'Conditioned' to imagine myself in sexual/romantic situations?

[Rhyme]

I identify as asexual, which to me means that I don't experience sexual attraction and have no interest in sex. I'm also WTFromantic, because what even are romantic feelings? Still, I sometimes find myself thinking 'when I have sex for the first time...' or 'I wonder how that will feel...' or 'when I get married...', even though I don't want to have sex or get married. I feel comfortable in my ace identity, but I still find myself slipping into the ideals that have been ingrained in me. Anyone else who can relate? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[Diamond Ace of Hearts]

I think everyone has intrusive thoughts from time to time. You're probably right to highlight social conditioning because let's face it what isn't about sex or love these days? But, on another level, it may be that you're curious about sex and romance. You obviously don't feel attraction and you don't want sex or romance, but it's natural to be curious isn't it?

 

I'm pretty new to all this so I may be wrong but curiosity seems to be a defining human characteristic to me.

[Subatai]

Or do you want to do those things and you're just telling yourself don't want to because you've conditioned yourself to think the other way round?

[bonny]

I think that to what extent sexual and romantic relationships are "ideals that have been ingrained in you", depends at least somewhat on the age at which you learn about the concepts of asexuality and aromanticism. I was 39 before I learnt about these concepts; you can imagine that before that age I had assumed that I would "end up" having a sexual and romantic relationship "one day", because I assumed "that's what everybody does". However, romantic ideals occur in media targeted at kids, too, so even if you learnt about asexuality and aromanticism at a much younger age than me, you could still have absorbed societal ideals before that. Thinking about things doesn't necessarily mean they're things you'd want to really happen. 

[Fox6]

Yes, you have been conditioned, especially if you are a woman.

[Annie9]

I've thought about it but right after thinking about it, I'd feel sick and disgusted. I am sex and genital repulsed so I guess that's a normal reaction.