sexual landscape for everyone, because ace folks who do pursue sex are already making sexual decisions not based on sexual attraction. There are all kinds of reasons for and against sex besides sexual attraction, and ace perspectives provide models for relying on these other reasons... (MORE - details)
INTRO: What makes sex desirable? Aren’t there lots of risks and downsides? Unless you’re trying to reproduce, why have sex at all?
Maybe you’ve considered these questions, or maybe they seem silly to you. Perhaps they seem silly because your social norms and your experience are shaped by sexual attraction, i.e., a particular desire to have sex with a certain other person. If sexual attraction justifies having sex, then the questions above either don’t arise or they’re rather weak.
But people like me who are asexual or ace (the A in LGBTQIA) don’t experience sexual attraction in this sense. Some ace folks have sex and some don’t, but what’s common to ace folks’ sexual decision-making is that it doesn’t rely on sexual attraction.
As Angela Chen discusses in her book Ace, ace folks’ experiences raise an important question for everyone: what role should sexual attraction play in sexual decision-making? Chen suggests that those who do experience sexual attraction should be wary of relying on it much in their decision-making.
If that’s right, then ace perspectives can point the way toward a more fulfilling sexual landscape for everyone, because ace folks who do pursue sex are already making sexual decisions not based on sexual attraction. There are all kinds of reasons for and against sex besides sexual attraction, and ace perspectives provide models for relying on these other reasons... (MORE - details)