Lihat sumber Aseksualitas

{{Dalam penerjemahan|en|Asexuality}}

{{Short description|Kekurangan ketertarikan seksual pada orang lain}}
{{About|manusia yang kekurangan daya tarik seksual atau ketertarikan dalam aktivitas seksual|kekurangan daya tarik hubungan asmara|Aromantisisme|kekurangan gender|Agender|penggunaan lainnya|Aseksual (disambiguation){{!}}Aseksual}}
{{Good article}}
{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Orientasi Seksual}}
{{LGBT sidebar}}
{{Asexuality topics sidebar}}

'''Aseksualitas''' adalah kekurangan<!-- CATATAN: Sumber-sumber yang dapat diandalkan seringkali menyatakan "kekurangan", dan istilahnya lebih luas daripada "ketiadaan" atau "tanpa" daya tarik seksual. Lihat bagian "Definisi, identitas, dan hubungan" di bawah. Lebih jauh lagi, "ketidakhadiran" sudah termasuk dalam kalimat pertama sekali.--> [[sexual attraction|daya tarik seksual]] terhadap orang lainnya, atau rendahnya, atau tak adanya ketertarikan dalam atau [[Sexual desire|hasrat]] untuk [[Human sexual activity|aktivitas seksual]].<ref name="Crooks">{{cite book|author1=Robert L. Crooks |author2=Karla Baur|title=Our Sexuality|isbn=978-1305887428|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2016|page=300|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isIaCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT300}}</ref><ref name="Helm">{{cite book|author=Katherine M. Helm|title=Hooking Up: The Psychology of Sex and Dating|isbn=978-1610699518|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2015|page=32|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3K9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|archive-date=November 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122195144/https://books.google.com/books?id=O3K9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kelly">{{cite book|last = Kelly| first = Gary F. |year = 2004|title = Sexuality Today: The Human Perspective |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780072420050 |url-access=registration |edition=7th |publisher = [[McGraw-Hill]] |isbn= 978-0-07-255835-7|page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780072420050/page/400/mode/2up 401] (sidebar) |chapter = Chapter 12 |quote = Asexuality is a condition characterized by a low interest in sex.}}</ref> Aseksualitas juga dapat dianggap sebagai salah satu [[sexual orientation|orientasi seksual]] atau ketiadaannya.<ref name="Sex and society">{{cite book|editor=Marshall Cavendish|title=Sex and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVDZchwkIMEC&pg=PA82|access-date=July 27, 2013|volume=2|year=2010|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7906-2|pages=82–83|contribution=Asexuality|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040824/https://books.google.com/books?id=aVDZchwkIMEC&pg=PA82|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bogaert 2015">{{cite journal|vauthors=Bogaert, AF|s2cid= 23720993 |title= Asexuality: What It Is and Why It Matters |journal=[[The Journal of Sex Research]]|volume= 52|date=April 2015 |pmid=25897566|doi=10.1080/00224499.2015.1015713|issue=4|pages=362–379}}</ref> Aseksualitas juga dapat dikategorikan [[umbrella term|lebih luas]], untuk meliputi spektrum lebih luas dari [[Gray asexuality|subidentitas aseksual]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scherrer|first=Kristin|title=Coming to an Asexual Identity: Negotiating Identity, Negotiating Desire|journal=Sexualities|volume=11|issue=5|pages=621–641|doi=10.1177/1363460708094269|pmid=20593009|pmc=2893352|year=2008}}</ref>

Aseksualitas berbeda dari [[sexual abstinence|abstinensi dari aktivitas seksual]] dan juga dari [[selibat]],<ref name="Halter">{{cite book|author=Margaret Jordan Halter|author2=Elizabeth M. Varcarolis|title=Varcarolis' Foundations of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing|isbn=978-1-4557-5358-1|publisher=[[Elsevier Health Sciences]]|year=2013|page=382|access-date=May 7, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ15AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA382|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726100659/https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ15AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA382|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DePaulo">{{cite magazine|first=Bella|last=DePaulo|title=ASEXUALS: Who Are They and Why Are They Important?|magazine=[[Psychology Today]]|date=September 26, 2011|access-date=December 13, 2011|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/living-single/200912/asexuals-who-are-they-and-why-are-they-important|archive-date=October 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001112720/https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/living-single/200912/asexuals-who-are-they-and-why-are-they-important|url-status=live}}</ref> yang merupakan perilaku dan pada umumnya dimotivasi oleh faktor-faktor seperti pribadi, sosial, atau keyakinan beragama individu.<ref>''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (3d ed. 1992), entries for ''celibacy'' and thence ''abstinence''.</ref> Orientasi seksual, tidak seperti perilaku seksual, diyakini "abadi".<ref name="apahelp">{{cite web|title=Sexual orientation, homosexuality and bisexuality|publisher=[[American Psychological Association]]|access-date=March 30, 2013|url=http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx|archive-date=August 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808010101/http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual%2Dorientation.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Sebagian orang aseksual terlibat dalam aktivitas seksual meskipun kekurangan daya tarik seksual atau [[Libido|hasrat seks]], karena berbagai alasan, seperti hasrat untuk secara fisik menyenangkan diri sendiri atau kekasih, atau hasrat untuk memiliki anak.<ref name="Halter"/><ref name="Prause">{{cite journal|last=Prause |first=Nicole |author2=Cynthia A. Graham |s2cid=12034925 |date=August 2004 |url=https://kinseyinstitute.org/pdf/PrauseGraham-Asexuality.pdf |title=Asexuality: Classification and Characterization |journal=[[Archives of Sexual Behavior]] |volume=36 |pages=341–356 |access-date=April 4, 2022|doi=10.1007/s10508-006-9142-3 |pmid=17345167 |issue=3}}</ref>

Penerimaan aseksualitas sebagai orientasi seksual dan bidang [[scientific method|penelitian ilmiah]] masih relatif baru,<ref name="Helm"/><ref name="Prause"/> sebagai subjek penelitian yang sedang bertumbuh dari perspektif sosiologis maupun psikologis sudah mulai berkembang.<ref name="Prause"/> Meskipun beberapa peneliti menegaskan bahwa aseksualitas adalah salah satu orientasi seksual, ada juga yang tidak setuju.<ref name="Sex and society"/><ref name="Bogaert 2015"/> Individu yang aseksual mungkin mewakili satu persen populasi.<ref name="Helm"/>

Berbagai komunitas aseksual telah mulai dibentuk sejak [[History of the Internet|dampak Internet]] dan media sosial di pertengahan dasawarsa 1990an. Komunitas yang paling produktif dan terkenal di antara yang lainnya adalah [[#Community|Jaringan Kebertampakan dan Pendidikan Aseksual]], yang didirikan pada tahun 2001 oleh [[David Jay]].<ref name="Sex and society"/><ref name="Swash">{{Cite news|first=Rosie|last=Swash|title=Among the asexuals|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=February 25, 2012|access-date=February 2, 2013|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/26/among-the-asexuals|archive-date=February 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211010222/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/26/among-the-asexuals|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Definisi, identitas, dan hubungan ==
{{see also|Orientasi asmara}}

Aseksualitas terkadang disebut ''ace'' (kependekan fonetik dari "aseksual"<ref name="AceSuits" />), sementara komunitasnya terkadang disebut komunitas ''ace'', oleh para peneliti atau aseksual.<ref name="Meg">{{cite book|author=Meg Barker|title=Rewriting the Rules: An Integrative Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships|isbn=978-0415517621|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2012|page=69|access-date=February 8, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dp8_R8A2PIYC&pg=PA69|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726103159/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dp8_R8A2PIYC&pg=PA69|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Tarrant">{{cite book|author=Shira Tarrant|title=Gender, Sex, and Politics: In the Streets and Between the Sheets in the 21st Century|isbn=978-1317814764|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2015|pages=254–256|access-date=February 8, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jqjwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA256|archive-date=May 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524061206/https://books.google.com/books?id=jqjwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA256|url-status=live}}</ref> Karena ada begitu banyak variasi di antara orang-orang yang mengidentifikasi diri sebagai aseksual, aseksualitas dapat melingkupi definisi yang luas.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks">{{cite book|author=Karli June Cerankowski|author2=Megan Milks|title=Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives|isbn=978-1-134-69253-8|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2014|pages=89–93|access-date=July 3, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|archive-date=July 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716130847/http://books.google.com/books?id=zLgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|url-status=live}}</ref> Para peneliti pada umumnya mendefinisikan aseksualitas sebagai kekurangan daya tarik seksual atau kekurangan ketertarikan seksual,<ref name="Sex and society" /><ref name="Prause" /><ref name="Bogaert2006">{{cite journal | last1 = Bogaert | first1 = Anthony F. | s2cid = 143968129 | year = 2006 | title = Toward a conceptual understanding of asexuality | url = http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=18172400 | journal = [[Review of General Psychology]] | volume = 10 | issue = 3 | pages = 241–250 | doi = 10.1037/1089-2680.10.3.241 | access-date = August 31, 2007 | archive-date = January 14, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120114191419/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=18172400 | url-status = dead }}</ref> tetapi definisinya dapat beragam; mereka dapat menggunakan istilahnya "untuk mengacu pada individu yang memiliki hasrat atau ketertarikan seksual yang rendah maupun tak ada sama sekali, perilaku seksual yang rendah atau tak ada sama sekali, hubungan asmara eksklusif yang nonseksual, atau kombinasi ketiadaan hasrat dan perilaku seksual".<ref name="Prause" /><ref name="Fischer">{{cite book|author1=Nancy L. Fischer|author2=Steven Seidman|title=Introducing the New Sexuality Studies|isbn=978-1317449188|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2016|page=183|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SEmTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726102104/https://books.google.com/books?id=SEmTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|url-status=live}}</ref> Identifikasi diri sebagai aseksual juga dapat menjadi faktor penentu.<ref name="Fischer" />

Jaringan Kebertampakan dan Pendidikan Aseksual mendefinisikan aseksual sebagai "seseorang yang tidak mengalami ketertarikan seksual" dan menyatakan, "Kaum minoritas kecil lainnya akan menganggap diri mereka sebagai aseksual selama periode waktu yang singkat sambil menjelajah dan mempertanyakan seksualitas mereka sendiri" dan bahwa "tak ada tes lakmus untuk menentukan apakah seseorang memang aseksual. Aseksualitas seperti identitas lainnya – pada intinya, hanya satu kata yang digunakan seseorang untuk membantu memahami diri sendiri. Jika pada titik tertentu seseorang menemukan kata aseksual berguna dalam menggambarkan diri mereka, kami mendorongnya menggunakannya selama masih masuk akal untuk melakukannya."<ref name="Overview">{{cite web|title=Overview|url=http://www.asexuality.org/home/?q=overview.html|access-date=January 6, 2016|year=2008|publisher=The Asexual Visibility and Education Network|archive-date=November 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119005301/http://www.asexuality.org/home/?q=overview.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Orang-orang aseksual, meskipun kekurangan ketertarikan seksual pada gender manapun, mungkin dapat terlibat dalam hubungan [[Romance (love)|asmara]] murni, sementara yang lainnya tidak.<ref name="Sex and society" /><ref name="Richards and Barker">{{cite book|author=Christina Richards|author2=Meg Barker|title=Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide|isbn=978-1-4462-9313-3|publisher=[[Sage Publications|SAGE]]|year=2013|pages=124–127|access-date=July 3, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uSiXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT124|archive-date=July 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728200354/http://books.google.com/books?id=uSiXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT124|url-status=live}}</ref> Ada individu yang diidentifikasi aseksual yang merasakan ketertarikan seksual tetapi tidak memiliki kehendak untuk bertindak atas ketertarikan itu karena mereka tidak memiliki hasrat yang sesungguhnya atau memiliki kebutuhan untuk terlibat dalam aktivitas seksual maupun nonseksual (berpelukan, berpegangan tangan, dsb.), sementara aseksual lainnya mau berpelukan atau terlibat dalam aktivitas fisik nonseksual lainnya.<ref name="Halter" /><ref name="DePaulo" /><ref name="Prause" /><ref name="Cerankowski and Milks" /> Sebagian aseksual lainnya berpartisipasi dalam aktivitas seksual karena kepenasaran.<ref name="Prause" /> Sebagian mungkin [[Masturbation|bermasturbasi]] sebagai bentuk tunggal pelepasan, sementara yang lainnya tidak merasakan kebutuhan untuk melakukannya.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks" /><ref name="New Scientist">{{cite web |author=Westphal, Sylvia Pagan |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6533 |title=Feature: Glad to be asexual|work=[[New Scientist]] |access-date=11 November 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071219003148/http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6533| archive-date= December 19, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Bridgeman">{{cite news|first=Shelley|last=Bridgeman|title=No sex please, we're asexual|date=5 August 2007|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=September 16, 2011|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10455823&pnum=0|archive-date=November 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103013612/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10455823&pnum=0|url-status=live}}</ref>

Bertalian dengan aktivitas seksual khususnya, kebutuhan atau hasrat masturbasi biasanya diacu sebagai ''[[libido|dorongan seks]]'' oleh para aseksual dan mereka memisahkannya dari ketertarikan seksual dan bertindak seksual; aseksual yang bermasturbasi pada umumnya menganggapnya sebagai produk normal tubuh manusia dan bukan pertanda seksualitas yang terpendam, dan mungkin bahkan tidak mendapatkan kepuasan darinya.<ref name="Prause" /><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Sexual fantasy and masturbation among asexual individuals|journal = The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality|pages = 89–95|volume = 23|issue = 2|doi = 10.3138/cjhs.2409|first1 = Morag A.|last1 = Yule|first2 = Lori A.|last2 = Brotto|first3 = Boris B.|last3 = Gorzalka|s2cid = 4091448|year = 2014}}</ref> Sebagian lelaki aseksual tidak dapat ereksi dan aktivitas seksual dengan berusaha melakukan penetrasi tidak mungkin bagi mereka.<ref name="More to life">{{cite journal|last=Carrigan|first=Mark|s2cid=146445274|title=There's More to Life Than Just Sex? Difference and Commonality Within the Asexual Community|journal=Sexualities|date=August 2011|volume=14|issue=4|pages=462–478|doi=10.1177/1363460711406462}}</ref> Para aseksual juga berbeda dalam perasaan mereka terhadap melakukan tindakan seks: sebagian tak acuh dan mungkin bersenggama untuk keuntungan kekasihnya; yang lainnya sangat enggan terhadap ide melakukannya, meskipun mereka biasanya bukannya tidak menyukai orang berhubungan seks.<ref name="Prause" /><ref name="Cerankowski and Milks" /><ref name="Bridgeman" />

Banyak orang yang beridentitas aseksual juga diidentifikasi dengan label lainnya. Identitas lainnya ini meliputi bagaimana mereka mendefinisikan gender mereka dan [[romantic orientation|orientasi hubungan asmara]] mereka.<ref name="Padraig">{{Cite journal|last1=MacNeela|first1=Pádraig|last2=Murphy|first2=Aisling|s2cid=23757013|date=December 30, 2014|title=Freedom, Invisibility, and Community: A Qualitative Study of Self-Identification with Asexuality|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume=44|issue=3|pages=799–812|doi=10.1007/s10508-014-0458-0|issn=0004-0002|pmid=25548065}}</ref> Mereka seringkali akan menggabungkan karakteristik-karakteristik ini ke dalam label lebih besar yang menjadi identitas diri mereka. Berkenaan dengan aspek romantis atau emosi [[sexual orientation|orientasi seksual]] atau [[sexual identity|identitas seksual]], misalnya, aseksual mungkin mengidentifikasi diri mereka sebagai [[Heterosexuality|heteroseksual]], [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[bisexuality|biseksual]], [[queer]],<ref name="Overview" /><ref name="Richards and Barker" /> atau dengan mengikuti istilah-istilah untuk mengindikasikan bahwa mereka memiliki asosiasi dengan aspek romantik, dan bukan seksual, dari orientasi seksual:<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks" /><ref name="Richards and Barker" />
* [[aromantic|aromantis]]; kekurangan ketertarikan romantis terhadap siapapun
* biromantis; dengan analogi pada biseksual
* heteroromantis; dengan analogi terhadap heteroseksual
* homoromantis; dengan analogi terhadap [[homosexual|homoseksual]]
* panromantis; dengan analogi terhadap [[pansexual|panseksual]]

Orang-orang mungkin juga mengidentifikasi sebagai [[gray asexuality|''gray-A'']] (seperti romantis abu-abu, demiromantis, demiseksual or semiseksual) karena mereka merasa di antara aromantis dan nonaromantis, atau di antara aseksualitas dan ketertarikan seksual. Sementara istilah ''gray-A'' mungkin melingkupi siapapun yang terkadang merasa daya tarik romantis atau seksual, demiseksual, atau semiseksual mengalami ketertarikan seksual hanya sebagai komponen sekunder, merasakan ketertarikan seksual setelah hubungan emosi yang stabil atau besar sudah tercipta.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Adler|first=Melissa|chapter=Meeting the Needs of LGBTIQ Library Users and Their Librarians: A Study of User Satisfaction and LGBTIQ Collection Development in Academic Libraries|year=2010|title=Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users|editor-first=Ellen |editor-last=Greenblatt|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[North Carolina]]|isbn=978-0-7864-4894-4}}</ref>

Kata dan frasa unik lainnya yang digunakan dalam komunitas aseksual untuk menguraikan identitas dan hubungan juga ada. Satu istilah yang diciptakan oleh para individu dalam komunitas aseksual adalah fokus-teman, yang mengacu pada hubungan nonromantis yang bernilai tinggi. Istilah lainnya termasuk ''squishes'' dan ''zucchinis'', yaitu masing-masing idaman nonromantis dan [[queer-platonic relationship|hubungan platonik-queer]]. Sebagian askesual menggunakan bentuk kartu [[ace|as]] yang sebagai identitas orientasi romantis mereka, seperti [[ace of spades|as sekop]] untuk aromantisisme dan [[ace of hearts|as hati]] sebagai nonaromantisisme.<ref name="AceSuits">{{cite book|author1=Decker|first=Julie S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vTSCDwAAQBAJ&q=ace+of+hearts|title=The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2015|isbn=9781510700642|access-date=20 April 2019|archive-date=April 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412030423/https://books.google.com/books?id=vTSCDwAAQBAJ&q=ace+of+hearts|url-status=live}}{{page number needed|date=April 2019}}</ref>

{{anchor|Allosexual}}Istilah-istilah seperti nonaseksual dan ''alloseksual'' digunakan untuk mengacu pada para individu yang ada di sisi berseberangan dengan spektrum seksualitas.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal | last1 = Chasin | first1 = CJ DeLuzio | year = 2015 | title = Making Sense in and of the Asexual Community: Navigating Relationships and Identities in a Context of Resistance | journal = Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology | volume = 25 | issue = 2| pages = 167–180 | doi = 10.1002/casp.2203 | issn = 1099-1298}}</ref>

== Penelitian ==

=== Kelaziman ===
[[File:Kinsey Scale.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Kinsey scale|Skala Kinsey]] mengenai respon seksual, yang memperlihatkan tingkat [[sexual orientation|orientasi seksual]]. Skala aslinya meliputi penamaan "X", yang mengindikasikan kurangnya perilaku seksual.<ref name="Lehmiller">{{cite book|author=Justin J. Lehmiller|title=The Psychology of Human Sexuality|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|isbn=978-1119164708|page=250|date=2017|access-date=November 29, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ytk5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT250|archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320135007/https://books.google.com/books?id=ytk5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT250|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Sebagian besar akademisi menyetujui aseksualitas itu langa, hanya meliputi 1% atau kurang dari populasi.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Etaugh|first1=Claire A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_SA6DwAAQBAJ|title=Women's Lives: A Psychological Exploration, Fourth Edition|last2=Bridges|first2=Judith S.|date=2017-10-16|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-44938-8|language=en|access-date=June 25, 2021|archive-date=March 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309223641/https://books.google.com/books?id=_SA6DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Aseksualitas bukan aspek baru dari seksualitas manusia, tpai secara relatif baru bagi wacana publik.<ref name="Sesmith">{{Cite news |first=S.&nbsp;E. |last=Smith |title=Asexuality always existed, you just didn't notice it |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 21, 2012 |access-date=March 11, 2013 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/21/asexuality-always-existed-asexual |archive-date=April 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408115642/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/21/asexuality-always-existed-asexual |url-status=live }}</ref> Sebagai perbandingan dengan seksualitas lainnya, aseksualitas telah menerima sedikit perhatian dari komunitas ilmuwab, dengan informasi kuantitatif mengenai kelaziman rendahnya jumlah aseksualitas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=LeBreton|first=Marianne E.|year=2014|editor-last=Bogaert|editor-first=Anthony F.|title=Understanding Asexuality|journal=QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking|volume=1|issue=3|pages=175–177|doi=10.14321/qed.1.3.0175|jstor=10.14321/qed.1.3.0175|issn=2327-1574}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Poston|first1=Dudley L.|last2=Baumle|first2=Amanda K.|year=2010|title=Patterns of asexuality in the United States|journal=Demographic Research|volume=23|pages=509–530|doi=10.4054/DemRes.2010.23.18|jstor=26349603|issn=1435-9871|doi-access=free}}</ref> S. E. Smith dari ''[[The Guardian]]'' tidak yakin aseksualitas meningkat, malah cenderung ke arah keyakinan yang sekadar lebih terlihat.<ref name="Sesmith" /> [[Alfred Kinsey]] memberi nilai individu dari 0 sampai 6 menurut orientasi seksual mereka dari heteroseksual sampai homoseksual, yang dikenal sebagai [[Kinsey scale|skala Kinsey]]. Dia juga memasukkan kategori yang disebut "X" untuk individu yang "tidak memiliki kontak seksual atau tanpa reaksi."<ref name="Kinsey-male">{{Cite book|first=Alfred C.|last=Kinsey|year=1948|title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Male|publisher=W.B. Saunders|isbn=978-0-253-33412-1}}</ref><ref name="Kinsey-female">{{Cite book|first=Alfred C.|last=Kinsey|year=1953|title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Female|publisher=W.B. Saunders|isbn=978-0-253-33411-4}}</ref> Meskipun dalam zaman modern ini dikategorikan sebagai perwakilan aseksualitas,<ref name="Stange">{{cite book|author1=Mary Zeiss Stange|author2=Carol K. Oyster|author3=Jane E. Sloan|title=Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOkPjFQoBj8C&pg=PA158|access-date=July 27, 2013|date=February 23, 2011|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4129-7685-5|page=158|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914220425/https://books.google.com/books?id=bOkPjFQoBj8C&pg=PA158|url-status=live}}</ref> akademisi [[Justin J. Lehmiller]] menyatakan, "Klasifikasi X Kinsey menggarisbawahi kurangnya perilaku seksual, sementara definisi modern aseksualitas menggarisbawahi kurangnya ketertarikan seksual. Karenanya, Skala Kinsey mungkin tidak cukup akurat mengklasifikasi aseksualitas."<ref name="Lehmiller"/> Kinsey melabeli 1.5% orang dewasa laki-laki dari populasi sebagai ''X''.<ref name="Kinsey-male"/><ref name="Kinsey-female"/> Dalam buku keduanya, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (Perilaku Seksual pada Manusia Perempuan), dia melaporkan rincian individu yang merupakan X: perempuan tak menikah = 14–19%, perempuan menikah = 1–3%, perempuan pernah menikah = 5–8%, laki-laki tidak menikah = 3–4%, laki-laki menikah = 0%, dan laki-laki pernah menikah = 1–2%.<ref name="Kinsey-female" />

Data empiris yang lebih jauh mengenai demografi aseksual muncul pada tahun 1994, ketika sebuah tim penelitian di Britania Raya menjalankan sebuah survei komprehensif terhadap 18.876 penduduk Inggris, yang didorong oleh kebutuhan mengenai informasi seksual setelah [[Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS|pandemi AIDS]]. Survey tersebut meliputi pertanyaan mengenai ketertarikan seksual, yang dijawab oleh 1.05% responden dengan mereka "tidak pernah merasakan ketertarikan secara seksual pada siapapun sama sekali".<ref>Wellings, K. (1994). ''Sexual Behaviour in Britain: The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles.'' [[Penguin Books]].</ref> Kajian fenomena ini dilanjutkan oleh peneliti Kanada, [[Anthony Bogaert]] di tahun 2004, yang mengeksplorasi demografi aseksual dalam sebuah rangkaian kajian. Penelitian Bogaert mengindikasikan bahwa 1% populasi Inggris tidak mengalami ketertarikam seksual, tapi dia meyakini bahwa angka 1% bukan merupakan refleksi akurat dari persentase populasi yang kemungkinan jauh lebih besar yang dapat diidentifikasi sebagai aseksual, dengan catatan bahwa 30% orang yang dikontak untuk survei awal memilih untuk tidak berpartisipasi dalam survei ini. Karena orang-orang yang pengalaman seksualnya kurang menolak berpartisipasi dalam kajian mengenai seksualitas, dan aseksual cenderung kurang mendapat pengalaman seksual daripada orang-orang seksual, kemungkinan aseksual kurang terwakili dalam partisipasi responden. Kajian yang sama menemukan jumlah homoseksual dan biseksual dikombinasikan sekitar 1.1% dari populasi, yang jauh lebih kecil dibanding yang diindikasikan oleh kajian-kajian lainnya.<ref name="Bogaert2006" /><ref name = Bogaert2004>{{cite journal|last=Bogaert|first=Anthony F. |s2cid=41057104 |year=2004 |title=Asexuality: prevalence and associated factors in a national probability sample |journal=[[Journal of Sex Research]] |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=279–87|pmid=15497056 |doi=10.1080/00224490409552235}}</ref>

Bertentangan dengan angka 1% Bogaert, sebuah kajian oleh Aicken et al., yang dipublikasikan pada tahun 2013, mengemukakan bahwa, berdasarkan data  Natsal-2 dari tahun 2000 sampai 2001, kelaziman aseksualitas di Inggris hanya 0.4% untuk rentang usia 16–44.<ref name="Fischer"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = Who reports absence of sexual attraction in Britain? Evidence from national probability surveys|journal = Psychology & Sexuality|date = 2013-05-01|issn = 1941-9899|pages = 121–135|volume = 4|issue = 2|doi = 10.1080/19419899.2013.774161|first1 = Catherine R. H.|last1 = Aicken|first2 = Catherine H.|last2 = Mercer|first3 = Jackie A.|last3 = Cassell|s2cid = 62275856|url = http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1301794/|access-date = October 14, 2018|archive-date = September 23, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190923043744/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1301794/|url-status = live}}</ref> Persentase ini mengindikasikan penurunan dari angka 0.9% yang ditentukan dari data Natsal-1 yang dikumpulkan dari rentang usia yang sama satu dasawarsa sebelumnya.<ref name=":0" /> Analisis yang dilakukan tahun 2015 oleh Bogaert juga menemukan penurunan yang sama antara data Natsal-1 dan Natsal-2.<ref name="bogaert2015" /> Aicken, Mercer, dan Cassell menemukan beberapa bukti perbedaan etnik di antara para responden yang tidak mengalami ketertarikan seksual; baik laki-laki maupun perempuan asal India dan Pakistan memiliki kemungkinan lebih tinggi melaporkan kekurangan ketertarikan seksual.<ref name=":0" />

Dalam sebuah survei yang dilakukan oleh [[YouGov]] di tahun 2015, 1.632 penduduk Inggris dewasa diminta untuk berusaha menempatkan diri mereka dalam skala Kinsey. 1% peserta menjawab "Tanpa seksualitas". Perincian pesertanya adalah 0% laki-laki, 2% perempuan; 1% melintasi semua rentang usia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2015/08/16/half-young-not-heterosexual |title=1 in 2 young people say they are not 100% heterosexual |at=See the full poll results |date=2015-08-16 |format=PDF |access-date=2018-12-31 |archive-date=April 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409173050/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2015/08/16/half-young-not-heterosexual |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Orientasi seksual, kesehataan mental, dan penyebab ===
Ada perdebatan besar mengenai apakah aseksualitas merupakan orientasi seksual.<ref name="Sex and society"/><ref name="Bogaert 2015"/> Aseksualitas telah dibandingkan dan disamakan dengan [[hypoactive sexual desire disorder|hypoactive sexual desire disorder/gangguan hasrat seksual hipoaktif]] (HSDD), bahwa keduanya mengimplikasikan kekurangan ketertarikan seksual secara umum pada siapapun; HSDD telah dipergunakan untuk secara medis merawat aseksualitas, tapi aseksualitas secara umum tidak dianggap sebagai gangguan atau [[sexual dysfunction|disfungsi seksual]] (seperti [[anorgasmia]], [[anhedonia]], dll.), karena aseksualitas tidak berarti mendifinisikan seseorang memiliki masalah medis atau masalah yang berhubungan dengan orang lain secara sosial.<ref name="DePaulo"/><ref name="Richards and Barker"/><ref name="Reconsidering Asexuality">{{cite journal|last=Chasin|first=CJ DeLuzio|title=Reconsidering Asexuality and Its Radical Potential|journal=Feminist Studies|year=2013|volume=39|issue=2|page=405|doi=10.1353/fem.2013.0054|s2cid=147025548|url=http://cj.chasin.ca/Chasin_Reconsidering.Asexuality_FS.Vol39.2_2013.pdf|access-date=April 29, 2014|archive-date=March 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303164252/http://cj.chasin.ca/Chasin_Reconsidering.Asexuality_FS.Vol39.2_2013.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Tak seperti orang yang memiliki HSDD, orang-orang aseksual secara normal<!--CATATAN: "Secara normal" dipergunakan di sini karena, seperti yang diperlihatkan sumber di bawah ini, sebagian orang yang mengidentifikasi diri sebagai aseksual mengalami gangguan seperti ini. --> tidak mengalami "penanda kesulitan" dan "penderitaan antarpersonal" berkaitan dengan perasaan terhadap seksualitas mereka,<!--CATATAN: "Mengenai perasaan terhadap seksualitas mereka" dipergunakan di sini karena seseorang mungkin mengalami salah satu dari gangguan-gangguan ini, apapun seksualitas mereka.--> atau secara umum kekurangan [[sexual arousal|gairah seksual]]; aseksualitas dianggap kekurangan atau ketiadaan ketertarikan seksual sebagai karakteristik yang ditanggung selama hidup.<ref name="Bogaert2006"/><ref name="Richards and Barker"/> Salah satu kajian menemukan bahwa, dibandingkan dengan subjek HSDD, aseksual melaporkan tingkat yang lebih rendah dari [[sexual desire|hasrat seksual]], pengalaman seksual, penderitaan yang berkenaan dengan seks, dan gejala-gejala [[Depression (mood)|depresif]].<ref name="brotto2015">{{cite journal | author1 = Brotto, L. A. |author2=Yule, M. A. |author3=Gorzalka, B..B. |s2cid=30504509 | year = 2015 | title = Asexuality: An Extreme Variant of Sexual Desire Disorder? | journal = The Journal of Sexual Medicine | doi=10.1111/jsm.12806 |pmid=25545124 | volume=12 | issue = 3 | pages=646–660}}</ref> Peneliti Richards dan Barker melaporkan bahwa aseksualitas tidak memiliki kadar [[alexithymia]], depresi, atau [[personality disorder|gangguan kepribadian]].<!--CATATAN: Bagian "menarik diri secara sosial" tidak disertakan karena informasi yang bertentangan dalam hal itu, yang didiskusikan dalam bagian "Kesehatan mental" di halaman bicara Aseksualitas (versi bahasa Inggris). --><ref name="Richards and Barker"/> Namun, sebagian orang mungkin mengidentifikasi diri aseksual meskipun kondisi nonseksual mereka dijelaskan oleh salah satu atau lebih gangguan yang disebut di atas.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks 2">{{cite book|author=Karli June Cerankowski|author2=Megan Milks|title=Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives|isbn=978-1-134-69253-8|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2014|page=246|access-date=July 3, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT246|archive-date=September 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912115307/https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT246|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kajian pertama yang memberikan data empiris mengenai aseksual diterbitkan pada tahun 1983 yang ditulis oleh Paula Nurius, mengenai hubungan antara orientasi seksual dan kesehatan mental.<ref name="Ruspini">{{cite book|author=Elisabetta Ruspini|author2=Megan Milks|title=Diversity in family life|isbn=978-1447300939|publisher=[[Policy Press]]|year=2013|pages=35–36|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjMbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726100946/https://books.google.com/books?id=AjMbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35|url-status=live}}</ref> 689 subjek—sebagian besar merupakan mahasiswa dari berbagai universitas di Amerika Serikat yang sedang mempelajari kelas-kelas psikologi atau sosiologi—diberi beberapa survei, termasuk empat skala kesehatan diri klinis. Hasilnya memperlihatkan aseksual lebih mungkin memiliki harga diri yang rendah dan lebih mungkin mengalami depresi daripada anggota orientasi seksual lainnya; 25.88% dari heteroseksual, 26.54% biseksuals (yang juga disebut "ambiseksual"), 29.88% homoseksual, dan 33.57% aseksual yang dilaporkan bermasalah dengan harga diri. Kecenderungan yang sama juga muncul bagi depresi. Nurius tidak percaya kesmpulan tegas dapat ditarik dari hal ini karena berbagai alasan.<ref name="Ruspini"/><ref name="Nurius">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1080/00224498309551174 | last1 = Nurius | first1 = Paula | year = 1983| title = Mental Health Implications of Sexual Orientation | journal = The Journal of Sex Research | volume = 19 | issue = 2| pages = 119–136 }}</ref>

Dalam kajian tahun 2013, Yule et al. melihat variasi kesehatan mental antara Kaukasia yang heteroseksual, homoseksual, biseksual, dan aseksual. Hasilnya dari peserta 203 laki-laki dan 603 perempuan termasuk dalam temuan-temuannya. Yule et al. menemukan peserta laki-laki aseksual lebih mungkin dilaporkan mengalami gangguan suasana hati daripada laki-laki lainnya, khususnya bila dibandingkan dengan peserta heteroseksual. Hal yang sama juga ditemukan pada peserta perempuan aseksual dibanding dengan yang heteroseksual; namun, perempuan nonaseksual dan nonhetereseksual memiliki angka tertinggi. Peserta aseksual dari kedua jenis kelamin lebih mungkin memiliki gangguan kecemasan daripada peserta heteroseksual dan nonheteroseksual, karena mereka lebih mungkin daripada peserta heteroseksual participants dilaporkan memiliki perasaan bunuh diri dalam waktu yang belum lama berlalu. Yule et al. mengajukan hipotesis bahwa sebagian dari perbedaan ini mungkin karena diskriminasi dan faktor-faktor sosial lainnya.<ref name=":3">{{cite journal | last1 = Yule | first1 = Morag A. | last2 = Brotto | first2 = Lori A. | last3 = Gorzalka | first3 = Boris B. | s2cid = 147120909 | year = 2013 | title = Mental Health and Interpersonal Functioning in Self-Identified Asexual Men and Women | journal = Psychology & Sexuality | volume = 4 | issue = 2| pages = 136–151 | doi = 10.1080/19419899.2013.774162 }}</ref>

Berkenaan dengan kategori orientasi seksual, aseksualitas mungkin diperdebatkan bukan merupakan kategori yang berarti untuk ditambahkan pada rangkaiannya, dan malah diperdebatkan sebagai kekurangan orientasi seksual atau seksualitas.<ref name="Bogaert 2015"/> Argumen lainnya berpendapat bahwa aseksualitas merupakan penyangkalan seksualitas alami seseorang, dan merupakan gangguan yang disebabkan oleh rasa malu terhadap seksualitas, kecemasan atau [[sexual abuse|pelecehan seksual]], terkadang mendasarkan keyakinan ini pada aseksual yang bermasturbasi atau sesekali terlibat dalam aktivitas seksual hanya untuk menyenangkan pasangan asmara.<ref name="Bogaert 2015"/><ref name="Bridgeman"/><ref name="More to life"/> Dalam konteks identitas politik orientasi seksual, aseksualitas mungkin secara pragmatis memenuhi fungsi politik satu kategori identitas orientasi seksual.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Pendapat bahwa aseksualitas merupakan disfungsi seksual merupakan kontroversi di antara komunitas aseksual. Mereka uang mengidentifikasi diri sebagai aseksual biasanya memilih diakui sebagai orientasi seksual.<ref name="Sex and society"/> Para akademisi yang berpendapat bahwa aseksualitas merupakan orientasi seksual dapat menunjuk pada keberadaaan pilihan seksual yang berbeda.<ref name="Bogaert 2015"/><ref name="Halter"/><ref name="More to life"/> Mereka dan banyak orang-orang aseksual meyakini bahwa kekurangan ketertarikan seksual cukup valid untuk dikategorikan sebagai orientasi seksual.<ref name="Decker">{{cite book|last1=Decker|first1=Julie Sondra|title=The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality|date=2015|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|location=New York City, New York|isbn=978-1-5107-0064-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQYQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT162|access-date=January 10, 2018|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726100704/https://books.google.com/books?id=PQYQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT162|url-status=live}}</ref> Para peneliti berpendapat bahwa aseksual tidak memilih untuk tidak memiliki hasrat seksual, dan secara umum mukai menemukan perbedaan mereka dalam perilaku seksual sekitar masa remaja. Karena fakta-fakta ini muncul, memang beralasan bahwa aseksualitas lebih dari sekadar pilihan perilaku dan bukan sesuatu yang dapat disembuhkan seperti gangguan.<ref name="More to life"/><ref name="Koukounas">{{cite journal | last1= Over | first1= Ray | last2= Koukounas | first2= Eric | year= 1995 | title= Habituation of Sexual Arousal: Product and Process | journal= Annual Review of Sex Research | volume= 6 | issue= 1 | pages= 187–223 | doi= 10.1016/S0301-0511(01)00096-5 | url= http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10532528.1995.10559905 | access-date= January 20, 2013 | archive-date= September 23, 2019 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190923043739/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10532528.1995.10559905 | url-status= live }}<br />Cited from: {{cite book |last= Kelly |first= Gary F. |title=Sexuality Today: The Human Perspective |edition= 7th |year=2004 |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |isbn=978-0-07-255835-7 |page=401}}</ref> Ada juga analisis mengenai apakah mengidentifikasi diri sebagai aseksual menjadi lebih populer.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Meyer|first=Doug|s2cid=151482192|title=The Disregarding of Heteronormativity: Emphasizing a Happy Queer Adulthood and Localizing Anti-Queer Violence to Adolescent Schools|journal=Sexuality Research & Social Policy|volume=14|issue=3|pages=331–344|doi=10.1007/s13178-016-0272-7|year=2017}}</ref>

Penelitian mengenai etiologi orientasi seksual ketika diterapkan pada aseksualitas memiliki masalah definisi orientasi seksual yang tidak konsisten dengan definisi para peneliti yang memasukkan aseksualitas.<ref>{{Cite book | pmid = 19955753 | doi=10.1159/000262525 | volume=17 | title=Sexual hormones and the brain: an essential alliance for sexual identity and sexual orientation | year=2010 | journal=Endocr Dev | pages=22–35 | last1 = Garcia-Falgueras | first1 = A | last2 = Swaab | first2 = DF| series=Endocrine Development | isbn=978-3-8055-9302-1 }}</ref> Ketika heteroseksualitas, homoseksualitas, dan biseksualitas biasanya, tapi tidak selalu, ditentukan selama tahun-tahun awal kehidupan sebelum masa remaja, tidak diketahui kapan aseksualitas dapat ditentukan. "Tidak jelas apakah karakteristik ini [yaitu, "kekurangan ketertarikan dalam atau hasrat untuk seks"] berlaku sepanjang hidup, ataukah diperoleh."<ref name="Prause"/>

Salah satu kriteria yang biasanya diambil untuk mendefinisikan orientasi seksual adalah kestabilan sepanjang waktu. Dalam sebuah analisis di tahun 2016 yang dimuat dalam ''[[Archives of Sexual Behavior]]'', Brotto et al. menemukan "hanya dukungan lemah" bagi kriteria ini ditemui di antara individu aseksual.<ref name="Brotto-2016">{{cite journal|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|year=2016|title=Asexuality: Sexual Orientation, Paraphilia, Sexual Dysfunction, or None of the Above?|last1=Brotto|first1=L. A.|last2=Yule|first2=M.|volume=46|issue=3|pages=619–627|doi=10.1007/s10508-016-0802-7|pmid=27542079|s2cid=207092428}}</ref> Sebuah analisis mengenai data dari [[National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health|Kajian Longitudinal Nasional terhadap Kesehatan Remaja hingga Dewasa]] oleh Stephen Cranney menemukan bahwa, dari 14{{efn|This denominator is mistakenly given as 25 in the abstract of Cranney's initial study. The number of individuals who reported no sexual attraction in wave III was 14, according to Table 2, the first paragraph of the section "Multivariate Analysis", and the following quote from Cranney's subsequent commentary: "Specifically, of the 14 people who indicated 'no sexual attraction' in Wave III, only three went on to do so in Wave IV (Table 2)."<ref name="Cranney-2"/>}} individu yang dilaporkan tidak memiliki ketertarikan seksual dalam gelombang ketiga kajian ini (ketika subjeknya berada dalam usia 18 hingga 26 tahun), hanya tiga yang terus teridentifikasi seperti ini pada gelombang keempat, enam tahun kemudian.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Temporal Stability of Lack of Sexual Attraction across Young Adulthood|last=Cranney|first=Stephen|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|year=2016|volume=45|issue=3|pages=743–749|doi=10.1007/s10508-015-0583-4|pmid=26228992|pmc=5443108}}</ref> Namun, Cranney mencatat bahwa identifikasi aseksual dalam gelombang ketiga masih signifikan sebagai penelaah identifikasi seksual dalam gelombang berikutnya. Dalam penafsiran selanjutnya, Cranney menyatakan bahwa interpretasi data ini diperumit oleh ketiadaan "penetapan standar kuantitatif untuk berapa lama hasrat seksual berlangsung sebelum dianggap cukup stabil atau mendalam untuk dianggap sebagai orientasi".<ref name="Cranney-2">{{cite journal|last=Cranney|first=Stephen|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|year=2016|title=Does Asexuality Meet the Stability Criterion for a Sexual Orientation?|volume=46|issue=3|pages=637–638|doi=10.1007/s10508-016-0887-z|pmid=27815642|s2cid=40119928}}</ref>

=== Aktivitas seksual dan seksualitas ===
Meskipun sebagian aseksual bermasturbasi sebagai bentuk tunggal pelepasan atau melakukan hubungan badan untuk keuntungan pasangan asmara, yang lainnya tidak ([[Aseksualitas#Definisi, identitas dan hubungan|lihat di atas]]).<ref name="Prause"/><ref name="Cerankowski and Milks"/><ref name="New Scientist"/> Fischer et al. melaporkan bahwa "para akademisi yang mengkaji fisiologi sekitar aseksualitas berpendapat bahwa orang-orang aseksual mampu bergairah berkenaan dengan alat kelaminnya tapi mungkin mengalami kesulitan dengan yang disebut rangsangan subjektif." Ini artinya adalah "meskipun tubuhnya terangsang, secara subjektif – di tingkat pikiran dan emosi – seseorang tidak mengalami rangsangan".<ref name="Fischer"/>

[[Institut Kinsey untuk Penelitian dalam Jenis Kelamin, Gender, dan Reproduksi|Institut Kinsey]] mensponsori survei kecil lainnya mengenai topik ini di tahun 2007, yang menemukan bahwa aseksual yang mengidentifikasi diri "dilaporkan secara signifikan kurang berhasrat seks dengan pasangan, memiliki tingkat terangsang secara seksual lebih rendah, dan memiliki gairah seksual yang lebih rendah, tetapi tidak berbeda secara konsisten dari nonaseksual dalam angka penghambatan seksual mereka atau hasrat bermasturbasi mereka".<ref name="Prause" />

Sebuah makalah di tahun 1977 berjudul ''Asexual and Autoerotic Women: Two Invisible Groups'', yang ditulis oleh Myra T. Johnson, secara eksplisit dipersembahkan pada aseksualitas dalam manusia.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks 3">{{cite book|author=Karli June Cerankowski|author2=Megan Milks|title=Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives|isbn=978-1-134-69253-8|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2014|page=244|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT244|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726124753/https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT244|url-status=live}}</ref> Johnson mendefinisikan aseksual sebagai lelaki dan perempuan "yang, dengan mengabaikan kondisi fisik atau emosi, sejarah seksual sesungguhnya, dan status pernikahan, maupun orientasi ideologis, tampaknya ''memilih'' untuk tidak terlibat dalam aktivitas seksual." Dia membandingkan perempuan [[Autoeroticism|otoerotik]] dengan perempuan aseksual: "Perempuan aseksual... tidak memiliki hasrat seksual sama sekali [tapi] perempuan otoerotik... mengenali hasrat semacam itu namun memilih untuk memuaskan diri sendiri." Bukti Johnson sebagian besar adalah surat-surat yang ditemukan redaksi dalam majalah-majalah perempuan yang ditulis oleh perempuan aseksual/otoerotik. Dia menggambarkan mereka sebagai tak terlihat, "tertekan oleh sebuah konsensus bahwa mereka tidak ada," dan ditinggalkan baik oleh revolusi seksual maupun gerakan feminis. Johnson berpendapat bahwa masyarakat mengabaikan atau menyangkal keberadaan mereka atau bersikeras mereka pasti pertapa untuk berbagai alasan relijius, neurotik, atau aseksual karena alasan politis.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks 3"/><ref>"Asexual and Autoerotic Women: Two Invisible Groups" found in ed. Gochros, H.&nbsp;L.; J.&nbsp;S. Gochros (1977). ''The Sexually Oppressed''. Associated Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8096-1915-3}}</ref>

Dalam sebuah kajian yang diterbitkan tahun 1979 dalam buku kelima ''Advances in the Study of Affect'', dan juga dalam artikel lain yang menggunakan data yang sama dan diterbitkan di tahun 1980 dalam ''[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]]'', Michael D. Storms dari [[University of Kansas|Universitas Kansas]] mengikhtisarkan skala Kinsey yang digambarkan kembali oleh dirinya sendiri. Sementara Kinsey mengukur orientasi seksual berdasarkan kombinasi perilaku seksual dan berfantasi serta erotisisme yang sesungguhnya, Storms hanya menggunakan berfantasi dan erotisisme. Namun, Storms menempatkan heteroeritisisme dan homoerotisisme pada sumbu yang berbeda, bukan pada dua ujung sumbu yang sama; hal ini memungkinkan perbedaan antara biseksualitas (yang memeragakan baik heteroerotisisme maupun homoerotisisme dalam tingkatan yang masing-masing dapat dibandingkan dengan heteroseksual atau homoseksual) dan aseksual (yang memeragakan tingkat homoerotisisme yang dapat dibandingkan dengan heteroseksual dan tingkat heteroerotisisme yang dapat dibandingkan dengan homoseksual, yaitu, sedikit sekali hingga tak ada sama sekali). Jenis skala ini diperuntukkan bagi aseksualitas untuk pertama kalinya.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks 4">{{cite book|author=Karli June Cerankowski|author2=Megan Milks|title=Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives|isbn=978-1-134-69253-8|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2014|page=113|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT113|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726100210/https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT113|url-status=live}}</ref> Storms memperkirakan bahwa banyak peneliti yang mengikuti model Kinsey dapat salah mengategorikan subjek aseksual sebagai biseksual, karena keduanya secara sederhana didefinisikan oleh kekurangan pilihan gender dalam pasangan seksual.<ref name = Storms1980>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.38.5.783 | last1 = Storms | first1 = Michael D. | year = 1980 | title = Theories of Sexual Orientation | journal = [[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] | volume = 38 | issue = 5 | pages = 783–792 | url = http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Theories_of_sexual_orientation.pdf | access-date = February 2, 2013 | archive-date = September 23, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190923043737/http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Theories_of_sexual_orientation.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name = Storms1979>Storms, M.&nbsp;D. (1979). Sexual orientation and self-perception. ed. Pliner, Patricia et al. ''Advances in the Study of Communication and Affect. Volume 5: Perception of Emotion in Self and Others'' Plenum Press</ref>

Dalam sebuah kajian tahun 1983 oleh Paula Nurius, yang menyertakan 689 subjek (sebagian besar merupakan mahasiswa berbagai universitas di Amerika Serikat yang sedang mempelajari kelas-kelas psikologi atau sosiologi), skala berfantasi dan erotisisme dua dimensi digunakan untuk mengukur orientasi seksual. Berdasarkan hasilnya, para responden diberi angka mulai dari 0 hingga 100 untuk heteroerotisisme 0 sampai 100 untuk homoerotisisme. Para responden yang memiliki angka kurang dari 10 pada keduanya dilabeli "aseksual". Mereka ini terdiri dari 5% lelaki dan 10% perempuan. Hasilnya memperlihatkan bahwa aseksual dilaporkan memiliki frekuensi yang jauh lebih rendah dan memiliki hasrat frekuensi aktivitas seksual yang bervariasi termasuk memiliki pasangan banyak, aktivitas seksual anal, berhubungan seksual dengan lokasi yang bervariasi, dan berbagai aktivitas otoerotik.<ref name="Ruspini"/><ref name="Nurius"/>

=== Feminist research ===
Bidang kajian aseksualitas masih muncul sebagai turunan dari bidang yang lebih luas mengenai [[gender and sexuality studies|kajian gender dan seksualitas]]. Para peneliti terkemuka yang telah menghasilkan karya signifikan dalam kajian aseksualitas di antaranya[[KJ Cerankowski]], Ela Przybylo, dan CJ DeLuzio Chasin.

Sebuah naskah yang ditulis tahun 2010 oleh KJ Cerankowski dan Megan Milks, berjudul ''New Orientations: Asexuality and Its Implications for Theory and Practice'', mengemukakan bahwa aseksualitas mungkin serupa pertanyaan tersendiri untuk kajian gender dan seksualitas.<ref name="Hultquist">{{cite book|author1=Aleksondra Hultquist|author2=Elizabeth J. Mathews|title=New Perspectives on Delarivier Manley and Eighteenth Century Literature: Power, Sex, and Text|isbn=978-1317196921|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2016|page=123|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDGTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT123|archive-date=September 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923043758/https://books.google.com/books?id=lDGTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT123|url-status=live}}</ref> Cerankowski dan Milks berpendapat bahwa aseksualitas menimbulkan lebih banyak lagi pertanyaan dari yang telah dijawabnya, seperti bagaimana seseorang dapat puasa berhubungan seks, yang secara umum diterima oleh masyarakat sebagai naluri paling mendasar.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks 5">{{cite book|author=Karli June Cerankowski|author2=Megan Milks|title=Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives|isbn=978-1-134-69253-8|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2014|pages=1–410|access-date=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726101807/https://books.google.com/books?id=XbgTAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Makalah ''New Orientations'' mereka menyatakan bahwa masyarakat memiliki anggapan "Seksualitas [LGBT dan] perempuan sebagai berdaya atau tertindas. Gerakan aseksual menantang asumsi tersebut dengan menantang banyak paham dasar mengenai [[pro-sex feminism|feminisme proseks]] [yang didalamnya] sudah didefinisikan sebagai seksualitas represif atau antiseks." Sebagai tambahan untuk menerima identifikasi diri sebagai aseksual, Jaringan Kebertampakan dan Pendidikan Aseksual telah merumuskan aseksualitas sebagai orientasi yang ditentukan secara biologis. Rumusan ini, jika dibedah secara ilmiah dan dibuktikan, akan mendukung kajian buta peneliti [[Simon LeVay]] mengenai [[hypothalamus|hipotalamus]] dalam lelaki gay, perempuan, dan lelaki lurus, yang mengindikasikan bahwa ada perbedaan biologis antara lelaki lurus dan lelaki gay.<ref>{{cite book|last=Myers|first=David G.|title=Psychology|year=2010|publisher=Worth Publishers|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4292-1597-8|page=474|edition=9th}}</ref>

Di tahun 2014, Cerankowski dan Milks menyunting dan menerbitkan ''Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives'', sebuah koleksi esai yang dimaksudkan untuk menjelajahi politik aseksualitas dari perspektif feminis dan queer.<ref name="Cerankowski and Milks 5"/> Koleksi ini dibagi menjadi pendahuluan dan enam bagian: Meneorikan Aseksualitas: Orientasi Baru; Politik Aseksualitas; Memvisualkan Aseksualitas dalam Budaya Media; Aseksualitas dan Maskulinitas; Kesehatan, Ketunaan, dan Medikalisasi; serta Membaca Secara Aseksual: Teori Karya Tulis Aseksual. Setiap bagian terdiri dari dua sampai tiga naskah yang mengulas aspek penelitian aseksualitas yang sesuai. Salah satu naskahnya ditulis oleh Ela Przybylo, nama lain yang mulai dikenal dalam karya tulis akademis aseksual. Artikelnya, berkenaan dengan antologi Cerankowski dan Milks, memusatkan perhatian pada laki-laki yang mengidentifikasi diri aseksual, khususnya pada pengalaman tekanan-tekanan yang dialami laki-laki terhadap berhubungan seks dalam wacana dan media Barat yang dominan. Tiga lelaki ynggal di Ontario bagian Selatan, Kanada, diwawancari pada tahun 2011, dan Przybylo mengakui bahwa ukuran sampelnya yang kecil artinya penemuannya tak dapat digeneralisasikan pada populasi yang lebih besar dalam hal keterwakilan, dan bahwa mereka "bersifat menyelidiki dan sementara", terutama dalam bidang yang masih kekurangan dalam teorisasi.<ref name=":1">Przybylo, Ela. "Masculine Doubt and Sexual Wonder: Asexually-Identified Men Talk About Their (A)sexualities" from Karli June Cerankowski and Megan Milks, eds., ''Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives'' (Routledge, 2014), 225-246.</ref> Ketiga orang yang diwawancara terpengaruh oleh stereotipe bahwa lelaki harus menikmati dan menginginkan seks untuk menjadi "lelaki sejati".<ref name=":1" />

Karya Przybylo lainnya, ''Asexuality and the Feminist Politics of "Not Doing It"'', yang diterbitkan di tahun 2011, mengenakan lensa feminis untuk menulis ilmiah tentang aseksualitas. Pryzyblo berpendapat bahwa aseksualitas dimungkinkan hanya melalui konteks orang Barat mengenai "keharusan-keharusan seksual, senggama, dan heteroseksual".<ref name=":2">{{cite thesis |last=Przybylo |first=Ela |year=2011 |title=Asexuality and the Feminist Politics of 'Not Doing It' |degree=MA |location=Edmonton, Alberta |publisher=University of Alberta |doi=10.7939/R3RB04 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Dia menyebutkan karya-karya terdahulu yang ditulis oleh Dana Densmore, Valerie Solanas, dan Breanne Fahs, yang berpendapat "aseksualitas dan selibat" sebagai strategi politik feminis melawan patriarki.<ref name=":2" /> Meskipun Przybylo memang membuat pemisahan antara aseksualitas dan selibat, dia menganggap mengaburkan garis di antara keduanya membuat produktif bagi seorang feminis memahami topik tersebut.<ref name=":2" /> Dalam naskahnya di tahun 2013, "Memproduksi Fakta: Aseksualitas Empiris dan Kajian Ilmiah Mengenai Seks", Przybylo membedakan antara dua tahap berbeda penelitian aseksual: bahwa akhir dasawarsa 1970an hingga awal 1990an, yang sering meliputi pemahaman sangat terbatas mengenai aseksualitas, dan peninjauan kembali yang dilakukan lebih baru mengenai subjek tersebut yang dikatakannya dimulai oleh kajian Bogaert di tahun 2004 dan telah mempopulerkan subjek tersebut dan membuatnya lebih "terlihat secara budaya". Dalam artikel ini, sekali lagi Przybylo menegaskan pemahaman aseksualitas sebagai fenomena budaya, dan tetap kritis mengenai kajian ilmiahnya.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Przybylo | first1 = Ela | s2cid = 144394132 | year = 2013 | title = Producing Facts: Empirical Asexuality and the Scientific Study of Sex | journal = Feminism & Psychology | volume = 23 | issue = 2| pages = 224–242 | doi = 10.1177/0959353512443668 }}</ref> Pryzblo menerbitkan sebuah buku, ''Asexual Erotics,'' di tahun 2019. Dalam buku ini, dia berpendapat bahwa aseksualitas memiliki "paradoks" yaitu orientasi seksual yang didefinisikan oleh sama sekali ketiadaan aktivitas seksual. Dia membedakan antara pemahaman sosiologis mengenai aseksualitas dan pemahaman budaya, yang menurutnya dapat meliputi "jalinan terbuka berbagai kemungkinan, kesenjangan, ketumpangtindihan, perselisihan, dan keharmonisan".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Przybylo|first=Ela|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1096288008|title=Asexual erotics : intimate readings of compulsory sexuality|publisher=[[Ohio State University]]|year=2019|isbn=978-0-8142-1404-6|location=Columbus|pages=1–32|oclc=1096288008|access-date=December 9, 2020|archive-date=March 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309223644/https://www.worldcat.org/title/asexual-erotics-intimate-readings-of-compulsory-sexuality/oclc/1096288008|url-status=live}}</ref>

CJ DeLuzio Chasin menyatakan dalam ''Reconsidering Asexuality and Its Radical Potential'' bahwa penelitian akademis mengenai aseksualitas "telah memposisikan aseksualitas sejajar dengan wacana [[Essentialism|esensialis]] mengenai orientasi seksual" yang merepotkan karena menciptakan sebuah [[Binary opposition|biner]] antara aseksual dan orang-orang yang telah dikenai intervensi psikiatris untuk gangguan-gangguan seperti Gangguang Hasrat Seksial Hipoaktif.<ref name="Reconsidering Asexuality" /> Chasin mengatakan bahwa biner ini mengimplikasikan bahwa semua aseksual mengalami (karenanya menanggung) kekurangan ketertarikan seksual seumur hidup, sehingga semua nonaseksual yang mengalami kekurangan hasrat seksual merasa tertekan karenanya, dan menganggap para aseksual yang mengalami perasaan tertekan seperti itu abnormal secara psikologis.<ref name="Reconsidering Asexuality" /> Seperti yang dikatakan Chasin yang mendiagnosa sebagai HSDD bertindak mengobati dan merawat serta mengatur seksualitas perempuan, artikel itu bertujuan "mengungkap" definisi aseksual yang bermasalah yang berbahaya baik pada aseksual maupun perempuan. Chasin menyatakan bahwa aseksualitas memiliki daya untuk menantang wacana lumrah mengenai kealamian seksualitas, tapi penerimaan tanpa mempertanyakan definisi saat ini tidak memperkenankannya. Chasin juga berpendapat di situ dan di dalam karya lainnya dalam ''Making Sense in and of the Asexual Community: Navigating Relationships and Identities in a Context of Resistance'' bahwa merupakan hal yang penting untuk mempertanyakan kenapa seseorang dapat merasa tertekan mengenai hasrat seksual yang rendah. Chasin berargumen lebih jauh bahwa para dokter memiliki kewajiban secara etis untuk menghindari merawat hasrat seksual yang rendah pada hakikatnya sebagai ketidaknormalan psikologis, dan untuk mendiskusikan aseksualitas sebagai kemungkinan yang layak (saat relevan) dengan pasien yang secara klinis datang karena hasrat seksual yang rendah.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

=== Titik pertemuan dengan ras dan ketunaan ===
Akademisi Ianna Hawkins Owen menuliskan, "Kajian-kajian mengenai ras telah mengungkapkan penyebaran aseksualitas dalam wacana dominan sebagai satu perilaku seksual ideal untuk membenarkan baik pemberdayaan orang-orang kulit putih maupun pensubordinasian orang-orang kulit hitam untuk menegakkan sistem sosial dan politik yang dirasialisasi."<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Hawkins Owen|first=Ianna|title=Asexualities : feminist and queer perspectives|others=Cerankowski, Karli June., Milks, Megan.|year=2014|isbn=978-0-415-71442-6|location=New York|oclc=863044056}}</ref> Hal ini sebagian karena [[sexualization|seksualisasi]] dan deseksualisasi secara bersamaan terhadap perempuan-perempuan kulit hitam dalam [[Mammy archetype in the United States|pola dasar mami]], dan juga bagaimana masyarakat mendeseksualisasi minoritas ras tertentu, sebagai bagian dari penawaran untuk mengklaim superioritas oleh bangsa berkulit putih.<ref name=":6" /> Situasi ini hidup berdampingan dengan seksualisasi tubuh perempuan kulit hitam dalam pola dasar [[Jezebel]], yang keduanya digunakan untuk membenarkan perbudakan dan memungkinkan pengendalian yang lebih jauh.<ref name=":6" /> Owen juga mengkritisi "...investasi dalam membangun aseksualitas atas nama ras kulit putih (siapa lagi yang dapat mengklaim akses utuk menjadi seperti orang-orang lainnya?)".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Owen|first=Ianna Hawkins|s2cid=149999756|date=November 2018|title=Still, nothing: Mammy and black asexual possibility|journal=Feminist Review|language=en|volume=120|issue=1|pages=70–84|doi=10.1057/s41305-018-0140-9|issn=0141-7789|doi-access=free}}</ref> Eunjung Kim mengomentari pada titik temu antara ketunaan atau [[crip theory|teori lumpuh]] dan aseksualitas, dengan mengatakan bahwa orang-orang penyandang ketunaan lebih sering dideseksualisasi.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kim|first=Eunjung|title=Asexualities : feminist and queer perspectives|others=Cerankowski, Karli June., Milks, Megan.|year=2014|isbn=978-0-415-71442-6|location=New York|oclc=863044056}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Eunjung |date=2011 |title=Asexuality in disability narratives |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363460711406463 |journal=Sexualities |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=479–493 |doi=10.1177/1363460711406463 |s2cid=55747579 |via=Sage Journals |access-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307220258/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363460711406463 |url-status=live }}</ref> Kim membandingkan gagasan perempuan [[Hypoactive sexual desire disorder|dingin]] dengan aseksualitas dan menganalisis sejarahnya dari sudut queer, orang lumpuh, dan feminis. Akasemisi Karen Cuthbert berkomentar "menyediakan diskusi pertama yang berlandaskan empiris mengenai titik temu aseksualitas dan ketunaan (dan pada hal yang lebih sempit, gender dan 'ras')."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cuthbert |first=Karen |date=2017 |title=You Have to be Normal to be Abnormal: An Empirically Grounded Exploration of the Intersection of Asexuality and Disability |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038515587639 |journal=Sociology |language=en |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=241–257 |doi=10.1177/0038038515587639 |s2cid=141976966 |issn=0038-0385 |via=Sage Publications |access-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307225006/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038515587639 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Bogaert's psychological work and theories ===
Bogaert argues that understanding asexuality is of key importance to understanding sexuality in general.<ref name="bogaert2015">{{cite journal | last1 = Bogaert |first1=A. F. |s2cid=23720993 | year = 2015 | title = Asexuality: What It Is and Why It Matters | journal = Journal of Sex Research | volume = 52 | issue = 4 | pages = 362–379 | doi = 10.1080/00224499.2015.1015713|pmid=25897566 }}</ref> For his work, Bogaert defines asexuality as "a lack of lustful inclinations/feelings directed toward others," a definition that he argues is relatively new in light of recent theory and empirical work on sexual orientation. This definition of ''asexuality'' also makes clear this distinction between behavior and desire, for both asexuality and celibacy, although Bogaert also notes that there is some evidence of reduced sexual activity for those who fit this definition. He further distinguishes between desire for others and desire for sexual stimulation, the latter of which is not always absent for those who identify as asexual, although he acknowledges that other theorists define asexuality differently and that further research needs to be done on the "complex relationship between attraction and desire".<ref name="bogaert2015" /> Another distinction is made between romantic and sexual attraction, and he draws on work from [[developmental psychology]], which suggests that romantic systems derive from [[attachment theory]] while sexual systems "primarily reside in different brain structures".<ref name="bogaert2015" />

Concurrent with Bogaert's suggestion that understanding asexuality will lead to a better understanding of sexuality overall, he discusses the topic of asexual masturbation to theorize on asexuals and "'target-oriented' [[paraphilia]], in which there is an inversion, reversal, or disconnection between the self and the typical target/object of sexual interest/attraction" (such as attraction to oneself, labelled "automonosexualism").<ref name="bogaert2015" />

In an earlier 2006 article, Bogaert acknowledges that a distinction between behavior and attraction has been accepted into recent conceptualizations of sexual orientation, which aids in positioning asexuality as such.<ref name=":4">{{cite journal | last1 = Bogaert | first1 = Anthony F | s2cid = 143968129 | year = 2006 | title = Toward a Conceptual Understanding of Asexuality | journal = Review of General Psychology | volume = 10 | issue = 3| pages = 241–250 | doi = 10.1037/1089-2680.10.3.241}}</ref> He adds that, by this framework, "(subjective) sexual attraction is the psychological core of sexual orientation", and also addresses that there may be "some skepticism in [both] the academic and clinical communities" about classifying asexuality as a sexual orientation, and that it raises two objections to such a classification: First, he suggests that there could be an issue with self-reporting (i.e., "a 'perceived' or 'reported' lack of attraction", particularly for definitions of sexual orientation that consider physical arousal over subjective attraction), and, second, he raises the issue of overlap between absent and ''very'' ''low'' sexual desire, as those with an extremely low desire may still have an "underlying sexual orientation" despite potentially identifying as asexual.<ref name=":4" />

== Community ==
=== General ===

{{LGBT symbols}}

[[File:Asexual ring.jpg|thumb|Some members of the asexual community opt to wear a black ring on the middle finger of their right hand as a form of identification.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chasin | first1 = CJ DeLuzio | year = 2013 | title = Reconsidering Asexuality and Its Radical Potential | journal = Feminist Studies | volume = 39 | issue = 2| pages = 405–426 | doi = 10.1353/fem.2013.0054 | s2cid = 147025548 }}</ref>]]

An academic work dealing with the history of the asexual community is presently lacking.<ref name="Anthology">{{cite book |last1= Carrigan |first1= Mark |last2= Gupta |first2= Kristina |last3= Morrison |first3= Todd G. |year= 2015 |title= Asexuality and Sexual Normativity: An Anthology |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sEGDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 |publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-0-415-73132-4 |access-date= August 20, 2019 |archive-date= July 26, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200726115843/https://books.google.com/books?id=sEGDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 |url-status= live }}</ref> Although a few private sites for people with little or no sexual desire existed on the Internet in the 1990s,<ref name="Sigusch">[[Volkmar Sigusch]]. "Sexualitäten: Eine kritische Theorie in 99 Fragmenten". 2013. {{Interlanguage link multi|Campus Verlag|de|3=Campus Verlag|vertical-align=sup}}.</ref> scholars state that a community of self-identified asexuals coalesced in the early 21st century, aided by the popularity of [[Virtual community|online communities]].<ref name="Goldberg">{{cite book|author=Abbie E. Goldberg|title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies|isbn=978-1483371290|publisher=[[SAGE Publications]]|year=2016|page=92|access-date=October 5, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=736zDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|quote=[...] The sociological literature has stressed the novelty of asexuality as a distinctive form of social identification that emerged in the early 21st century.|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726100530/https://books.google.com/books?id=736zDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Volkmar Sigusch]] stated that "Groups such as 'Leather Spinsters' defended asexual life against the pressure of culture" and that "Geraldin van Vilsteren created the 'Nonlibidoism Society' in the [[Netherlands]], while [[Yahoo]] offered a group for asexuals, 'Haven for the Human Amoeba.'"<ref name="Sigusch" /> The '''Asexual Visibility and Education Network''' ('''AVEN''') is an organization founded by American asexuality [[Activism|activist]] [[David Jay]] in 2001 that focuses on asexuality issues.<ref name="Sex and society"/> Its stated goals are "creating public acceptance and discussion of asexuality and facilitating the growth of an asexual community".<ref name="Sex and society"/><ref name="Swash"/>

For some, being a part of a community is an important resource because they often report having felt ostracized.<ref name="Padraig"/> Although online communities exist, affiliation with online communities vary. Some question the concept of online community, while others depend on the online asexual community heavily for support. [[Elizabeth Abbott]] posits that there has always been an asexual element in the population, but that asexual people kept a low profile. While the failure to consummate marriage was seen as an insult to the sacrament of marriage in medieval Europe, and has sometimes been used as grounds for divorce or to rule a marriage void, asexuality, unlike homosexuality, has never been illegal, and it has usually gone unnoticed. However, in the 21st century, the anonymity of online communication and general popularity of [[social network]]ing online has facilitated the formation of a community built around a common asexual identity.<ref name="Duenwald">{{Cite news|first=Mary|last=Duenwald|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/09/fashion/thursdaystyles/09asexual.html|title=For Them, Just Saying No Is Easy|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 9, 2005|access-date=17 September 2007|archive-date=October 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020060013/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/09/fashion/thursdaystyles/09asexual.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Communities such as AVEN can be beneficial to those in search of answers to solve a crisis of identity with regard to their possible asexuality. Individuals go through a series of emotional processes that end with their identifying with the asexual community. They first realize that their sexual attractions differ from those of most of society. This difference leads to questioning whether the way they feel is acceptable, and possible reasons for why they feel this way. [[Pathology|Pathological]] beliefs tend to follow, in which, in some cases, they may seek medical help because they feel they have a disease. Self-understanding is usually reached when they find a definition that matches their feelings. Asexuality communities provide support and information that allows newly identified asexuals to move from self-clarification to identifying on a communal level, which can be empowering, because they now have something to associate with, which gives normality to this overall socially-isolating situation.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1177/1363460711406462 | last1 = Carrigan | first1 = Mark | s2cid = 146445274 | year = 2011 | title = There's more to life than sex? Differences and commonality within the asexual community| journal = Sexualities | volume = 14 | issue = 4 | pages = 462–478}}</ref>

Asexual organizations and other Internet resources play a key role in informing people about asexuality. The lack of research makes it difficult for doctors to understand the causation. Like with any sexual orientation, most people who are asexual are self-identified. This can be a problem when asexuality is mistaken for an intimacy or relationship problem or for other symptoms that do not define asexuality. There is also a significant population that either does not understand or does not believe in asexuality, which adds to the importance of these organizations to inform the general population; however, due to the lack of scientific fact on the subject, what these groups promote as information is often questioned.

On June 29, 2014, AVEN organized the second International Asexuality Conference, as an affiliate WorldPride event in Toronto. The first was held at the 2012 World Pride in London.<ref name="Tarrant2015">{{cite book|author=Shira Tarrant|title=Gender, Sex, and Politics: In the Streets and Between the Sheets in the 21st Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6nwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT278|date=June 19, 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-81475-7|pages=278–|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=February 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213211944/https://books.google.com/books?id=t6nwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT278|url-status=live}}</ref> The second such event, which was attended by around 250 people, was the largest gathering of asexuals to date.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/06/23/world_pride_toronto_asexuals_march_in_biggest_numbers_yet.html|title=World Pride Toronto: Asexuals march in biggest numbers yet|work=Toronto Star|date=June 23, 2014|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118012441/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/06/23/world_pride_toronto_asexuals_march_in_biggest_numbers_yet.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The conference included presentations, discussions, and workshops on topics such as research on asexuality, asexual relationships, and intersecting identities.

=== Symbols ===
[[File:Asexual Pride Flag.svg|thumb|The asexual [[pride flag]]]]
{{anchor|Flag}} <!-- This is a redirect target; see [[Asexual flag]]. -->
{{Main|LGBT symbols}}In 2009, AVEN members participated in the first asexual entry into an American pride parade when they walked in the [[San Francisco Pride Parade]].<ref name="Rufus">{{cite magazine|first=Rufus|last=Anneli|title=Stuck. Asexuals at the Pride Parade.|magazine=[[Psychology Today]]|date=June 22, 2009|access-date=July 15, 2013|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stuck/200906/asexuals-the-pride-parade|archive-date=March 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309223639/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stuck/200906/asexuals-the-pride-parade|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2010, after a period of debate over having an '''asexual flag''' and how to set up a system to create one, and contacting as many asexual communities as possible, a flag was announced as the '''asexual pride flag''' by one of the teams involved. The final flag had been a popular candidate and had previously seen use in online forums outside of AVEN. The final vote was held on a survey system outside of AVEN where the main flag creation efforts were organized. The flag colors have been used in artwork and referenced in articles about asexuality.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://recultured.com/uncategorized/09/asexuality-redefining-love-and-sexuality/ |title=Asexuality – Redefining Love and Sexuality |publisher=recultured |date=9 January 2012 |access-date=7 August 2012 |archive-date=June 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617124513/http://recultured.com/uncategorized/09/asexuality-redefining-love-and-sexuality/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The flag consists of four horizontal stripes: black, grey, white, and purple from top to bottom. The black stripe represents asexuality, the grey stripe representing the grey-area between sexual and asexual, the white stripe sexuality, and the purple stripe community.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bilić |first1=Bojan |last2=Kajinić |first2=Sanja |title=Intersectionality and LGBT Activist Politics: Multiple Others in Croatia and Serbia | publisher=Springer | date=2016 |pages=95–96}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Decker |first1=Julie |title=The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality | publisher=Skyhorse}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Asexual |url=http://www.lgbt.ucla.edu/Campus-Resources/Asexual |publisher=UCLA Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource center |access-date=June 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904115908/http://www.lgbt.ucla.edu/Campus-Resources/Asexual |archive-date=September 4, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Ace Week ===
Ace Week (formerly Asexual Awareness Week) occurs on the last full week in October. It is an [[List of LGBT awareness periods|awareness period]] that was created to celebrate and bring awareness to asexuality (including grey asexuality).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/meet-india-s-newest-sexual-minority-the-asexuals/story-pNyerWTWrBnJHFqpkPwrIP.html|title=Meet India's newest sexual minority: The asexuals|last=Kumar|first=Shikha|date=2017-03-18|work=[[Hindustan Times]]|access-date=2017-09-08|archive-date=June 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629050058/https://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/meet-india-s-newest-sexual-minority-the-asexuals/story-pNyerWTWrBnJHFqpkPwrIP.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="aaw">{{cite web|url=http://asexualawarenessweek.com/about.html|title=AAW – About Us|website=asexualawarenessweek.com|access-date=2016-01-03|archive-date=January 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107024024/http://www.asexualawarenessweek.com/about.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was founded by Sara Beth Brooks in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/robyn-exton/aces-show-their-hand-what_b_12915544.html|title=Aces Show Their Hand – What Is Asexuality And Why You Should Know About It|last=Exton|first=Robyn|date=2016-11-14|website=HuffPost|access-date=2017-09-08|archive-date=June 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629022453/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/robyn-exton/aces-show-their-hand-what_b_12915544.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asexualawarenessweek.com/prerelease/About.html|title=About [prerelease]|website=asexualawarenessweek.com|access-date=2017-09-04|archive-date=September 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904104951/http://www.asexualawarenessweek.com/prerelease/About.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== International Asexuality Day ===
International Asexuality Day (IAD) is an annual celebration of the asexuality community that takes place on 6 April.<ref name = "IAD official website">{{cite web |title=International Asexuality Day |url=https://internationalasexualityday.org/en/ |website=International Asexuality Day (IAD) |language=en |access-date=April 8, 2021 |archive-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407060241/https://internationalasexualityday.org/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The intention for the day is "to place a special emphasis on the international community, going beyond the anglophone and Western sphere that has so far had the most coverage".<ref name = "IAD faq">{{cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://internationalasexualityday.org/en/faq/ |website=International Asexuality Day (IAD) |language=en |access-date=April 8, 2021 |archive-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307034815/https://internationalasexualityday.org/en/faq/ |url-status=live }}</ref> An international committee spent a little under a year preparing the event, as well as publishing a website and press materials.<ref>{{cite web |title=Redefining Perceptions Of Asexuality With Yasmin Benoit |url=https://noctismag.com/art-culture/redefining-perceptions-of-asexuality-with-yasmin-benoit/ |website=noctismag.com |language=en |access-date=April 8, 2021 |archive-date=April 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406181514/https://noctismag.com/art-culture/redefining-perceptions-of-asexuality-with-yasmin-benoit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This committee settled on the date of 6 April to avoid clashing with as many significant dates around the world as possible, although this date is subject to review and may change in future years.<ref name = "IAD faq"/><ref name = "Newsweek" >{{cite web|last=Flood|first=Rebecca|title=Asexual Meaning as First International Asexuality Day Celebrated Around the World|url=https://www.newsweek.com/international-asexuality-day-first-celebrated-world-1581256|date=April 6, 2021|website=[[Newsweek]]|access-date=April 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406142109/https://www.newsweek.com/international-asexuality-day-first-celebrated-world-1581256|archive-date=April 6, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

The first International Asexuality Day was celebrated in 2021 and involved asexuality organisations from at least 26 countries.<ref name = "IAD official website" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Waters|first=Jamie|title='I don't want sex with anyone': the growing asexuality movement|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/mar/21/i-dont-want-sex-with-anyone-the-growing-asexuality-movement|date=March 21, 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=April 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401020931/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/mar/21/i-dont-want-sex-with-anyone-the-growing-asexuality-movement|archive-date=April 1, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=O'Dell|first=Liam|title=What is International Asexuality Day?|url=https://www.indy100.com/news/international-asexuality-day-lgbtq-aven-b1827276|date=April 6, 2021|website=[[The Independent]]|access-date=April 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406115115/https://www.indy100.com/news/international-asexuality-day-lgbtq-aven-b1827276|archive-date=April 6, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Activities included virtual meetups, advocacy programs both online and offline, and the sharing of stories in various art-forms.<ref>{{Cite web|title=In Nepal's growing queer movement, here's how asexuals are trying to amplify their voice|url=https://kathmandupost.com/art-culture/2021/04/07/in-nepal-s-growing-queer-movement-here-s-how-asexuals-are-trying-to-amplify-their-voice|access-date=2021-04-07|website=kathmandupost.com|language=English|archive-date=April 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409151345/https://kathmandupost.com/art-culture/2021/04/07/in-nepal-s-growing-queer-movement-here-s-how-asexuals-are-trying-to-amplify-their-voice|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Religion ==
Studies have found no significant statistical correlation between religion and asexuality,<ref name="Aicken">{{cite book|last1=Aicken|first1=Catherine R.&nbsp;H.|last2=Mercer|first2=Catherine H.|last3=Cassell|first3=Jackie A.|editor1-last=Carrigan|editor1-first=Mark|editor2-last=Gupta|editor2-first=Kristina|editor3-last=Morrison|editor3-first=Todd G.|article=Who reports absence of sexual attraction in Britain? Evidence from national probability surveys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEGDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|title=Asexuality and Sexual Normativity: An Anthology|location=New York City, New York and London, England|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-73132-4|pages=22–27|date=2015-09-07|access-date=January 10, 2018|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726094223/https://books.google.com/books?id=sEGDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|url-status=live}}</ref> with asexuality occurring with equal prevalence in both religious and irreligious individuals.<ref name="Aicken"/> Nonetheless, asexuality is not uncommon among celibate clergy, since others are more likely to be discouraged by vows of chastity.<ref name="Bogaert"/> In Aicken, Mercer, and Cassell's study, a higher proportion of Muslim respondents than Christian ones reported that they did not experience any form of sexual attraction.<ref name="Aicken"/>

Because of the relatively recent application of the term ''asexuality'', most religions do not have clear stances on it.<ref name="AsexualityandChristianity">{{cite web|title=Asexuality and Christianity|url=http://asexualawarenessweek.com/docs/PRIDE-Asexuality-and-Christianity.pdf|work=Asexual Awareness Week|access-date=January 10, 2018|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184212/http://asexualawarenessweek.com/docs/PRIDE-Asexuality-and-Christianity.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=July 2021}} In {{Bibleverse||Matthew|19:11-12|9}}, [[Jesus]] mentions "For there are [[eunuch]]s who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others – and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs to the sake of the [[Kingdom of Heaven (Gospel of Matthew)|kingdom of heaven]]."<ref name="Kaoma">{{cite book|last=Kaoma|first=Kapya|date=2018|title=Christianity, Globalization, and Protective Homophobia: Democratic Contestation of Sexuality in Sub-Saharan Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSU_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA160|location=Boston, Massachusetts|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-3-319-66341-8|pages=159–160|access-date=January 10, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923043738/https://books.google.com/books?id=xSU_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA160|url-status=live}}</ref> Some [[biblical hermeneutics|biblical exegetes]] have interpreted the "eunuchs who were born that way" as including asexuals.<ref name="Kaoma"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cole|first1=William Graham|title=Sex in Christianity and Psychoanalysis|date=2015|orig-year=1955|series=Routledge Library Editions: Psychoanalysis|publisher=Routledge|location=New York City, New York and London, England|isbn=978-1138951792|page=177|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaLhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|access-date=January 10, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923043751/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaLhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|url-status=live}}</ref>

Christianity has traditionally revered celibacy (which is not the same as asexuality); the apostle [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]], writing as a celibate, has been described by some writers as asexual.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zuckerman|first1=Phil|title=An Invitation to Sociology of Religion|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|location=New York City, New York and London, England|isbn=978-0-415-94125-9|page=111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ml6TAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111|access-date=January 11, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923043738/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ml6TAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111|url-status=live}}</ref> He writes in {{Bibleverse||1 Corinthians|7:6-9|9}},
{{blockquote|I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.}}

== Discrimination and legal protections ==
{{Main|Discrimination against asexual people}}
[[File:WorldPride 2012 - 175.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Asexuals marching in a pride parade in [[London]]]]
A 2012 study published in ''[[Group Processes & Intergroup Relations]]'' reported that asexuals are evaluated more negatively in terms of [[prejudice]], [[dehumanization]] and [[discrimination]] than other [[Sexual minority|sexual minorities]], such as gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. Both homosexual and heterosexual people thought of asexuals as not only cold, but also animalistic and unrestrained.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Intergroup bias toward 'Group X': Evidence of prejudice, dehumanization, avoidance, and discrimination against asexuals |first1=Cara C. |last1=MacInnis |first2=Gordon |last2=Hodson |s2cid=3056711 |journal=Group Processes & Intergroup Relations |doi=10.1177/1368430212442419 |volume=15 |number=6 |pages=725–743 |year=2012}}</ref> A different study, however, found little evidence of serious discrimination against asexuals because of their asexuality.<ref>Gazzola, Stephanie B, and Melanie A. Morrison. "Asexuality: An emergent sexual orientation". ''Sexual Minority Research in the New Millennium''.</ref> Asexual activist, author, and blogger Julie Decker has observed that sexual harassment and violence, such as [[corrective rape]], commonly victimizes the asexual community.<ref name="huff"/> Sociologist Mark Carrigan sees a middle ground, arguing that while asexuals do often experience discrimination, it is not of a [[homophobia|phobic]] nature but "more about marginalization because people genuinely don't understand asexuality."<ref>{{Cite news|title=What is it like to be asexual?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16552173|newspaper=BBC News|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=January 17, 2012|last=Wallis|first=Lucy|access-date=January 1, 2014|archive-date=January 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106105618/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16552173|url-status=live}}</ref>

Asexuals also face prejudice from the LGBT community.<ref name="Decker"/><ref name="huff">{{Cite news|title=Battling Asexual Discrimination, Sexual Violence, and Corrective Rape|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/asexual-discrimination_n_3380551.html|newspaper=[[HuffPost]]|date=June 20, 2013|last=Mosbergen|first=Dominique|access-date=August 2, 2013|archive-date=August 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818012540/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/asexual-discrimination_n_3380551.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Many LGBT people assume that anyone who is not homosexual or bisexual must be straight<ref name="Decker"/> and frequently exclude asexuals from their definitions of ''queer''.<ref name="Decker"/> Although many well-known organizations devoted to aiding LGBTQ communities exist,<ref name="Decker"/> these organizations generally do not reach out to asexuals<ref name="Decker"/> and do not provide library materials about asexuality.<ref name="Decker"/> Upon [[coming out]] as asexual, activist Sara Beth Brooks was told by many LGBT people that asexuals are mistaken in their self-identification and seek undeserved attention within the social justice movement.<ref name="huff"/> Other LGBT organizations, such as [[The Trevor Project]] and the [[National LGBTQ Task Force]], explicitly include asexuals because they are non-heterosexual and can therefore be included in the definition of [[queer]].<ref>[https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trvr_support_center/asexual/#sm.0000eryjch8mbfogrhn1jltiw7n8l The Trevor Project - FAQ about asexuality] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406125426/https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trvr_support_center/asexual/#sm.0000eryjch8mbfogrhn1jltiw7n8l |date=April 6, 2021 }}, [[The Trevor Project]] website. Retrieved April 4, 2018.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://thetaskforceblog.org/2013/04/30/the-a-is-here-to-stay/ | title=The a is Here to Stay | date=April 30, 2013 | access-date=April 4, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310174238/https://thetaskforceblog.org/2013/04/30/the-a-is-here-to-stay/ | archive-date=March 10, 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Some organizations now add an A to the LGBTQ acronym to include asexuals; however, this is still a controversial topic in some queer organizations.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/lgbt-asexual_n_3385530.html |title=LGBT, Asexual Communities Clash over Ace Inclusion |newspaper=HuffPost |date=June 21, 2013 |last1=Mosbergen |first1=Dominique |access-date=April 4, 2018 |archive-date=March 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305162424/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/lgbt-asexual_n_3385530.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, asexuals have legal protections. While Brazil bans since 1999 whatever pathologization or [[Conversion therapy|attempted treatment of sexual orientation]] by mental health professionals through the national ethical code,<ref>[http://blogs.diariodepernambuco.com.br/lgbtudo/2013/07/psiquiatra-jairo-bouer-fala-dos-efeitos-colaterais-da-cura-gay/ Psychiatrist Jairo Bouer talks about the "collateral effects" of "gay cure" bill] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115041606/http://blogs.diariodepernambuco.com.br/lgbtudo/2013/07/psiquiatra-jairo-bouer-fala-dos-efeitos-colaterais-da-cura-gay/ |date=January 15, 2014}} {{in lang|pt}}</ref> the U.S. state of New York has labeled asexuals as a [[protected class]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100316120639/http://www.ag.ny.gov//bureaus/civil_rights/sonda_brochure.html ''The Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act ("SONDA")'' (State of New York, Office of the Attorney General, Civil Rights Bureau)]</ref> However, asexuality does not typically attract the attention of the public or major scrutiny; therefore, it has not been the subject of legislation as much as other sexual orientations have.<ref name=Bogaert2004 />

== In the media ==
{{main|Media portrayal of asexuality}}
[[File:Sherlock Holmes - The Man with the Twisted Lip.jpg|thumb|[[Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] intentionally portrayed his character [[Sherlock Holmes]] as what would today be classified as asexual.<ref name="Bogaert"/>]]
Asexual representation in the media is limited and rarely openly acknowledged or confirmed by creators or authors.<ref name="Kelemen">Kelemen, Erick. "Asexuality". ''Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender''. Ed. Fedwa Malti-Douglas. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 103. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. May 2, 2016.</ref> In works composed prior to the beginning of the twenty-first century, characters are generally automatically assumed to be sexual<ref name="JacksonScott"/> and the existence of a character's sexuality is usually never questioned.<ref name="JacksonScott">Jackson, Stevi, and Sue Scott. Theorizing Sexuality. Maidenhead: Open UP, 2010. Web. May 2, 2016.</ref> [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] portrayed his character [[Sherlock Holmes]] as what would today be classified as asexual,<ref name="Bogaert">{{cite book|last1=Bogaert|first1=Anthony|title=Understanding Asexuality|date=2012|publisher=Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-1-4422-0099-9|pages=36–39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3P2pVq9XlGsC&pg=PA39|access-date=January 10, 2018|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726093617/https://books.google.com/books?id=3P2pVq9XlGsC&pg=PA39|url-status=live}}</ref> with the intention to characterize him as solely driven by intellect and immune to the desires of the flesh.<ref name="Bogaert"/> The Archie Comics character [[Jughead Jones]] was likely intended by his creators as an asexual [[Foil (literature)|foil]] to [[Archie Andrews|Archie]]'s excessive heterosexuality, but, over the years, this portrayal shifted, with various iterations and reboots of the series implying that he is either gay or heterosexual.<ref name="Bogaert"/><ref name="Vulture">{{Cite news|url=http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/archie-jughead-asexual.html|title=Archie Comic Reveals Jughead Is Asexual|date=February 8, 2016|work=Vulture|access-date=December 14, 2017|archive-date=December 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207111405/http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/archie-jughead-asexual.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, he was confirmed to be asexual in the ''[[New Riverdale]]'' Jughead comics.<ref name="Vulture"/> The writers of the 2017 television show ''[[Riverdale (2017 TV series)|Riverdale]]'', based on the Archie comics, chose to depict Jughead as a heterosexual despite pleas from both fans and Jughead actor [[Cole Sprouse]] to retain Jughead's asexuality and allow the asexual community to be represented alongside the gay and bisexual communities, both represented in the show.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nerdist.com/cole-sprouse-is-bummed-that-riverdales-jughead-isnt-asexual/|title=Cole Sprouse Is Bummed That RIVERDALE's Jughead Isn't Asexual {{!}} Nerdist|date=2017-01-27|work=Nerdist|access-date=2018-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626111031/https://nerdist.com/cole-sprouse-is-bummed-that-riverdales-jughead-isnt-asexual/|archive-date=June 26, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> This decision sparked conversations about deliberate [[asexual erasure]] in the media and its consequences, especially on younger viewers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/riverdales-asexual-erasure-can-be-harmful|title='Riverdale's' Asexual Erasure Can Be More Harmful Than You Think|last=Revanche|first=Jonno|work=Teen Vogue|access-date=2018-09-09|archive-date=March 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304102207/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/riverdales-asexual-erasure-can-be-harmful|url-status=live}}</ref>

Anthony Bogaert has classified [[Gilligan (Gilligan's Island)|Gilligan]], the eponymous character of the 1960s television series ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'', as asexual.<ref name="Bogaert"/> Bogaert suggests that the producers of the show likely portrayed him in this way to make him more relatable to young male viewers of the show who had not yet reached puberty and had therefore presumably not yet experienced sexual desire.<ref name="Bogaert"/> Gilligan's asexual nature also allowed the producers to orchestrate intentionally comedic situations in which Gilligan spurns the advances of attractive females.<ref name="Bogaert"/> Films and television shows frequently feature attractive, but seemingly asexual, female characters who are "converted" to heterosexuality by the male protagonist by the end of the production.<ref name="Bogaert"/> These unrealistic portrayals reflect a heterosexual male belief that all asexual women secretly desire men.<ref name="Bogaert"/>

Asexuality as a sexual identity, rather than as a biological entity, became more widely discussed in the media in the beginning of the twenty-first century.<ref name="Kelemen"/> The [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox Network]] series ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' represented an "asexual" couple in the episode "Better Half". However, this representation has been questioned by members of the asexual community (including AVEN founder, David Jay) due to the episode concluding in the reveal that the man simply had a pituitary tumor that reduced his sex drive, and the woman was only pretending to be asexual to please him.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2012/01/31/house_gets_asexuality_wrong/|title="House" gets asexuality wrong|last=Clark-Flory|first=Tracy|date=January 31, 2012|website=Salon|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921144000/http://www.salon.com/2012/01/31/house_gets_asexuality_wrong|url-status=live}}</ref> This led to controversy over the representation and a change.org petition for Fox Network to reconsider how it represents asexual characters in the future, stating it "represented asexuality very poorly by attributing it to both medical illness and deception."<ref name=":5" /> Children's animated television series ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' was under speculation (2002) and later controversy (2005) because of claims that [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob]] and his best friend, [[Patrick Star|Patrick]], are gay.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4190699.stm|title=US right attacks SpongeBob video|date=2005-01-20|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=March 23, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323022539/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4190699.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2015/the-long-and-speculative-history-of-gay-characters-on-childrens-tv-shows/spongebob-squarepants/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2015/the-long-and-speculative-history-of-gay-characters-on-childrens-tv-shows/spongebob-squarepants/ |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The long and speculative history of gay characters on children's TV shows|date=2016-01-28|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2019-11-25|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This prompted the creator, [[Stephen Hillenburg]], to clarify on both occasions that he does not consider them gay or heterosexual, but rather asexual.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2313221.stm|title=Camp cartoon star 'is not gay'|date=2002-10-09|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=March 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329055836/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2313221.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/celebrity/spongebob-asexual-not-gay-creator/|title=SpongeBob Asexual, Not Gay: Creator|website=People|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225031127/https://people.com/celebrity/spongebob-asexual-not-gay-creator/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/20659-spongebob-is-asexual-says-creator/|title=SpongeBob is asexual, says creator|website=Asexual Visibility and Education Network|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726101018/https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/20659-spongebob-is-asexual-says-creator/|url-status=live}}</ref> He also linked SpongeBob's ability to [[reproduce asexually]] by "[[budding]]" to further explain that the character doesn't necessarily need relationships.<ref>Writers: Jay Lender, William Reiss, David Fain (March 8, 2001). "Pressure". ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Season 2. Episode 32a. Nickelodeon.</ref>

The [[Netflix]] series ''[[BoJack Horseman]]'' revealed in the end of the third season that [[Todd Chavez]], one of the primary characters, is asexual. This has been further elaborated in the fourth season of the series and has been generally well accepted by the asexual community for its methods of positive representation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/todds-asexuality-on-bojack-horseman-isnt-a-perfect-depiction-but-its-made-me-feel-understood-12057178|title=Todd's Asexuality on 'BoJack' Isn't a Perfect Depiction, But It's Made Me Feel Understood|last=Kliegman|first=Julie|website=Bustle|access-date=2019-04-30|archive-date=February 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226202745/https://www.bustle.com/p/todds-asexuality-on-bojack-horseman-isnt-a-perfect-depiction-but-its-made-me-feel-understood-12057178|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Human sexuality}}
<!--NOTE: Per WP:SEE ALSO, only links that are not linked higher in this article should be in its See also section. -->
* [[Asociality]] – a lack of interest in social relationships in general
* [[Antisexualism]] – the views of someone who is antagonistic towards sexuality
* [[Kinsey scale]] – a scale for human sexuality with X indicating "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions"
* [[Media portrayal of asexuality]]
* [[Platonic love]] – a non-romantic/non-sexual affectionate love
* [[Queerplatonic relationship]] – a form of non-romantic/non-sexual affectionate partnering
* [[Sexless marriage]] – a marriage in which little or no sex is performed
* [[Sexual anorexia]] – a loss of "appetite" for romantic-sexual interaction
* [[Timeline of asexual history]]
* [[Supernormal stimulus]] – a form of non-sexual stimulus, as opposed to [[libido]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
<!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php -->
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last=Bogaert|first=Anthony F.|title=Understanding Asexuality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3v27O00GEYC |access-date=July 27, 2013 |date=August 9, 2012 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-0101-9}}
* {{cite book
| author = Decker, Julie
| title         = The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality
| url           = https://books.google.com/books?id=7PiPngEACAAJ
| access-date    = September 28, 2014
| date      = September 2, 2014
| publisher = Carrel Books
| isbn      = 978-1631440021
}}
* [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/sep/08/relationships.healthandwellbeing "We're married, we just don't have sex"], ''[[The Guardian]]'' (UK), September 8, 2008
* [http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Asexuals-leave-the-closet-find-community-3219180.php "Asexuals leave the closet, find community"] – [[SFGate.com]]
* "Asexuality", article by Mark Carrigan, in: [https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-lgbtq-studies/book244331%20 ''The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies'' Vol. 1 (A–G)].
* Rle Eng. ''Leather Spinsters and Their Degrees of Asexuality'' St. Mary Pub. Co. of Houston, 1998.
* Geraldine Levi Joosten-van Vilsteren, Edmund Fortuin, David Walker, and Christine Stone, ''Nonlibidoism: The Short Facts''. United Kingdom. {{ISBN|1447575555}}.
* Chen, Angela (September 15, 2020). ''[https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/625230/ace-by-angela-chen/ Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex]''. Beacon Press. {{ISBN|9780807013793}}.

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Human asexuality}}

{{Asexuality topics}}{{Navboxes
|list =
{{Human sexuality and sexology}}
{{Sexual identities}}
{{Human sexuality}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Asexuality| ]]
[[Category:Non-sexuality]]
[[Category:Sexual attraction]]
[[Category:Sexual orientation]]