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"Asexuality Needs to Be Included When We Discuss Sex and Sexuality" - Huffington Post (blog)


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This is a blog post on the Huffington Post's website by sociology lecturer Matt P. Dawson (University of Glasgow), which was posted on the 7th of June (I know I know I'm a week late)

HERE'S THE LINK which I forgot to put in

"Asexuality Needs to Be Included When We Discuss Sex and Sexuality"


Posted: 07/06/2013 00:00 by Matt P Dawson


While it never seems far from the front pages, sexuality has certainly been in the news recently. For example, we have seen recent legislation to legalise same-sex marriage in the UK, in addition to the thirteen other countries who already allow this. This remind us about the importance of love and intimacy in people's lives and that 'going public' can change things for the better. While it is to be welcomed, there is something that remains forgotten in our discussions about sex and sexuality: asexuality.

Asexuality is a sexual orientation that encompasses a range of people who experience low or no levels of sexual attraction or desire. The emergence in the last ten years or so of prominent online spaces for asexuals, notably the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), has allowed asexuality to be recognised as a sexual orientation. Before this, and for those who are not members of online communities, other terms may have been used, such as 'celibate', 'abstinent' or saying one was 'not interested in sex' and more interested in 'Boston marriages' or 'platonic' relationships.

Asexuality itself is very diverse with some asexuals defining as 'romantic', meaning they have romantic but not sexual attraction to others, and others as 'aromantic', meaning no sexual nor romantic attraction. There are also terms like 'demi-asexual', meaning people may experience sexual attraction but only after having formed an emotional attachment, such as being in love.

There has been some increased media attention in asexuality, including newspaper stories, TV documentaries, and news reports. It has also been suggested asexuals appear in TV shows, such as Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory and Sherlock.

This in turn has had some political impact. The UK coalition government's 2012 action plan for reducing hate crime listed asexuality as the fourth sexual orientation and New York's Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act has, since 2002, prohibited discrimination on the basis of asexuality. Despite such attention, asexuality is still poorly understood. Recent research suggests that the default response of heterosexuals to asexuality is discrimination. This is not simply a 'fear of the unknown' but rather discrimination against the very idea of asexuality, which is even more pronounced than that against homosexuality or bisexuality. Therefore, there is still some way to go.

Such limited knowledge of asexuality has wider implications. For example, do we leave space for asexuality when we talk to our children and teenagers about sexuality? This could be crucial for a young person trying to come to terms with their asexuality at an age when they would be expected to raging with hormones. This can also be important for adults. One side-effect of the greater cultural acceptance of sexual diversity is the expectation that everyone should have a full sex life, especially as part of a 'healthy' relationship. How might these pressures and expectations be experienced by someone whose ideal relationship involves emotional intimacy, perhaps romance, but not sex? Finally, asexuality may encourage us to think about sexuality over the life course. Can a person become asexual over time (and if so, how), rather than simply being 'born that way'?

So, while asexuality may have begun to attract attention there is still much to be known. This is part of what we're doing. As researchers in the sociology departments of the Universities of Sussex and Glasgow, we are conducting a project about the everyday experiences of asexuals. This involves exploring how people define themselves as asexual, including whether they 'come out'. Also, we want to understand how asexual people manage intimate and romantic relationships. We are far from the first researchers to look at asexuality, but we are hoping to obtain a deeper understanding of these everyday experiences of asexuality - of what becoming and being asexual is all about.

Are you someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction or desire? Perhaps you identify as an 'asexual' person, or just feel that the term describes you in some way. Would you be happy to talk to sociological researchers about your experiences? If so, and for more information about the project, please contact Dr Liz McDonnell at e.j.mcdonnell@sussex.ac.uk


Filed Under: UK Lifestyle


So far the comments section is taking a morbidly typical direction...





12:29 on 07/06/2013
There is no such thing as asexuality, it is just sexual repression.

