What is Asexuality?
Low libido or asexuality? And what’s with the asexuality spectrum?
Do you usually find it difficult to think of other people in a sexual way? Is this something that happens on a daily basis?
There are small chances that you might be ASEXUAL!
According to WebMD, Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low interest in sexual activity. Asexual people, who might use the term “ace” or “aces” for short, typically don’t experience sexual attraction or want to pursue sexual relationships with other people.
Some facts about asexuality:
🔸 Asexuality is an orientation rather than a choice.
🔸 Some asexual people DO have sex, maybe to please their romantic partners or to have children.
🔸 Asexual people “don’t generally have an aversion to sex or depictions of sex — they simply don’t feel sexual attraction.”
🔸 Being asexual doesn’t mean you’re broken or that you became this way because you have unprocessed hurt. This is simply the way you naturally feel about sex. Asexuality isn’t considered a medical condition.
🔸 It is different from experiencing low libido — low libido is usually temporary, while asexuality implies that you feel this way about sex for a long period of time, “sometimes [from] as early as […] adolescence.”
It’s important that we understand that asexual people can experience different kinds of attraction (other than the sexual one), according to Healthline:
⚫ Romantic attraction: desiring a romantic relationship with someone
⚫ Aesthetic attraction: being attracted to someone based on how they look
⚫ Sensual or physical attraction: wanting to touch, hold, or cuddle someone
⚫ Platonic attraction: wanting to be friends with someone
⚫ Emotional attraction: wanting an emotional connection with someone
Keep in mind that “Every asexual person is different. Some might feel repulsed by sex, some might feel nonchalant about it, and some might enjoy it.”
Asexuality can play out in different ways in relationships. If an asexual person intends to have a relationship with someone who isn’t asexual, all it takes is communication to understand their unique boundaries and feelings towards sex.
Asexuality is a “Sexual orientation in which someone experiences little to no sexual attraction toward others. They might also have little to no desire to have sexual encounters, in general.” — Wendy Rose Gould, What Is Asexuality? on Verywell Mind
Being asexual and having low libido are NOT synonymous
Being ASEXUAL
When someone says they are asexual, it means they do not experience sexual attraction or desire towards anyone of any gender(s), or do not experience regular sexual attraction and/or desire, says Kayla Kaszyca, co-host of Sounds Fake But Okay.
Sometimes, being asexual can also mean having inconsistent sexual attraction or desire that only emerges under very specific circumstances.
Having LOW LIBIDO
Someone’s libido can shift and change over days, weeks and months. Shifts in libido are common and can happen for any number of reasons, including stress levels, relationship issues, medications, diet, exercise, or sleep; says expert psychologist Rachel Wright. “It’s an invitation for us to get curious about what’s going on with our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual self.”
Usually, low libido will take place during a specific period of time before your ‘natural’ libido comes back, while the feelings towards sex an asexual person experiences can be how they have always felt about sex.
Asexuality is a spectrum, according to Asexuality.org here are a few sides of it:
Demisexual: Someone who can only experience sexual attraction or desire after an emotional bond has been formed (or the adjective describing a person as such). This is different from the choice to abstain from sex until certain criteria are met.
Gray-asexual (gray-a) or gray-sexual: Someone who identifies with the area between asexuality and sexuality (or the adjective describing a person as such). For example, they may experience sexual attraction very rarely, only under specific circumstances, or of an intensity so low that is ignorable and not a necessity in relationships.
Allosexual: Someone who does experience sexual attraction or an intrinsic desire to have sexual relationships (or the adjective describing a person as such). This category is also often simply referred to as “sexual”.
Sexuality is a spectrum and it’s fluid. Your lack of sexual attraction is valid, you are valid and so is your asexuality.
What is Asexuality? was originally published on My Sex Bio’s blog on May 25, 2022.
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