KSpaz Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Okeedokee. There's been many similar threads (i.e. the nature vs nurture thread) concerning how asexuality comes about. My personal view is that there are both genetic AND environmental aspects, which I think most people agree on. I think genetics must open up the possibility for asexuality (or perhaps, dampen the possibility for sexuality), and then depending on your environment, this is expressed one way or another. (or mixed). Anyhow, that's not quite the purpose of this post. I'm just curious to delve into the genetic aspect...as in...relatives and ancestors of us AVENites...any prospects there for asexuality? There is probably threads on this, too, but I couldn't locate any. In my case, I have one cousin that is in his thirties and has never shown any interest in dating either gender, and another cousin that we haven't heard anything of dating from him, since he's out in California. These are both from my dad's side. And also, according to my dad, many of his relatives (great-aunts, uncles...other random people...) became priests and nuns. So either they all had a VERY religious upbringing, or perhaps didn't feel the pull toward the classic marraige lifestyle that others feel. I just thought this was sort of interesting. I doubt many people would all have these stories in their family history, especially because heterosexuality was "the only" sexuality (accepted and usually acted upon, at least) through most of the history that we would be able to track our ancestors through, but if there are suspects out there... It would be interesting to discuss. :) Link to post Share on other sites
ghosts Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Well, one of my aunt's never married or had kids and she's in her 50's now. I was told by another aunt that the former had never shown much interested in dating and such, but I think she had a b/f and quite possibly it was sexual. Link to post Share on other sites
Dargon Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 I have an aunt who is now in her early 50's. She married once, never had kids. I do not know the reasons she and her ex-husband split, but she does strike as very independent. Not sure if she's asexual or not, but she might be. Also, my sister, though she is only 16, seems to have no interest in dating. It's possable she is a late bloomer, or maby not. It's hard to draw accurate conclusions about other people. Link to post Share on other sites
lyrebird Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 I've been thinking about this too... My aunt on my dad's side never married. I don't know about previous relationships though. There's actually a lot I don't know about her or much of my extended family since they all live on the other side of the world and I don't see them much. :( This particular aunt I've only seen a few times ever, but I remember thinking from a really young age that she was really cool by not being married and all that; she's the independent type too. Link to post Share on other sites
Concealed ID Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 In my opinion, it's not just about 'genetics' and 'environment.' I'd say more often than not just chance - by chance our brains just happened to miss or add a connection. Obviously it's not that simple, and quite possibly a combination of all three. But I definetly think that it's just something that happens in most cases, like some people just like certain things, and that's not because of genetics or environment but because it's just who they are and how they've developed. Oh, and my uncle's celibate, but that's because he's just major religious - I don't know if he's asexual but he's never been married and I've never known him to have a girlfriend. I'd say he's probably not, he's just really weird. Link to post Share on other sites
Amcan Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Well I had a great-aunt who never married and never dated (as far as I know0 but this was at a time when women had to choose between marrying nad having a family and having a career nad she chose career as a teacher. My Mum I suspect as a low sex drive as she says she could happily livw without it. Everyone else in my family seems sexual eg cousins thought there is one who I don't if he is dating or not as the family had a 'falling out' nad I don't hear much about that side anymore. But yeah I think genetics could be a factor. Link to post Share on other sites
AmoebicMe Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Man. I was mulling this over, trying to think of anyone I'm genetically related to who could have possibly been asexual, and was drawing a blank. But then I remembered my maternal uncle who isn't married or anything. I don't know much about him, as my mother tends to not tell me much about her siblings (we're all spread throughout the world, so I've never really met any of them and she's terrible at keeping in contact with others). But I think that she would have mentioned if he was gay (because she's the kind of woman who would mention that), so I'm thinking about the possibility of asexuality. Quite interesting... Link to post Share on other sites
KAGU143 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 My grandmother on my mother's side was one of 7 sisters, and 2 of them never married. One of my first cousins on my mother's side has never married, and he must be in his 60's by now. I don't think I would ever be told if he is gay, but I suppose that is a possibility. My younger brother was gay. I have no information from my father's side. -Greybird Link to post Share on other sites
myra Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I know my grandmother (82 years old) always felt disgusted by sex. In her opinion it's only acceptable to have children. She looks away when sex is even suggested on TV. I'm not sure whether it's genetic or not. I think the catholic church has had a major influence on her too (she is religious), stating : 'sex and lust are sin'. But I think her body doesn't or didn't like it either Link to post Share on other sites
gypsylady Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 My mom is definitely nonsexual (I can't say for sure that she's A, but there's a good chance - she never had much interest in sex with my dad). My paternal grandmother had a very abusive husband, so I'm gussing she was not much interested in sexual relations, though she died many years ago from cancer, so I'll never know for sure... Besides me, and my mom, I know of no one on either side who had A characteristics. But my dad had many uncles and cousins and I don't know about any of them. Link to post Share on other sites
Adrian Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 It's plausable. Some studies claim that there is a "gay gene" that is passed from parent to offspring. However, there was also a very interesting article I read about two weeks ago that claims one group has found a "sexuality" gene. Maybe ours is turned off and that too could be inherited? I wish I had sources for you all, but alas, I do not. Link to post Share on other sites
LostPenguin Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 Interesting idea, to say the least, and I've thought of it since I've uncovered a surprising fact... Apparently, my grandmother had a strong aversion to sex. She'd nearly get nauceous thinking about it, let alone performing it. However, due to the time she lived in, she ended up having three children, one of which is my father. It'd be interesting if something somehow got passed down to me... Link to post Share on other sites
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