I point back to my original comment in that "asexuality is a sexual orientation of NO rather than NO sexual orientation".
Looking at asexuality as defining anything other than "what gender are you attracted to" would fall into that problem as defining something as normal or not. The majority of asexual people I have spoken to (and I have spent a lot of time on AVEN) do not consider themselves or their attraction abnormal. They think it's in the minority -- but so are any other sexual orientations that aren't "straight". The fact that you're insinuating that it's abnormal or being referred to as abnormal has me a bit on edge (so, I'm sorry if I'm coming across as a bit stiff).
The problem with saying that asexual and hypersexual are opposites is that it doesn't accurately reflect what asexuality means. Asexual people can have high libidos. Or low libidos. Or none. Asexual people can masturbate. A lot. Or not at all. Asexual people can even have sex -- can WANT to have sex. In the same way that there's nothing stopping a gay man from having sex with a woman, there's nothing stopping an asexual person from having sex with anyone. Both still have the capability of enjoying it without being "attracted" to the other person.
I think that you're referring to as asexuality here is in the DSM as "hypoactive sexual desire disorder" -- something that asexual activists have actually been working with doctors to change.
So, as I said the first time around "asexuality" is no different from other orientations. It describes what gender you're attracted to. Some people are attracted to no genders.
I do take issue with your implication that it's desirable to lower the need for labels, though. Labels are pretty important to a lot of people. If you find a label that fits your experience, you can find other people that identify themselves with that experience. And then you have a shared experience.
I like calling myself a homo-romantic trans-masculine grey-asexual non-binary person. I don't particularly care if people roll their eyes at the amount of labels I have for myself (and plenty of people do!).
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Date: 2013-04-04 11:43 pm (UTC)Looking at asexuality as defining anything other than "what gender are you attracted to" would fall into that problem as defining something as normal or not. The majority of asexual people I have spoken to (and I have spent a lot of time on AVEN) do not consider themselves or their attraction abnormal. They think it's in the minority -- but so are any other sexual orientations that aren't "straight". The fact that you're insinuating that it's abnormal or being referred to as abnormal has me a bit on edge (so, I'm sorry if I'm coming across as a bit stiff).
The problem with saying that asexual and hypersexual are opposites is that it doesn't accurately reflect what asexuality means. Asexual people can have high libidos. Or low libidos. Or none. Asexual people can masturbate. A lot. Or not at all. Asexual people can even have sex -- can WANT to have sex. In the same way that there's nothing stopping a gay man from having sex with a woman, there's nothing stopping an asexual person from having sex with anyone. Both still have the capability of enjoying it without being "attracted" to the other person.
I think that you're referring to as asexuality here is in the DSM as "hypoactive sexual desire disorder" -- something that asexual activists have actually been working with doctors to change.
So, as I said the first time around "asexuality" is no different from other orientations. It describes what gender you're attracted to. Some people are attracted to no genders.
I do take issue with your implication that it's desirable to lower the need for labels, though. Labels are pretty important to a lot of people. If you find a label that fits your experience, you can find other people that identify themselves with that experience. And then you have a shared experience.
I like calling myself a homo-romantic trans-masculine grey-asexual non-binary person. I don't particularly care if people roll their eyes at the amount of labels I have for myself (and plenty of people do!).