Asexuality on handbag.com

[AmoebicMe]

I did a Google search on asexuality to see where we were cropping up, and found this: http://www.handbag.com/relationships/sex/asexuality/

Asexuality
by Catherine Jarvie
Being asexual means being uninterested in sex and not finding others physically attractive. Here we uncover the truth about this taboo subject...

It's pretty much accepted that we all yearn for physical intimacy. Even if the Bridget Joneses and Carrie Bradshaws of this world aren't getting any right now, it's always assumed that they're hoping that it won't be long until they do. Whichever way our pendulum swings, sexual desire is a given, full stop. The need for food and shelter aside, isn't it what human beings, at our most basic, are all about? Well, not always.
What asexuality means
An asexual person has no physical attraction for either sex. It's a topic that's generally given little consideration – after all, in our sex-mad Western society, why would we even seriously consider that there are people out there who aren't interested in getting it on? Even if they say they're not, we tend to reason, it's probably because their buttons have yet to be pushed the right way.

Masturbation

Recently, however, an asexual cat has been put among the pigeons: a psychologist from Canada's Brock University recently reanalysed a decade-old study of 18,000 people in the UK, revealing that around one person in 100 claimed to have never 'felt sexually attractive to anyone at all'. Meanwhile, last year New Scientist magazine reported evidence that groups of other animals showed no interest in mating (2-3% of rams and up to 12% of rodents, no less). Could it be that some of us are just born this way?
To be, or not to be
David Jay, a young twentysomething American who's never been interested in sex, set up AVEN (the Asexual Visibility and Education Network) in 2001. Its website, www.asexuality.org, likens sexuality to a stereo: 'Everyone has a volume knob and a tuning knob,' the site explains. 'Some people just listen to music in the background, some get up and dance along… Then there are some who have their volume knob turned down so low that they can't really hear the music, so they don't pay attention to it.' Being asexual, AVEN implies, is for some of us, just how it's meant to be.

A psychologist from Canada's Brock University recently reanalysed a decade-old study of 18,000 people in the UK, revealing that around one person in 100 claimed to have never 'felt sexually attractive to anyone at all'
There are, however, a number of misconceptions surrounding asexuality. One of the most common is to confuse it with celibacy. Celibates are people who have chosen, for whatever personal reasons, to abstain from sex. This is not to say they don't find people physically attractive or that they're not sexually aroused, purely that they choose not to act on those impulses. Asexuals, meanwhile, aren't interested in sex at all.
Unlike people who suffer from sexual dysfunction, this lack of desire doesn't spring from an inability to perform. Many people who now classify themselves as asexual will have tried sex out before deciding it wasn't for them; some might even continue to masturbate, but feel no need to sexually connect with someone else. This is not to say that they don't look for close, intimate emotional relationships with people, just that the physical doesn't turn them on.

Making it work
Of course, as in any relationship, problems can occur when the needs and desires of two people fail to match up. It can be both heartbreaking and ego-shattering to discover that a new partner has no sexual interest in you, just as it can be emotionally testing to feel coerced into performing acts you feel no connection to. Far better, then, for couples to be open and honest about their sexuality from the off.

'Do you think you're asexual?'
Let's talk

Easier said than done sometimes, however. Of the 180 people who put claim to asexuality in the survey mentioned earlier, a little shy of half of that group were, or had been, in long-term co-habiting partnerships. Whether or not they and their partners were happy with their sex lives is not revealed. But with asexuality a subject that's only very recently been given a serious public airing, it's probably safe to assume that a considerable percentage of those who ticked that box (and, by extension, their partners) had been playing at happy families rather than living the dream.
Asexuality is, at last, being taken seriously. If the statistics are true and 1% of us have no interest in sex, then far better that we talk about it and accept such disinterest as normal. Most of us pretty much accept that human sexuality is a complex, multi-layered thing; learning to accept asexuality as just another of the myriad ways we choose – or are driven – to interact might save a lot of future heartache all round.

Copyright © 2005 handbag.com

Considering that this page came up with a "Herbal enhancers to boost your sex life" ad, and the website is basically about fashion, sex, and all that jazz, I'm impressed.

<---this is me, being impressed.

2013 Mod Edit: New Link

[Dargon]

Not a bad article, my only complaint is the use of the term "physical attraction" as opposed to "sexual attraction." To me the term "physical" implies any asthetic appreation one might have.

[feef]

Yeah, the "physical attraction" thing was the only thing I would have changed. Now I just have to wait to see the view thing. :D all so exciting.

[Eta Carinae]

Not a bad article, my only complaint is the use of the term "physical attraction" as opposed to "sexual attraction." To me the term "physical" implies any asthetic appreation one might have.

To many sexuals, it doesn't, which is why I wish people would use "aesthetic attraction" instead.

[Remirath]

Not a bad article, my only complaint is the use of the term "physical attraction" as opposed to "sexual attraction." To me the term "physical" implies any asthetic appreation one might have.

That's the only thing that struck me as well.