Asexual Awareness
Asexuality is a fairly unknown sexual orientation that is only recently gaining representation in the wider media. So what exactly does it mean to be asexual? Well, simply put, it is a lack of sexual attraction towards anyone, or "a lack of lustful inclinations/feelings directed toward others," as put in a study on asexuality in 2004 by Dr Anthony Bogaert.
This is not to say that asexual people cannot be in relationships; we simply experience different kinds of attraction. Asexuals have coined the term romantic attraction to describe wanting to do things like kissing or holding hands with someone without experiencing any physical attraction to them; many of us desire a romantic but not sexual relationship. Romantic attraction can be towards any gender. For example, an asexual could be homoromantic. This would mean they would not experience sexual attraction but would experience romantic attraction towards the same gender. There are also aromantic asexuals who will experience neither sexual nor romantic attraction towards anyone.
These are all fairly new and pretty confusing terms for people who aren't used to them, but that doesn't mean asexuality itself is new. Far from it - evidence of its existence has been around for more than 100 years and even before that, asexuality existed, but was not as well documented. Indeed, in 1896 there are concepts akin to asexuality mentioned in a pamphlet on sexuality by Magnus Hirschfield and later on in the Kinsey reports, a further category labelled 'X' was added in the 1948 and 1953 describing those who had "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions". In 1979 and 1983, there were further models and studies that included asexuality as a sexual orientation like heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality.
This is not to say that asexual people cannot be in relationships; we simply experience different kinds of attraction. Asexuals have coined the term romantic attraction to describe wanting to do things like kissing or holding hands with someone without experiencing any physical attraction to them; many of us desire a romantic but not sexual relationship. Romantic attraction can be towards any gender. For example, an asexual could be homoromantic. This would mean they would not experience sexual attraction but would experience romantic attraction towards the same gender. There are also aromantic asexuals who will experience neither sexual nor romantic attraction towards anyone.
These are all fairly new and pretty confusing terms for people who aren't used to them, but that doesn't mean asexuality itself is new. Far from it - evidence of its existence has been around for more than 100 years and even before that, asexuality existed, but was not as well documented. Indeed, in 1896 there are concepts akin to asexuality mentioned in a pamphlet on sexuality by Magnus Hirschfield and later on in the Kinsey reports, a further category labelled 'X' was added in the 1948 and 1953 describing those who had "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions". In 1979 and 1983, there were further models and studies that included asexuality as a sexual orientation like heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality.