diabolicalpact Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Hello, I couldn't see that anyone had started a post about this yet. Last week the ONS (Office for National Statistics) released England and Wales' 2021 census data on gender and sexuality. The census is held every 10 years and this is the first time they asked about sexuality and gender. The census said 0.06% of England and Wales population identify as asexual - which is about 28,000 people. Obviously the real numbers will be higher than reported as not everyone feels comfortable being out to the government, and many people (including young people) had their data filled in by a family member who they might not be out to. Does anyone have any thoughts about this number or the census? Shout out to the other 27,999 of you out there in England and Wales! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uhtred Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 I suspect the number is very much higher. The issue may be "identifying", since the term is not al that commonly known. I know quite a few people who are probably ACE. I can't know for sure in each case unless they have told me, but even if I'm only right about half of them, that would be >5% of the population 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anomaly Q3Xr Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 I just saw that pop up! I think it's great that we are finally getting recognition, and yes definitely the real number will be higher for the reasons you stated. I love the census, because I love information and statistics, and the more inclusive of different things the better. This was also my first time doing the census personally despite being 40, as I have only lived alone for 8 years. So all my information would likely have been wrong in previous census' as my family did not know much about me before (they know more now I live alone, as I am more comfortable being myself). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
simpleminded90 Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 The breakdown of the data by constituency is interesting - apparently 49 other people in my constituency area ! Glad there is a start at official recognition .I wonder why there are so many more women than men who identify as asexual ...not that I have an interest in things you understand 😊 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DarkStormyKnight Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 There's a good thread from Yasmin on this actually: 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
diabolicalpact Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 On 1/9/2023 at 5:15 PM, simpleminded90 said: The breakdown of the data by constituency is interesting - apparently 49 other people in my constituency area ! Glad there is a start at official recognition .I wonder why there are so many more women than men who identify as asexual ...not that I have an interest in things you understand 😊 There's a bit in Angela Chen's book Ace hypothesising why more women than men identify as asexual. I'll try and dig it out. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LosslessExist6 Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Interesting Quote Link to post Share on other sites
diabolicalpact Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 On 1/9/2023 at 5:15 PM, simpleminded90 said: The breakdown of the data by constituency is interesting - apparently 49 other people in my constituency area ! Glad there is a start at official recognition .I wonder why there are so many more women than men who identify as asexual ...not that I have an interest in things you understand 😊 I had a look at Angela Chen's book and actually could only see her speculating that it's harder for men to identify as asexual because of stereotypes about how men are supposed to be more sexual than women. I suspect the way desire works differently for men and women has something to do with this as well. Men who still experience spontaneous sexual arousal and desire might think they're not asexual, even if they don't experience sexual attraction. Whereas women are less likely to experience spontaneous sexual arousal/desire. Without more research it's hard to say if there truly are more asexual women than men, but I'd hypothesise that there aren't. I think it's more likely to do with social and physiological factors. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay-Marc Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Maybe next time around there will be explicit tick options at least for pan and ace since the number of unprompted write-ins this time were significant. If there is another formal census at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
everywhere and nowhere Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 And in Poland asking about sexual orientation in a census is a no-no, because it could reveal that LGBT+ people exist... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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