ISSUES
: Sexuality and Gender
Chapter 1: Understanding sexuality
6
Asexuality: when life isn’t all about sex
Research suggests 1% of the population (more women than men) are asexual.
But the majority of people may view asexuality more negatively than other
sexual minorities, and it has been identified as a ‘sexual disorder’ in the past.
By Anthony Bogaert
T
hough
asexuality
isn’t
something which is often
discussed in the media, it
is used in entertainment: think
Sherlock Holmes eschewing of
all things sexual and thus adding
to the dramatic portrayal of the
character’s single-minded pursuit
of intellectual truth, or think Sheldon
in
Big Bang Theory
brushing up
against a sexualised world and thus
ramping up the comedic tension in
the sit-com.
In
the
modern,
real-world
incarnation of the no/low sex
spectrum we find asexual people,
a group increasingly interested in
‘coming out’ and staking their claim
on the social landscape. A defining
feature of asexuality is little or no
sexual attraction to other people –
in short, no lustful lure for others.
Not surprisingly, many asexual
people also exhibit very little sex
drive or sexual interest whatsoever
(including
no
masturbation),
although some may still have some
‘solitary’ desire. Thus, some asexual
people may still evince some sexual
drive but it is not connected to
others.
Recent research has suggested
that perhaps as many as one per
cent of the population – with more
women than men – are asexual.
Research also suggests that the
origins of asexuality, like traditional
sexual orientations, are at least
partly rooted in early development.
Researchers have also begun to
examine a variety of issues related
to asexuality, including how some
asexual people are content to ‘fly
under the radar’, socially speaking,
while others may form a strong
asexual identity and ‘come out’ to
others, and how asexual people
may be the subject of prejudice and
discrimination. In the latter case,
recent research suggests that the
sexual majority may view asexual
people more negatively than other
sexual minorities.
Asexual people, particularly if they
are comfortable with themselves,
have also recently challenged
health professionals, including
writers of the latest edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders
(or
DSM
), as
to what it means to have a sexual
disorder. For example, there is
now a provision in the recent
DSM
that allows self-identified asexual
people to avoid being diagnosed
with having a sexual disorder.
As I suggest in my book,
Understanding Asexuality
, there are
many reasons why those interested
in sex – including sex researchers/
educators – should try to understand
asexual people and their view of
the world. First, studying asexual
people provides information on
a relatively unstudied group, and
knowledge of this minority may
help asexual people understand
themselves better and ease their
negotiation through a complex and
foreign sexual world.
Studying asexuality also provides
a unique window on sexuality and
its mysteries, including its complex
relationship to love and romance.
For example, although some asexual
people do not want romantic
relationships – one person on AVEN,
the most popular online forum for
asexual people, writes succinctly:
“Never had a relationship, never
want one” – many asexual people
desire romantic relationships, even
if they eschew sexual ones. Another
AVEN participant writes: “I am now
in a relationship with a heterosexual
person, I don’t know how it will work
out but I am trying to be positive
about it and keep the focus on what
we have in common rather than
what we don’t have in common …”
Given that asexual people often
want a romantic relationship
(despite its challenges), they provide
a model of how romantic love can
be de-coupled from sex, and such a
model also holds for sexual people.
Indeed, the popularity of movies
in the bromance genre – e.g. two
(burly) straight men forming a deep
bond – demonstrates the usefulness
of the romance versus sex model of
human attachment.
Examining asexuality also can
afford a clear view on how deeply
infused sex is in our society – from
the pervasiveness of sex in the
media to our enduring interest in
gossip on the sex lives of others.
We also may begin to see more
clearly the strange and often mad
complexity of sex, with its jealousies,
obsessions and distortions of
reality. Sex is unquestionably part
of the great story of human life – our
means of reproduction and a deep
source of passion and pleasure for
many – but it is also a strange and
mad world at times, and one that
is better understood if we take a
glimpse or two from the outside.
Anthony F. Bogaert, PhD, is a
Professor at the Department of
Health Sciences, and Department
of Psychology, at Brock University,
Canada. His latest book is
Understanding Asexuality
.
20 July 2015
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from
The Independent
. Please
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© independent.co.uk 2016
