Asexuality Links
Interviews, Articles, and Writings
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Connect with asexualsWe are happy to connect media representatives with asexual people for interviews or news stories. We can also provide resources to media who are looking to cover asexuality. If you are a fictional author looking to write an asexual character, we can also help you. We have many resources at our disposal and are eager to share them.
Please send your requests to sbb@asexualawarenessweek.org.
If you are interested in screening (A)sexual in the future, click here for more information.
Past media coverage
In 2011, Asexual Awareness Week was covered by The Morning Show in Australia. Check out the video here!
Fictional Characters
House -- USA
In 2012, Fox TV aired an episode of House that featured asexuality. While there were two excellent discussions of asexuality, the episode eventually equated asexuality to a biological health condition and a lie. We have an active petition asking Fox to reconsider before it displays asexual characters again which you can sign here.
Clips from this episode can be viewed here.
Shortland Street -- New Zealand
Television News
For other instances of asexual media, including print media, check here.
Resource CenterWhile we create many of the resources we list here, most of them were created by other community members. If your work is here and is not credited properly, please let us know. Everything that we create has our logo on it, and we've given appropriate credit where we could find names to cite. We couldn't have included nearly as many resources without using this thread at AVEN as a guide. Big thanks to Cleander!
Pamphlets/Infosheets
Books
Foreign language resources
We want to collect documents about asexuality in any language! If you have a document in your language to add, please email it to us
AVEN also hosts foreign language forums in 17 different languages
Asexual Census Analysis
In 2011, Asexual Awareness Week conducted a 15 question census of self-identified asexual people. More than 3,300 responses were collected. This is the analysis that has been done on that data.
Ally resources
"Dear LGBT" Videos
In 2010, we asked asexuals to write a one minute video letter to the LGBT community. We had amazing responses! A few them are below, and you can view the rest online.
Presentations
Speaker's notes
Fliers
Screenings of (A)sexual
Links
In a world where sex and relationships are everywhere, life for someone who has no instinct for those things can be very isolating, lonely and distressing.Many asexuals feel "broken" because they do not experience the same wants and desires as "everybody else". Many asexuals are haunted by feelings of shame and face harassment from peers because they don't fit in. Many asexuals lead unhappy lives by trying to be "normal".
By raising awareness about asexuality we hope to let people know that they are not alone, and that their feelings towards sex are nothing to be ashamed of. We want people to know that asexuality is a valid sexual orientation and not something to be cured. We want to help people feel pride in who they are and to know there are others out there just like them.
If more people know about asexuality, then more asexuals can find each other and build communities and lasting relationships from which they can draw comfort and support. Beyond the benefit that projects like AAW bring to the asexual community, asexual awareness can offer interesting insights to the rest of society about the nature of human sexuality and relationships. We hope to show that there are many other forms of love and relationships out there to enjoy!
People wonder why asexuals bother to get together, but Amanda and I have been happily married for nine months now and we're both still virgins. Some people even think asexuality doesn't exist. It's so underrepresented, I can understand why people are skeptical. I was too, even though I was perfectly used to thinking of myself in this way.
Asexuality poses a challenge to some of our most fundamental beliefs about humans and their feelings. Yet, on this topic, we are mostly ignoramuses. Many Americans regard the prevailing assumptions about sex and sexuality as universal. They don't appreciate the ways that these ideas have changed over the course of history. Even within the scientific community, the study of asexuality as an orientation is starkly underdeveloped.
Recently, I asked for suggestions for updates for the 40th anniversary edition of that classic book, Our Bodies, Ourselves. Kris suggested a new section on asexuality, and pointed readers to asexuality.org, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. I checked it out - it is a terrific resource - and also started searching for academic papers.
The first thing I learned is that there is a startlingly small number of serious studies of asexuality. Type "asexual" into a database such as PsycInfo, and what spills out are mostly discussions of whether old people are sexual beings.
Only a few more comprehensive articles pop up. For example, a 2004 study in the Journal of Sex Research reported the results of a national sample of more than 18,000 British residents. About 1% described themselves as asexual.
For this topic, though, what should come first is some basic understanding of what the term asexual means. The best source I found on that, and the one I will refer to most often throughout the rest of this post, is a 2008 article by Kristin Scherrer published in the journal Sexualities. In addition to her thoughtful conceptual analysis of asexuality, Scherrer contributes some empirical grounding. With the help of asexuality.org, she recruited 102 asexuals who were willing to answer open-ended questions about their asexuality and how that related to the rest of their lives.
Here are some of the basics of what I've learned so far from Scherrer and others. I want to note, though, that our understandings may change as research and writing on this topic grows.
What ASEXUALITY Is
On its homepage, Asexuality.org defines an asexual as "a person who does not experience sexual attraction." This is a definition about desire - how you feel, and not about sexual behavior - how you act.
Beyond the dimensions of feelings and behaviors is something broader - an asexual identity. There a process of self-examination involved in identifying as asexual. Importantly, though, an identity is not just personal - it is also social, cultural, and interpersonal. Asexuals who come together on asexuality.org to share experiences are building a community. They have the potential to engage in consciousness-raising and collective action, too. Health and mental health professionals, for instance, may be a little less quick to pathologize asexuality (see below) if there is a defined group of asexuals keeping the opinion leaders on their toes.
When the 102 asexuals in Scherrer's study discussed the meaning of their own asexuality, they most often pointed to desires: They said they did not experience sexual attraction or desire. One of the participants, Jenn, said this:
• "I just don't feel sexual attraction to people. I love the human form and can regard individuals as works of art and find people aesthetically pleasing, but I don't ever want to come into sexual contact with even the most beautiful of people."
Others, though, said they did feel sexual attraction but not the inclination to act on it. Sarah said this to the researcher:
• "I am sexually attracted to men but have no desire or need to engage in sexual or even non-sexual activity (cuddling, hand-holding, etc.)."
What asexuality Is NOT
1. Asexuality is not the same as sexual dysfunction.
If you are different from the norm, or what is perceived as the norm, you can count on the labeling police - and even some medical professionals - to tag you as dysfunctional. One of the great contributions of the web, and sites like asexuality.org, is that people can find others like them more readily than they ever could before. Comparing notes and experiences, they can find that aspects of their lives are shared, and - contrary to the conventional wisdom - are not at all undermining of their health or well-being.
Psychiatrists and psychologists sometimes see a lack of sexual desire as a symptom of an official disorder. Here, for example, is a description of Sexual Aversion Disorder: "Persistent or recurring aversion to or avoidance of sexual activity. The aversion must result in significant distress for the individual and is not better accounted for by another disorder or physical diagnosis. When presented with a sexual opportunity, the individual may experience panic attacks or extreme anxiety." The important point here is that to count as a disorder, the experience must result in "significant distress."
There is a problem in leaping from the fact of a lack of sexual desire to a label of a sexual disorder: You need to stop along the way to ask how asexuality is experienced in an individual's life. If you are okay with it, then everyone else should back off and keep their pathological labels locked in their file cabinets.
2. Asexuality is not the same as celibacy.
From asexuality.org: "Unlike celibacy, which is a choice, asexuality is a sexual orientation. Asexual people have the same emotional needs as everybody else and are just as capable of forming intimate relationships."
3. A disinterest in cuddling or other forms of physical affection is not a necessary part of asexuality.
Sarah (quoted above) said she had no interest in any kind of physical affection, not even hand-holding or cuddling. Others, though, do like those kinds of interactions. For instance, when asked to describe her ideal relationship, Rita said this:
• "The same as a ‘normal' relationship, without the sex. We would be best friends, companions, biggest fans of each other, partners in financial, work, and social areas of our lives. I am very physical. I would like to be able to tackle my lover (as in, ‘I love him', not as in ‘person I am currently having sex with') to the ground, roll around until I pin him, then plant a kiss on his nose, snuggle into the crook of his arm, and talk about some random topic... without him getting an erection or entertaining hopes that this will lead to the removal of clothing or a march to the bedroom."
4. A disinterest in romance is not a necessary part of asexuality.
Rita, the asexual person quoted just above, described an ideal relationship that was in many ways a romantic one. Other asexuals are uninterested in romance. Kisha, for instance, said this in response to the question about her ideal relationship:
• "I've already got a friendship that feels a lot like my ideal relationship. We have a ton of common interests...We laugh, we think the same, we never fight or cause any burdens to each other...That's all I want, just great friendships. I don't need attraction or anything physical."
Asexuals who are romantic often identify as heterosexual, gay or lesbian, or bisexual. For those who are "aromantic," those distinctions seem irrelevant. Noting that the gender of the other person was unimportant to her, Nora said, "I am attracted to personality." Mona added, "The things I find attractive, I find attractive in both sexes."
5. A lack of pleasure from your own body is not a necessary part of asexuality.
Some asexuals consider masturbation a sexual act and are uninterested in it. Others, such as Gloria, have a different perspective:
• "I do not have any desire to have sex with another person. I masturbate at times but I don't connect it with anything sexual. I know it sounds like a contradiction but it's just something I do every now and then."
Why Asexuality is Important
Taking asexuality seriously is a very big deal. To document a sizable number of people who do not experience sexual attraction is to challenge one of the most fundamental assumptions of contemporary society - that sexuality is pervasive, a given, an essential part of what it is to be human.
video by swankivy
Want to know more about why these statements/questions are inappropriate? Read the info sheet with explanations: http://swankivy.com/writing/essays/philosophy/asexual/infosheet.html If we come out to you, we probably don't mind discussing our orientation, but pretty much anything recited in this video is probably a bad idea to say to us. . . .
video by tim55348
BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Nicky Campbell interviews Mark from Aven about asexuality. Nicky handles the subject brilliantly and with respect. He has an audience of around 3,000,000 for his breakfast show - which is pretty good in UK terms. Please feel free to tumblr or blog this video, or show it to your friends and family if you need some help explaining things.
video by researchgap
Mark Carrigan's paper "Asexuality and Sexual Cultures" at the Spotlight on Asexuality event. His presentation followed Olivier Cormier-Otaño's talk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-cI61oeOOE) To read and watch more, visit: http://asexualitystudies.org/spotlight/
video by researchgap
Olivier Cormier-Otaño presents his paper "Doing without: a therapist's findings" at the Spotlight on Asexuality even at the University of Warwick. To read and watch more, visit: http://asexualitystudies.org/spotlight/
Abstract Sexuality is generally considered an important aspect of self-hood. Therefore, individuals who do not experience sexual attraction, and embrace an asexual identity are in a unique position to inform the social construction of sexuality. This study explores the experiences of asexual individuals utilizing open ended Internet survey data from 102 self-identified asexual people.
AVEN Post of the Week
If you just cuddle, that's ok, and she loves you. If you end up having sex, that's ok, and she loves you. If you get all self-conscious, totally lose the mood, and have an "Oh damn, I totally didn't relax" freakout, that's ok and she loves you. In fact, if that happens, I suggest you both make a point of laughing at the ridiculousness of it all - maybe pre-agree that if you freak out, then that means she has to feed you ice-cream until you calm down again, or some circuit-breaker like that.
– Olivier, on putting asexual partners at ease in mixed relationships.
Did you know...
• … that some asexual people are happier on their own or with a group of close friends, while other asexuals have a desire to date and will form more intimate romantic relationships?
• … that asexual relationships are based on the same elements that are also important for many sexual people, like understanding, commitment, trust, emotional intimacy and communication?
• … that for some asexuals arousal is a fairly regular occurrence, though it is not associated with a desire to find a sexual partner? Some asexuals will occasionally masturbate, but feel no desire for partnered sexuality. Other asexual people experience little or no arousal.
Asexuality in Media and Research
• A short paper by Anthony F. Bogaert, "Asexuality and Autochorissexualism (Identity-Less Sexuality)", was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior on May 11, 2012.
• An article, "Asexual awakening", was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on May 9, 2012.
• "Asexuality comes out of the closet" - KPCC's Patt Morrison interviews David Jay and Shira Tarrant on April 6, 2012.
• Rachel Rabbit White writes how "Not Everybody Wants to Have Sex" for Jezebel.
• Rachel Hills interviews David Jay for The Atlantic in "Life Without Sex: The Third Phase of the Asexuality Movement"
• RTL TVI, a Belgian channel, included interviews of asexual people in the show L'Europe du sexe.
• The Guardian has an article “Among the asexuals” by Rosie Swash, which discusses the asexual movement and life for asexual people.
• Tracy Clark-Flory wrote an article on Salon, "“House” gets asexuality wrong" on January 31, 2012.
• There is an article by Lucy Wallis in the BBC news magazine, "What is it like to be asexual?", to accompany the appearance of an asexual woman in the BBC's three part TV series, How Sex Works.
• Asexual Awareness Week has released the preliminary results of their Asexual Community Census 2011
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The extant literature on asexuality is fairly scarce. For articles on asexuality, the abstract is provided if there is one and commentary is given. For other articles, the information most relevant to asexuality is summarized. All articles are in English unless otherwise specified. Works about asexuality Journal Articles and Book Chapters on Asexuality Johnson, M.
The asexual community has only existed for about ten years, and its existence is due in large part to the growth of the internet. The center of the community is the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN, asexuality.org), which defines an asexual as "a person who does not experience sexual attraction."
Apr 11, ’11 8:00 AMIn this podcast Mark Carrigan (a researcher focused on asexuality) and Michael Dore (an asexual mathematician) lead an introductory workshop about asexuality. For more information about asexuality visit www.asexuality.org, the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network.
A couple of articles about asexuality which have featured on Sociological Imagination:
Now that he's raised awareness of his lifestyle, David Jay, founder of AVEN, is working to change mainstream beliefs about sex drives. David Jay was in middle school when everyone around him grew suddenly obsessed with the same all-consuming impulse. It wasn't sex per se, but it was its nascent beginnings.