Back when I first heard the concept of asexuality, in a blink I judged that such people must be oppressed, in denial of their true nature or have something physically wrong. Today I’m taking a mental U-turn to learn more about asexuality.
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| Here’s a fun poster I found. |
Here’s what I learned: Asexuality is a human experience of having no sexual attraction to other people. As it turns out, there are quite a lot of folks who identify this way. They even have a cool name for themselves: Aces. Aces unite around common issues. The main one is that they live as silent minorities in a culture that is fascinated with a subject that doesn’t interest them.
We all know what that’s like. Ever been to a spouse’s office party and everyone around you is talking shop and you couldn’t care less? Or attended a sporting event when the sport itself bores you? Aces apparently deal with this all the time.
Imagine going about a typical day as an asexual person. What would you see in movies and TV? What would you see on billboards or hear on the radio? What would your friends talk about in high school, college or work? So much of our culture is steeped in sex. According to one website, I learned that Aces feel pressured to “pass” – to pretend they care about sex just to get by. That sounds like a drag.
I also learned that just because they don’t want sex with other people, many Aces do want intimacy, togetherness, caring and love like the rest of us. How do Aces find what they’re looking for despite their differences with the cultural norm? How do they proudly claim an identity that’s at best misunderstood?
One step is the build community by starting a website. Here are two: