{"id":20092,"date":"2018-04-27T07:23:23","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T07:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/?p=20092"},"modified":"2024-11-18T04:14:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T03:14:35","slug":"what-is-asexuality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/what-is-asexuality\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Asexuality?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/brief-history-marriage-equality\/\">LGBTQIA visibility increases<\/a>, you may find yourself without understanding of what all these new (to you) terms mean exactly, and unsure how to go about learning what they mean without accidentally causing offense or picking up misinformation &#8211; we\u2019ve got your back with A+ info on what it means to be asexual.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Is Asexuality?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asexuality, very simply is when a person doesn\u2019t experience sexual attraction &#8211; but as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.asexuality.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Asexuality Visibility Network<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> so ably explains, it can be a lot more nuanced than you first think.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An asexual is someone who does not experience sexual attraction. Unlike celibacy, which people choose, asexuality is an intrinsic part of who we are. Asexuality does not make our lives any worse or any better, we just face a different set of challenges than most sexual people. There is considerable diversity among the asexual community; each asexual person experiences things like relationships, attraction, and arousal somewhat differently.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attraction, in this case, means everything most sexual people would associate with becoming infatuated with someone &#8211; wanting to be around them, learn more about them, butterflies in stomach, etc &#8211; without the desire to express it sexually. Arousal is feeling turned on without the desire to find a partner &#8211; so yes, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/health-benefits-masturbation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">some asexual people do masturbate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asexuality is only starting to be widely studied and understood, however it is considered <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/living-single\/201609\/asexuality-is-sexual-orientation-not-sexual-dysfunction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a sexual orientation and not a dysfunction<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Asexual People Might\u2026*<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fall in love<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experience arousal and orgasm<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose to masturbate<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose to or not to engage in sexual activity<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get married and have children<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Asexuality Doesn\u2019t Mean&#8230;.*<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abstinence because of a bad relationship<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abstinence for religious reasons<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Loss of libido due to age or circumstance<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fear of intimacy<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inability to find a partner<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*You can learn more about these <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetrevorproject.org\/trvr_support_center\/asexual\/#sm.001gdony5pjhdkv10mk1tpkpqmwcp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do Asexual People Date?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, asexual people can and do have relationships &#8211; and not only with other asexual people! As mentioned above, absence of desire to have coupled sex does not necessarily mean that the person is also aromantic (not experiencing romantic attraction) or doesn\u2019t desire<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/fanning-the-flames-5-couples-exercises-to-increase-intimacy-rekindle-romance\/\"> other types of physical intimacy and affection<\/a>. As a person wiser than us put it, \u00a0\u2018if you can have sex without love, why not love without sex?\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In terms of how those relationships \u2018work\u2019, that varies just about as much as every other relationship does; some asexual folks are willing to have sex with their partner even if they themselves don\u2019t feel any desire for it, others incorporate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/when-more-means-merrier-non-monogamy-and-modern-love\/\">a non-monogamous relationship model<\/a>, and some are sex-less. When it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/are-you-sexually-compatible\/\">compatibility in <\/a><\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">any <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">relationship, no two people are alike and open communication about needs and expectations are necessary to make things work. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What if I think I or My Partner Might be Asexual?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Realizing that you\u2019re asexual, or ace, can be a strange process, as so much of society is based on the presumption that everyone is a sexual being. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.asexuality.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Asexuality Visibility Network<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a great place to start when it comes to answering any questions might have, as well as linking you up with other people to talk to about it!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/sexualities-you-probably-havent-heard-of\/\">10 Sexualities You Probably Haven&#8217;t Heard Of<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/whats-asexuality-like\/\"><strong>What&#8217;s Asexuality Like?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As LGBTQIA visibility increases, you may find yourself without understanding of what all these new (to you) terms mean exactly, and unsure how to go about learning what they mean without accidentally causing offense or picking up misinformation &#8211; we\u2019ve got your back with A+ info on what it means to be asexual. What Is Asexuality? Asexuality, very simply is when a person doesn\u2019t experience sexual attraction &#8211; but as The Asexuality Visibility Network so ably explains, it can be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":20093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[925,924,11,929,923],"tags":[764,669],"coauthors":[949],"class_list":["post-20092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-committed","category-dating","category-sex-terms","category-sexual-wellness","category-single","tag-lgbtq","tag-sexual-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Asexuality? 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