ipl-logo

Asexuality Sexual Orientation

1625 Words7 Pages

Asexuality As a Sexual Orientation

Asexuality is defined as the lack of sexual attraction to others. Asexuals compose of about 1% of the population and are the select few in a sex-crazed world where sexual orientation often contributes to a person’s sense of identity. The defining of the term "asexual" as a "lack of sexual attraction for others" has partly emerged from theories of sexual orientation. Due to its definition, many view asexuality as an overall repulsion to sex, lacking the attraction necessary to be classified as an orientation. Asexuality, however, has not conformed to the two most widely used models of sexual orientation - one being Storm's two-dimensional model and the other being Kinsley's traditional one-dimensional model. …show more content…

There is insufficient evidence proving that asexuality is a disorder/dysfunction because with a disorder, effects such as significant personal distress and interpersonal difficulties are felt, unlike with asexuality. For example, people with issues such as erectile dysfunction suffer a loss of self esteem, while asexuals do not feel any negative effects from lacking a sexual attraction. “Asexuals are mainly not worried about their asexuality, except for the disapproval it may provoke from others, and they are uninterested in seeking professional help to deal with it” (Brotto 4). This disapproval may include societal responses, such as the exclusion and non-acceptance from even the LGBT community - a community reputable for supporting one’s own personal preferences - due to the beliefs that asexuality is not an orientation nor do asexuals receive the oppression that many in the community do. In some studies, asexuals report higher rates of distress and symptoms such as anxiety. Available evidence suggests this is actually a result of prejudice and discrimination against asexuals and may also be a result of autism, which asexual women have a slightly higher chance of having. It is not, however, an indication of any underlying psychological disturbance. Asexuality does not appear to be a function of sexual arousal difficulties or traumatic sexual …show more content…

It is no different than being homosexual or heterosexual. It is the same way a straight person is not attracted to people of the same gender, or a gay person is not attracted to people of the opposite gender. There is not a special feeling involved; it is part of your identity. If asexuality can be argued as a disorder or dysfunction, other orientations can, too, based on the perception of the person analyzing. While much more research on the origin of asexuality is needed, it seems clear from the accumulated body of evidence so far that asexuality is not the result of a medical issue, sexual arousal problem, or fear of sex. Instead, asexuality appears to be just another natural variation in human sexuality, not a sexual dysfunction. By the definitions revolving sexual orientation/preference and the research gyrating around asexuality, there is no reason as to why it should not be considered a unique classification of sexual orientation. In addition to this, it is important to keep in mind that just because people are different or have different preferences, that does not always mean that something must be wrong. In conclusion, there is adequate scientific research to prove that asexuality is not a disorder or dysfunction and is able to be classified as a sexual

Show More
Related
200 Words | 1 Pages

To understand the linkage between sexuality and gender, it is important to reimagine the relationship between sexuality and gender and the rapport they hold with self-identification. Not long ago, sexuality was tied to procreation - becoming the core of one’s identity. Gender had always been tied to biological sex. However, a crisis of gender identity emerged and blurred the gender and sexuality binaries that had become commonplace social facts. A fluidity was created that allowed individuals to not feel the pressure of fitting inside distinct identification categories.

Read More
658 Words | 3 Pages

I am beginning to understand true human sexuality. I believe that you know and feel what you are, sexually, at a very young age. There are children who are born intersexed or missing specific organs and their parents struggle to come to terms with options. I also believe that some people are born gay. I’m not sure where bisexuality, pansexuality, and polysexuality come from thus far.

Read More
189 Words | 1 Pages

1. Sexual orientation influences a person’s sexual interest and attraction for one another. Men have stronger sexual impulse than women. A man may feel he is too desirable and will use other means to satisfy himself. Emotions are expressed through feelings of love, neurogenic, hormonal issues.

Read More
334 Words | 2 Pages

Heterosexism is a belief that the opposite sex is the only real sexual orientation. Summary of example: In 2014 Michael Sam, the all-American college football star from Missouri who shocked football and the world when he came out. With his future on the line, Sam has courageously refused to be closeted or be untruthful about his sexuality. At a packed press conference where he stood as the first-ever out NFL-bound player, Sam proudly wore a rainbow pin on his chest inscribed “Stand With Sam.”

Read More
1577 Words | 7 Pages

In the context of religion, their behavior is not considered atypical and their masculinity is preserved. However, “if the motivation is to satisfy a secret desire for homosexual activity then there would be a problem” (Burke, pg.151). Gender deviant activities are not sinful as long as it is heterosexual. Non-normative sex is an individual’s taste until the motive challenges heteronormativity. God detests homosexuality and people who are non-heterosexuals are excluded from having godly

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

Stephanie Camberos Mrs. Ybarra Phil 1C 21 October 2016 Unnatural by society or Nature? Being in favor of homosexuality, John Corvino brings up several arguments and counter arguments as to why homosexual sex is deemed as unnatural in our society. Is it unnatural because majority of society chooses to portray it in such a way or is it unnatural for nature related reasons? John Corvino in this reading discussed both sides when viewing homosexual sex as “unnatural”.

Read More
409 Words | 2 Pages

After watching “Interview with Jane Ward, author of Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men” and “Bisexuality: The Myths and Medical Truths” I learned that when a person deviates from the norms of their preferred sexuality, they are met with negative out comes. In the case of female bisexuality, their imagine suffers by the way society looks at them. In “Bisexuality: The Myths and Medical Truths” bisexual women are commonly

Read More
358 Words | 2 Pages

It's a hot afternoon near Soledad, California, sometime during the 1930s. Lennie, one of the characters, is a big man but has the mind of a child. George is the leader and takes care of Lennie. They camped under a tree awaiting the next morning for work at the ranch a few miles away. The next day they go to the ranch.

Read More
869 Words | 4 Pages

According to the Williams Institute (2009), there has been an increased need for high quality scientific data on sexual orientation of adults because it is an essential piece in understanding different health trends among populations. It is crucial that sexual orientation questions are asked appropriately to avoid discrimination and be culturally sensitive. Based on existing large-scale surveys research questions can be modified to be asked correctly. For example, surveys now provide three options for how one identifies their sexual orientation: heterosexual or straight, gay or lesbian, or

Read More
152 Words | 1 Pages

Studies show between 3 and 1 percent of people are attracted to members of the same sex. Scientist reference back to the Sexual Orientation Continuum chart that show someone’s excepts of sexual orientation. The Sexual Orientation Continuum is meant to show if someone is more excepting toward heterosexuality or to homosexuality. If the person favor towards more one end then the other they are more likely to except the most favored one. Studies also state that most people are in between and can pick a heterosexual life and be happy but if they lean more towards homosexuality they would most likely; will live an unhappy life style trying to be heterosexual, this may lead to sadness and depression.

Read More
265 Words | 2 Pages

Early sexologists and psychologists were pioneers in the field of analyzing the erotic life, whose work among other things, made three main contributions that still shape a modern understanding of the erotic. The first of them being the claim that sexuality is innate and “essentially a matter of biology and physiology” (Seidman 3). In effect, making it an unquestionable truth, apart of the body as much as a limb or internal organ and above social critique as it was placed as a naturalized truth. Second of them stemming from Freud, the first to separate sexuality and eroticism, noting the many bodily pleasures exists for our enjoyment. “Moreover, humans get pleasure not only from sexual intercourse but also kissing, touching, caressing, looking,

Read More
644 Words | 3 Pages

“Reproduction becomes the pivot of all relations between the sexes and all sexual relations; not as a biological fact, but as a system of control and manipulation of all female individuals. ”(Tabet 145) Unequivocally, the basis of most relations between heterosexual people is reproductive. (Interestingly, the faction of society that actually exists sexually outside of reproduction (the homosexual population) is cited, but not deeply discussed by Tabet.) However, this prevailing male-female relationship criticized by Tabet as being unnaturally imposed is very possibly natural.

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

Discovering a Minority Orientation Around the age of ten, most kids have an idea of what their sexual orientation was, whether it was heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc. I remember in Elementary there would be playmates of mine that would try to ask me out while we would be playing a fun game of handball or Dodgeball. After I had rejected them, I felt as though I hated them. I didn’t talk to them anymore or play with them, even when they would try to talk to me, I 'd ignore them or tell them to go away. Same story goes throughout Middle School.

Read More
1173 Words | 5 Pages

Despite the fact that it has been decades since homosexuality was acknowledged as a mental disorder there are still practitioners all over the world who offer sexual reorientation therapy (SRT), also known as conversion or reparative therapy, as a service. The debate over whether or not SRT is an effective treatment has been ongoing for as long as the therapy has been used, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. This essay looks to explore the reasons people seek SRT, look at its failures and successes, and discuss why this therapy could be pseudoscientific. Conversion therapy is one which has been used for decades as a way to change a person’s sexuality from Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual (LGB) to heterosexual (E Macchio 2011). This can be

Read More
1371 Words | 6 Pages

Authors of Human Sexuality talk about human sexuality, “Our awareness of ourselves as females and males is part of our

Read More

More about Asexuality Sexual Orientation

Related Topics

Open Document