Types Of Asexuality: Different Ways Of Living Non-desire
At a time when acceptance of different forms of sexual orientations is beginning to win out over intolerance, asexuality remains a relatively unknown phenomenon.
It is, fundamentally, the absence of sexual desire as a stable attribute in a person It is, therefore, not a sexual dysfunction or a disorder that prevents the person from expressing their affection and their desire to know someone intimately. Simply, the sexual impulse does not occur, and this does not represent any problem… beyond those that may be caused by the lack of understanding of others.
This condition, although it is not a disease, is still seen as something strange, incomprehensible, or even something to be wary of; And many people simply believe that asexuals do not exist, they cannot exist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only do asexual people exist, but there are also different types Below we will see a classification of ways in which asexuality can be expressed.
We must keep in mind that within what we understand as asexuality there are nuances, since there are different ways of experiencing the lack of sexual desire. Here you can see a summary of the most well-known types of asexuality although you should keep in mind that there is no official classification.
1. Aromantic asexuals
These are people who, in addition to not feeling sexual desire, also do not experience romantic love for other people. This combination makes who do not have such a strong predisposition to be interested in someone in particular but that does not mean that they necessarily have to be cold or distant, much less that they hate everyone or are psychopaths.
As its name indicates, in this case the absence of sexual desire is combined with the possibility of feeling romantic attraction to other people
It may be surprising that sexual desire and romantic interest can be separated, but that is at least the case in this type of asexuality. It is a revealing fact that also tells us about the nature of human relationships between people who do have some type of sexual orientation: love and desire are two processes that surely work in parallel, not the same thing.
In turn, romantic asexuality can be divided into the following types:
biromantic asexuals
In this case, there is the possibility of feeling romantic attraction towards people of either sex It is not strange that this type of psychological and biological propensity exists, since by eliminating the sexual component, the body shapes that define each sex stop meaning something important, with which it is possible to develop the same attitudes and emotional ties towards any person..
Homoromantic asexuals
Romantic attraction is always oriented towards people of the same sex although lack of desire also occurs.
Similar sexual orientations
There are some orientations with characteristics in common with asexuality. They are the following:
Gray asexuality
In this case there is at least some sexual desire, although with a very low intensity, which means that it usually has little effect on the way people behave who experience it. For example, someone may feel attracted to someone when watching them recite a poem, but immediately afterward that interest fades and leaves practically no trace. His name attempts to reflect that difference in “quantity” with respect to pure asexuality.
Demisexual people only feel sexual attraction to people for whom you have previously felt a strong romantic interest That is, it is a phenomenon that occurs based on the fact that falling in love has appeared.
What is not asexuality?
The fact that asexuality is the lack of desire can lead to confusion, among other things, because very few people identify themselves as asexual. It is easy to confuse this psychological and physiological predisposition with an ideology or a way of thinking, but this is not the case.
For example, celibacy is not a type of asexuality It is, in any case, a self-imposition, a commitment by which sexual activities are avoided for ethical or religious reasons.
There are also people who declare themselves antisexual In this case, something similar to what occurs in celibacy occurs: the person believes that sex is something bad, an element that corrupts things and is problematic. Unlike what happens with celibacy, here the attitude towards sex not only serves to regulate one’s own behavior, but is believed to be a general problem for the entire population.
Both celibacy and antisexuality They are ideological positions which, in part, are voluntary and depend on the way in which each person interprets reality. In both cases it is possible to feel sexual desire.
