Ricecream-man Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I've noticed that a lot of the articles and videos that I've seen about asexuality either tend to be from/in the UK or at least have a significant portion that is about someone from the UK. Is asexuality better known/accepted there? If so do you think there might be a reason for it? Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I couldn't decide where exactly to put it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Last time I checked the results from the last census, it seems that there's actually not a lot of UK AVENites considering.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hikishi Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 That'd be a nope Ricecream. I still have to explain to practically everyone that asks that I *am* asexual, and then *waht* asexuality is, and then *yes*, it's real. I've yet to come across an application/form that has anything other than "heterosexual/homosexual/trans/prefer not to say" as orientation selections. Tbh, I think for docus and studies and the like, it's just because on the Europe side, the UK is used because a lot of people who come to AVEN to post requests for participants only post it on the main site, not in the other language fora, meaning that the majority of volunteers are english speakers, so UK, USA, Canada, Australia, anyone fluent in english that they're comfortable to explore the main forum. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dissolved Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Nope, nobody knows nor cares apparently. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I think that it's still not massively well known here, and i don't think it's accepted much. I think it's not as well known as a lot of people just haven't heard of it and don't know it's an orientation, for instance it's not shown in shows here. As for acceptance, people just seem to either not understand it at first, or refuse to believe it's real etc Now that you mentioned it, asexuality (including David Jay) has been on the news and other high profile media in North America and not so much here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ricecream-man Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 Hmm, maybe I've just been seeing a lot more UK stuff personally. Thanks :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hobbes! Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 There was a wave of interest following Bogaert's book a while ago. I suppose in general the media is slightly more sober about it, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that asexuality is really better accepted Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Quintus Crinis Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Although I've recently discovered a 2009 documentary on asexuality (apparently aired on a minor channel though), that's about all the specific media content I've seen created in the UK. (although I keep hoping a soap, which keeps implying an asexual character, is going to actually explore the story-line eventually). That said, asexuality is occasionally mentioned in programmes aired over here (but generally those are US or Canadian made). :( Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Quintus Crinis Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Although I've recently discovered a 2009 documentary on asexuality (apparently aired on a minor channel though), that's about all the specific media content I've seen created in the UK. (although I keep hoping a soap, which keeps implying an asexual character, is going to actually explore the story-line eventually). That said, asexuality is occasionally mentioned in programmes aired over here (but generally those are US or Canadian made). :( Which soap is it? It would be good if that happened. Tamwar on EE kept having lines/scenes implying they might be preparing an Ace through last year. (e.g. multiple discussions about potential nudity where he's commented only on the temperature; as well as the character - seemingly having low drive/attraction - they keep pushing him towards repeatedly having to brush off remarks about "you'll change your mind on having children" or "sex is everything"). I'm starting to doubt they will run the story-line now, but will also keep hoping. :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AceCate Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 It is possibly tied to the fact that one of the most visible studies of asexual prevalence (that has since sparked much of the recent research done on the subject) was conducted by UK based sexologist Anthony Bogaert in his article "Asexuality: prevalence and associated factors in a national probability sample." from 2004.That's the study that everyone quotes that estimated asexuals to be 1% of the population. He has also written one of the most accessible books on the subject "Understanding Asexuality". I found it to be interesting and I thought he had some very good points. His works are also referenced by many other scientific papers, both qualitative and quantitative, on the subject of asexuality. Just a thought on why asexuality is more visible in the UK. I don't know, could be wrong, but if your interested in reading about asexuality, I'd recommend the book, along with Julie Sondra Decker's book "The Invisible Orientation" (a great book to explain things to others when coming out in my opinion)... :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slob Dylan Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I don't personally know anyone who really has a clue as to what asexuality is (or knew much before I came out), and I think I know about 1 other asexual out of the dozens of people I know. I'd never heard of it anywhere beyond the internet either, so I don't know if it is any more accepted or visible here. To be fair, I only have my age group to go by since I don't really socialise outside of that, but most of the people I know are self-identified queers in their late teens/early twenties, so you'd probably expect them to know a bit more about it. C'est la vie, innit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RoninA Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I don't monitor mainstream print media, but I don't think I've seen any proper discussion of Asexuality since an article I read in The Guardian in the earlyish Noughties, and that was the article which confirmed to me what I was. Only one person I'm out to has asked me what it means - while our society isn't quite as hypersexualised as the US, for instance (based on my experiences, I should add), I think there's still a range on antipathies towards orientations that aren't heteronormative, so I'm not really surprised. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ozzythefabulous Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 A lot of my friends knew what asexuality was and where just completely cool with it but I think that's possibly more the people I hang around with (a lot of whom identify as queer) rather than being in the UK to be honest ^_^ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Katy39 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 I did see an article on the bbc news website a year or so ago interviewing an asexual person. Also saw something on 4OD (channel 4's online channel) a couple of weeks ago which interviewed a few people about their sexuality, and they interviewed an asexual person too which I thought was good for it to be included. Both seemed to be handled well and weren't derogatory at all imo. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EggplantWitch Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 As Kda135 said, there was a good article on BBC news. I was under the impression that the 1% stat came from New Scientist, a popular and acclaimed scientific magazine, so I quickly googled it, and while I've only skimread it because it's pretty long I found this brilliant article. I feel like British society is, generally, a lot less sexual than American anyway - perhaps it's just my family and my friends but I think that least in the upper and middle classes sex isn't something people talk about openly unless it's in the context of sex-ed at school or "The Talk" at home. I still feel slightly overwhelmed by sex and romance in the media, but just not to the same extent as I've seen American AVENites talking about. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarcasticWolf Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I don't think it's well known in the UK. I have never met anyone who was openly asexual. If I'm truly honest if I hadn't found this website I think I would not have fully understood that I was asexual or even what being asexual meant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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