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What is it like to be asexual? | What is it like to be asexual? |
(1 day later) | |
By Lucy Wallis BBC News | By Lucy Wallis BBC News |
It is an interesting concept - I consider myself as straight but I don't have sexual desires and watching "sexual" films does not help either. It's just one of those things, really - one day I will want to get married and have children but being an asexual is just a temporary measure, I'm sure, among young people. | It is an interesting concept - I consider myself as straight but I don't have sexual desires and watching "sexual" films does not help either. It's just one of those things, really - one day I will want to get married and have children but being an asexual is just a temporary measure, I'm sure, among young people. |
John Price, Bangor, Wales | John Price, Bangor, Wales |
Although I don't doubt there is a biological basis for some of these people, there certainly must be cases in which psychological issues are the cause. | Although I don't doubt there is a biological basis for some of these people, there certainly must be cases in which psychological issues are the cause. |
Eric, France | Eric, France |
I spent years convinced that I was the only person who found our oversexualised world confusing. There is so much out there that I just don't get! But finding out about asexuality made me feel better about myself and at least now I know why I don't react in the same way most other people do. It was a great relief. While this is a great article, you don't address the fact that many asexual people do have sexual relationships, and enjoy sex. Just because we don't feel sexual attracted to people or consider them "hot" doesnt mean we can't like sex and share it with our partners. We just don't fall in "lust" with people - which isnt such a bad thing really! | I spent years convinced that I was the only person who found our oversexualised world confusing. There is so much out there that I just don't get! But finding out about asexuality made me feel better about myself and at least now I know why I don't react in the same way most other people do. It was a great relief. While this is a great article, you don't address the fact that many asexual people do have sexual relationships, and enjoy sex. Just because we don't feel sexual attracted to people or consider them "hot" doesnt mean we can't like sex and share it with our partners. We just don't fall in "lust" with people - which isnt such a bad thing really! |
El, Cardiff | El, Cardiff |
I have been in contact with two people who are asexual and both in a relationship , the one thing that struck me was that they were just as happy as anyone else but most importantly would be less likely to have an affair so therefore their relationships could be more likely to last forever due to The lack of sexual attraction to other people . | I have been in contact with two people who are asexual and both in a relationship , the one thing that struck me was that they were just as happy as anyone else but most importantly would be less likely to have an affair so therefore their relationships could be more likely to last forever due to The lack of sexual attraction to other people . |
Phyll, Worthing, United Kingdom | Phyll, Worthing, United Kingdom |
It is bound to happen - that is what genetic diversity is about. Of the infinite variations that can result, asexuality is one of them. | It is bound to happen - that is what genetic diversity is about. Of the infinite variations that can result, asexuality is one of them. |
Murthy, Hyderabad, India | Murthy, Hyderabad, India |
I think I understand asexuality in a way few others can. I have just the oppsite problem. Because of a spinal cord injury I can't feel anything sexual but I still have the urge. That's not the same as voluntary abstenence. I think after 35 years of sensory loss I understand a sex drive better than a person who doesn't have one. | I think I understand asexuality in a way few others can. I have just the oppsite problem. Because of a spinal cord injury I can't feel anything sexual but I still have the urge. That's not the same as voluntary abstenence. I think after 35 years of sensory loss I understand a sex drive better than a person who doesn't have one. |
Grant Johnston, Chico, CA USA | Grant Johnston, Chico, CA USA |
I think it's a real shame that asexuals feel the need to have to discount the possibility that some of them at least will be the product of low levels of sex hormones, shyness genes, culture and experience as opposed to a purely genetic basis (which I've no doubt exists). There should neither be shame, nor confusion in this. | I think it's a real shame that asexuals feel the need to have to discount the possibility that some of them at least will be the product of low levels of sex hormones, shyness genes, culture and experience as opposed to a purely genetic basis (which I've no doubt exists). There should neither be shame, nor confusion in this. |
Jason Alan Ward, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire | Jason Alan Ward, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire |
When I was about 13, back in the late 1950s, I rather deliberately convinced myself that I was basically asexual. At the time, it made sense - it enabled me to ignore the fact that I didn't have any particular sexual enthusiasm regarding girls (I was a nerd anyway) and I could likewise ignore any thoughts that popped up regarding boys. This entirely self-generated protective mechanism lasted, interestingly, for over 20 years until it finally got broken down in the early 1980s by my willingness to accept that I was in fact attracted sexually entirely to men. In retrospect, it may seem that I was lying to myself; but at the time, I can assure you that it felt quite comfortable as a way out of an inexpressible dilemma; remember, there were virtually no sources of information about viable homosexuality available to kids in the 1950s. At any rate, I survived, and have since recovered my sexuality. But I certainly respect the asexual option, if it's clearly explored. | When I was about 13, back in the late 1950s, I rather deliberately convinced myself that I was basically asexual. At the time, it made sense - it enabled me to ignore the fact that I didn't have any particular sexual enthusiasm regarding girls (I was a nerd anyway) and I could likewise ignore any thoughts that popped up regarding boys. This entirely self-generated protective mechanism lasted, interestingly, for over 20 years until it finally got broken down in the early 1980s by my willingness to accept that I was in fact attracted sexually entirely to men. In retrospect, it may seem that I was lying to myself; but at the time, I can assure you that it felt quite comfortable as a way out of an inexpressible dilemma; remember, there were virtually no sources of information about viable homosexuality available to kids in the 1950s. At any rate, I survived, and have since recovered my sexuality. But I certainly respect the asexual option, if it's clearly explored. |
JD Eveland, Los Angeles, CA, USA | JD Eveland, Los Angeles, CA, USA |