Asexuality: Romantic, Aromantic, and possibly everything else in-between

One of the most important aspects on the journey to self-awareness is the issue of sexuality. As this is such an important feature in self-growth it should come as no surprise that the notion of a lack of sexual attraction would come as a bit of an oddity. However the term “asexual” has slowly but surely become a more well-known subject. However even with this boost in knowledge about this seemingly new class of sexual identity there is still a lot that needs to be learned.

As such there are a number of studies which look to delve into and explore the subject of asexuality. One such study hoped to learn more about this category of sexual identity by polling 102 self-identified asexuals with an open ended survey distributed online. Through this study researchers were able to further categorize differences within the category, asexuality. Through the answers from the surveys researchers were able to see that there appeared to be two different subsets within asexuality; romantic and aromantic.

While asexual is an umbrella term for a person who lacks feelings of sexual attraction there are different ways in which this can be expressed. For instance the results of the study, explained above, suggests that there are some people who identify as asexual and still look to be in romantic relationships, and then there are some who do not. Those who do seek out romantic relationships are known as asexual romantic’s and while they do not have a vested interest in sexual acts they still have a desire for relationships. Aromantic are the opposite. People who are categorized within the asexual aromantic division no only have no interest in a sexual relationship but also show no interest in a romantic relationship. However this so not to say that they do not want relationships, but rather that they air more on the side of platonic relations.

While this study helped to explore the different subsets of asexuality, there is still a lot that is left unknown. However this so to be expected when the subject matter is something so subjective. As such there is no real way to objectively lay out data and form definite conclusions. Furthermore as sexuality is so often laid out on a spectrum is seems that there would be more than just these two categories within the label of asexuality. For instance could it be possible for another group which is somehow in-between being romantic and aromantic? Or perhaps another category all together.  Food for thought.

-Cassey

SOURCES

http://sex.sagepub.com/content/11/5/621.short

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-009-9502-x?LI=true#page-2

http://jezebel.com/5877603/i-am-asexual-and-its-awesome

http://www.asexuality.org/wiki/index.php?title=Aromantic

http://search.proquest.com.avoserv.library.fordham.edu/pqrl/docview/1507220830/C998D8DD65D64C8CPQ/4?accountid=10932