Asexuality in Society

[AVENguy]

Just finished typing up some new static content for the site. It's a watered-down version of some ideas that I've been wrestling with for a while (to the tune of "sex doesn't really matter, and the sooner we all realized it the better off we'd be.") I'll be converting them to HTML and uploading later tonight, please give me any comments/critiques, ideally before then. (I haven't edited it for grammer yet, but I will before posting.)

As asexuality begins to emerge many sexual (and some asexual) people are scratching their heads and wondering exactly what the fuss is about. Isn't asexuality just one less thing to worry about? Why do asexual people need to identify as such, form communities and otherwise expend energy being asexual? It's a difficult question, one which does not have a simple answer. The problem is that in most social arenas sexuality is considered a really really important thing, so not wanting sexuality becomes very complicated very quickly.

Sex, if you sit down to think about it, usually means more than just sex. On the most basic level there's the act itself, which burns a few calories and takes about as much time out of your day as reading the morning paper (though it rarely occurs with the same regularity.) There are some immediate biological implications as well: it can biochemically relieve a certain amount of stress, it causes a natural high, it causes a certain amount of emotional bonding and depending on how you do it there can be a risk of STDs, pregnancy or both. These biological implications are enough to make sex into a bit of a jumble, but no more than something like football (which also relieves stress, gives a natural high, forms lifelong bonds and has a risk of injury.) Thanks to advanced modern scientific methods like in-vetro fertilization and adoption (hetero)sex is no longer necessary for those who wish to raise children, though it remains the only way to have an unwanted pregnancy. These biological implications are enough to throw most sexual people in a tizzy, but they still don't make asexuality that complicated. We just have fun and make friends other ways, adopt kids if we want them and go on our merry way.

Things get complicated for asexual people when you throw in the social implications of sex. These vary widely from group to group, but in almost every society on earth they are intense and far-reaching. In many areas flirting and sexual prowess are key elements of one's social existence. In most religions sex is considered extremely important, and advertising and entertainment media weave sexuality into everything from alcohol to breakfast cereal. Most daunting to asexual people is the emphasis placed on sexual relationships. In many areas sexual relationships are considered to be in a completely separate category from nonsexual ones. They are governed by a different set of social rules and customs, and they hold a unique social place. Many social groups hold the view that people must form sexual relationships in order to be emotionally fulfilled, and those that don't often place such emphasis on sexual relationships that emotional fulfillment for asexual people becomes difficult at best.

Many asexual people get a headache just trying to figure out where they fit in a world which is constantly telling us, in one way or another, why sex matters. Sexual people often don't know where we fit either, not getting or simply not believing in the concept of asexuality (which causes further problems for asexual people trying to get their orientation recognized and respected). Once we get past our confusion we still have the difficult task of getting things like social prestige and emotional fulfillment without being sexual. This community is here to help people asexual, sexual, and in between to figure everything out and to provide a wake-up call to a society which considers sex important in ways that it is not.

[AVENguy]

too late. It's up under the "information about asexuality" section

[Orpheus]

Very well written.

[Orpheus]

Very well written. You should write a book about this sort of thing.