Asexuality
As I've probably mentioned in previous LiveJournal posts, I'm asexual. I've never actually met another, which is odd because I have it on good authority (or, at least, wikipedian authority, however much that can honestly be said to stand for) that one percent of people are and I know more than a hundred people. I've also been told that ten percent of people fall under the GBLT banner, which also surprises me as, to the best of my knowledge, I know two open homosexuals, one bisexual and one asexual (yours truly), and that's living a stone's throw from Hebden Bridge.
I don't really post, tweet or blog about my own sexuality much as it's not really there - it'd be like Oddjob talking about his singing. Sexuality in general is a regular scratching post, with outlets such as Pink News constantly refilling my mental magazine with anti-fascist ammunition, which is harder to punch through the thick outer layer of the target than anti-tank missiles. If humanity is now willing to accept that men and women are entirely equal, why does anyone care which someone loves? Homosexuals are still being referred to psychiatrists (despite countless studies revealing it is no more a mental illness than liking renaissance art, only less changeable) which is like sending a black man to a dermatologist: the only "successful" outcome is Michael Jackson. Enough said.
But, as of late, I've been made aware of AVEN, an online asexual community. If you've ever watched Little Britain, I feel a little like Daffyd Thomas ("the only gay in the village"), only a tad less obnoxious. Suddenly, I'm surrounded by other asexuals, mostly reading research into asexuality, partially trying to set up a subculture and partially spreading in-jokes. I've noticed quite a few similarities between myself and most of the cyber-clientele: many are quite nerdy, for want of a better word, in that most of the discussion is reviewing research into ourselves, quite a few remark on being fairly androgynous, enthusiastic, often drawing parallels between themselves and other asexuals... er... yep... that last bit about one-quarter made up...
There's one major difference I've noticed between myself and the vast majority of the AVEN members.
I'm male.
A lot of them, not necessarily on AVEN but on other fora, don't realy seem to realise that blokes can be "ase" too (a shortening which has lead to some of the "ase" community using the symbol of the ace of hearts, slightly juxtapositioned but clever nonetheless), and, looking at men and women, it's understandable for the same reasons there are more homosexual women than men: men are just easier to not be attracted to. From an unbiased point of view regarding sexuality and an odd one regarding gender, we're the human equivalent of planks, occasionally with beards, which I can't see helping matters. But, still, I find it a little odd that the ratio is either so biased or so poorly represented; statistics show that, apparently, five percent of people are asexual, although this ranges to just having a decreased sex-drive which is often marriage-related, and that half of these are each gender.
The major difference between ases and other GBLT sexualities is this: we have never been oppressed. No-one has tried to remove our right to literally not give a toss. No-one has persecuted or exterminated us. Our lives have never been criminalised. Although we have been thought of as mentally ill by at least one under-researched bigotry-fountain, we have never been sectioned, nor labotomised, nor subjected to "cures". We're the lucky ones; remember that whenever you see a Pride march or a rights protest, because, as long as this community needs to protest, the remnant scraps of that oppression still hang from every flagpole.
This ditch dug by the Ase of Spades. Thanks for reading.
I don't really post, tweet or blog about my own sexuality much as it's not really there - it'd be like Oddjob talking about his singing. Sexuality in general is a regular scratching post, with outlets such as Pink News constantly refilling my mental magazine with anti-fascist ammunition, which is harder to punch through the thick outer layer of the target than anti-tank missiles. If humanity is now willing to accept that men and women are entirely equal, why does anyone care which someone loves? Homosexuals are still being referred to psychiatrists (despite countless studies revealing it is no more a mental illness than liking renaissance art, only less changeable) which is like sending a black man to a dermatologist: the only "successful" outcome is Michael Jackson. Enough said.
But, as of late, I've been made aware of AVEN, an online asexual community. If you've ever watched Little Britain, I feel a little like Daffyd Thomas ("the only gay in the village"), only a tad less obnoxious. Suddenly, I'm surrounded by other asexuals, mostly reading research into asexuality, partially trying to set up a subculture and partially spreading in-jokes. I've noticed quite a few similarities between myself and most of the cyber-clientele: many are quite nerdy, for want of a better word, in that most of the discussion is reviewing research into ourselves, quite a few remark on being fairly androgynous, enthusiastic, often drawing parallels between themselves and other asexuals... er... yep... that last bit about one-quarter made up...
There's one major difference I've noticed between myself and the vast majority of the AVEN members.
I'm male.
A lot of them, not necessarily on AVEN but on other fora, don't realy seem to realise that blokes can be "ase" too (a shortening which has lead to some of the "ase" community using the symbol of the ace of hearts, slightly juxtapositioned but clever nonetheless), and, looking at men and women, it's understandable for the same reasons there are more homosexual women than men: men are just easier to not be attracted to. From an unbiased point of view regarding sexuality and an odd one regarding gender, we're the human equivalent of planks, occasionally with beards, which I can't see helping matters. But, still, I find it a little odd that the ratio is either so biased or so poorly represented; statistics show that, apparently, five percent of people are asexual, although this ranges to just having a decreased sex-drive which is often marriage-related, and that half of these are each gender.
The major difference between ases and other GBLT sexualities is this: we have never been oppressed. No-one has tried to remove our right to literally not give a toss. No-one has persecuted or exterminated us. Our lives have never been criminalised. Although we have been thought of as mentally ill by at least one under-researched bigotry-fountain, we have never been sectioned, nor labotomised, nor subjected to "cures". We're the lucky ones; remember that whenever you see a Pride march or a rights protest, because, as long as this community needs to protest, the remnant scraps of that oppression still hang from every flagpole.
This ditch dug by the Ase of Spades. Thanks for reading.