Hold on guys, we got an expert on our hands over here

Edited by Raccoons & Arca N.H.
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I'll have to re-read again when I get home, as I just skimmed it, but it seems an interesting read.

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They've mentioned a study in the last few lines, are they still doing it? And if so, are they taking participants? I'd be happy to contribute if it was possible from a distance. :)

Also, it's a very good article. Completely bereft of any kind of bias towards asexuality, and it mentions that it's often dismissed not because of fear of the unknown, but rather because of subconscious rejection.

Only con I can find... "fourth" sexual orientation? Poor pansexuals, they have a right to feel invalidated. :P

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Keeps repeating that repression line like a robot. I'd say s/he's the one with subconscious mental barriers towards accepting what s/he does not understand.

Or s/he's just a troll.

Hopefully the discussion will become a bit more varied. Right now it's just a few people arguing with "ERROR ERROR DOES NOT COMPUTE."

Cool article, thanks for sharing.

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discrimination against the very idea of asexuality, which is even more pronounced than that against homosexuality or bisexuality.

Except for this part, I think it's a good article overall. I found the link just by googling the title and author, but I guess I should check with PT before posting it because of the last part :unsure:

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gilnokoibito

I very much liked that article when I read it...'cept for the crazy idiot I had to keep arguing with in the comments... -_-

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Hmm, "demi-asexual"... so is that somebody who can be sexually attracted to people until they form an emotional bond with someone, at which point they stop being sexually attracted to them? :P

But in all seriousness, that was a great article (with some issues that others have already pointed out.) I especially liked the emphasis on incorporating asexuality into educating young people.

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Hmm, "demi-asexual"... so is that somebody who can be sexually attracted to people until they form an emotional bond with someone, at which point they stop being sexually attracted to them? :P

To be fair, since "demi" literally means "half" in French, saying one is half-sexual is the same as saying they're half-asexual. :P

...Come to think of it, grey-A is the only term in use with the privative alpha before the noun (grey-asexual). I believe it's a coincidence more than anything, though.

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WhenSummersGone

Great article! I like it. Seems like someone in the comments is confusing sex drive with sexual desire for another person lol.

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Well, it's a good article.

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haha I love the guy who insists that "If you're not sexually attracted to either gender, then you've got a shoe fetish".... priceless

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lapislazuli

Pretty good article, thanks for sharing! Good to see those articles being written.

The guy in the comments section is just classic! He really made me laugh. :lol:

"You're in denial"

"You're narcissists in love with yourselves" (So Aces are not sexually attracted to others but to themselves? <_< )

"You've joined a cult" (All worship the holy triangle of AVEN!)

"You're repressing your sexuality because it's not acceptable" (in current society it's more 'acceptable' to be sexual isn't it?)

"It's there in your unconscious mind you just don't know it" (he mean subconscious I think, but ok I can't argue with this one, evidently he knows more about our subconscious than we do...)

"You're attracted to shoes" (Really WTF?)

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Omfg that guy in the comments XD. So what do you know, apparently we all have pervy fetishes that would be frowned upon by society even more than being asexual is! Also if gay people pretend to be heterosexual they're still gay on the inside, and that means that asexuals who repress their sexuality are... sexual... and just repressed... o.O? Like idk. I'm calling troll in the dungeon.

Great article though!

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honor is all

Hmm, "demi-asexual"... so is that somebody who can be sexually attracted to people until they form an emotional bond with someone, at which point they stop being sexually attracted to them? :P

But in all seriousness, that was a great article (with some issues that others have already pointed out.) I especially liked the emphasis on incorporating asexuality into educating young people.

I wouldn't discount the demi-asexuals either. A few people in my wider family circle are like that: the are attracted till the emotional bonding and familiarity kicks in. Then they start viewing them as family. Now that I think of it I have those elements to whihc are probably a factor in my aromanticism. lolz Once someone wrote: "I am the weirdest sexual ever. Once I love them I can't bang them once I bang them I can't love them." Used to think it's a joke. Now I'm thinking maybe it's not. :unsure:

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