Alfred Kinsey, who dealt with human sexuality in his scientific work, placed sexual orientation on a bipolar scale. One pole meant “exclusive heterosexuality” and the opposite pole meant “exclusive homosexuality”. To the researcher’s surprise, the group of interviewees included people who had no sexual interest in either gender. After re-analysing the data, the researcher concluded that about 1.05% of the people he studied were asexual.
What is asexuality?
In order to understand what asexuality is, we must first consider what human sexuality is. The concept of ‘sexuality’ is understood in the literature as a basic element of human life – being human. It encompasses not only sexual behaviour, but also gender identity and sexual orientation. Sexuality manifests itself in desire, intimacy, physiological responses (arousal) and reproduction. A man can experience his sexuality not only externally, but also internally in the form of thoughts, fantasies, beliefs and values. Sexuality and its expression are not only determined by biological and psychological factors, but also by social and cultural context.
The definition of asexuality has been considered by many authors. Many definitions have been developed to capture this phenomenon and try to explain its essence. Asexuality is a persistent absence of sexual desire that is not caused by a physical or mental disorder. Asexuality is also not a conscious choice – unlike celibacy or abstinence from sexual relations (when one feels sexually attracted and aroused).
Is asexuality a sexual orientation?
There is still a debate in the scientific community about whether asexuality can be considered a sexual orientation. Some researchers argue that sexual orientation already from its very name indicates that it is a sexual attraction directed in a certain direction, orientated towards something/someone. Asexual people, on the other hand, do not feel sexually attracted to any gender. However, a large group of researchers agree with the position that asexuality is essentially a sexual orientation.
Asexuality and aromanticism
There is a common societal misconception that people who identify as asexual suffer from a lack of sexual attraction and cannot build successful romantic relationships because of their sexual orientation. The negative feelings and experiences of asexual people are usually not related to their sexual orientation, but to their inability to adapt to social norms and belonging to a minority group.
Asexual people can create successful romantic relationships, they have the ability to “fall in love” and the desire to enter into a relationship based on intimacy, but this does not involve a desire to have sex with a partner. Asexual people can fall in love with people of different genders. When an asexual woman falls in love exclusively with men, she is still asexual, but she is also hetero-romantic. If the same woman was only interested in a romantic relationship with another woman, she could be considered homomorantic, and in the case of wanting to get involved with people of both sexes, she could be considered biromantic.
Asexual people may also have no desire to enter into a romantic relationship and may not experience love in a romantic sense. Then such a person is not only asexual, but also aromantic.
Aromanticism is the experience of romance differently from what is socially accepted as “normal”. Aromanticism is understood as a lack of romantic attraction, i.e. an unwillingness to enter into a romantic relationship, an aversion to romance (behaviour that couples often display). Aromantic people do not fall in love and treat relationships with others as platonic. It is worth noting that aromantic people need not be asexual. They may be willing to engage in sexual relationships and have a gender preference, but this does not mean that they are “in love” with the other person. This does not mean that aromantic people cannot love – they do, but they love with platonic love (friends, family).
Is asexuality a disease?
In modern medical classifications (ICD-11, DSM-V), asexuality does not appear as a disease and should not be considered as such. Nevertheless, some people may still mistakenly perceive asexuality as a disorder. This is because, historically, asexuality has been considered abnormal and, for many clinicians and sexologists, a lack or reduction in sex drive was a sign of dysfunction and disease. The reasons for the lack of sex drive were not considered and were always seen as a symptom of illness. However, this thinking has changed, and a distinction is now made between an absence or decrease in sex drive caused by a physical, physiological or mental disorder, and asexuality.
Asexuality is not an illness, it is a sexual orientation. Therefore one should not try to treat asexuality – as with any other sexual orientation, attempts to “treat” it are harmful and have only negative consequences for one’s health and psyche.
How do you recognise asexuality?
Asexuality is not a disease, dysfunction or disorder, so in its case we should not talk about symptoms. Rather, the wording of function should be used. There are certain specific characteristics that may indicate that a person is asexual. These include:
- lack of sexual attraction directed towards another person or a particular gender;
- lack of arousal and attraction to the other person;
- reluctance to engage in sexual activity (sometimes asexual people may engage in sexual activity, such as masturbation, but feel reluctant to have sex);
- an aversion to sexual attachments (e.g. passionate kissing) and nudity;
- The lack of sexual desire is not caused by physical or mental disorders or traumatic experiences, and the lack of sexual behaviour is not a conscious decision (as in the case of celibacy, for example);
- inability to identify one’s sexual orientation along the spectrum in which sexual attraction manifests itself (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, etc.);
- asexual people may not understand the pervasive interest in sex ;
- satisfaction (without experiencing unpleasant emotions) at the expense of a lack of sex drive. An asexual person does not feel that their life has become “poorer” because of the lack of sex;
- An asexual person can determine that someone is attractive, but this is not related to a desire or desire to have a sexual relationship with that person;
- lack of sexual desire and attraction persists over time.