Types of asexuality: different ways of experiencing non-desire

At a time when the acceptance of different forms of sexual orientations is beginning to win out over intolerance, asexuality remains a relatively unknown phenomenon.

It is, fundamentally, the absence of sexual desire as a stable attribute in a person. It is not, therefore, a sexual dysfunction or a disorder that prevents the person from expressing her affection and her desire to know someone intimately. Simply, the sexual impulse is not given, and this is not a problem... beyond those that can produce the incomprehension of others.

This condition, although it is not a disease, is still seen as something strange, incomprehensible, or even something to be wary of; and it is that many people simply believe that asexuals do not exist, they cannot exist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only do asexual people exist, but there are also different types. Next we will see a classification of ways in which asexuality can be expressed.

• Related article: "Asexuality: people who do not feel sexual desire"

types of asexuality

It must be taken into account that within what we understand as asexuality there are nuances, since there are different ways of experiencing the lack of sexual desire. Here you can see a summary of the best known types of asexuality, although you should keep in mind that there is no official classification.

1. aromantic asexuals

These are people who, in addition to not feeling sexual desire, also do not experience romantic love for other people. This combination does who do not have such a marked predisposition to be interested in someone in particular, but that does not mean that they have to be cold or distant, much less that they hate everyone or that they are psychopaths.

2. romantic asexuals

As its name indicates, in this case the absence of sexual desire is combined with the possibility of feeling romantic attraction to other people.

It may be surprising that sexual desire and romantic interest can be separated, but that is the case, at least, in this type of asexuality. It is a revealing fact that also tells us about the nature of human relationships between people who do have some kind of sexual orientation: love and desire are two processes that surely work in parallel, not the same stuff.

In turn, romantic asexuality can be divided into the following types:

biromantic asexuals

In this case, there is a possibility of feeling romantic attraction towards people of either sex. It is not surprising that this type of psychological and biological propensity exists, since by eliminating the sexual component, the forms of the body that define each sex stop meaning something important, with which it is possible to develop the same attitudes and emotional ties towards any person.

homoromantic asexuals

Romantic attraction is always oriented towards people of the same sex, although the lack of desire also occurs.

• Related article: "Top 10 Types of Sexual Orientation"

similar sexual orientations

There are some orientations with characteristics in common with asexuality. They are the following:

gray asexuality

In this case, there is at least some sexual desire, although with a very low intensity, which causes it to normally have little effect on the way people behave who experience it. For example, someone may be attracted to someone by watching them recite a poem, but right afterward that interest fades and leaves virtually no trace. His name tries to reflect that difference in "quantity" with respect to pure asexuality.

demisexuality

Demisexual people only feel sexual attraction to people for which you have previously come to feel a strong romantic interest. That is to say, it is a phenomenon that occurs starting from the base that the crush has appeared.

What is not asexuality?

The fact that asexuality is the lack of desire can be misleading, among other things, because very few people come out as asexual. It is easy to confuse this psychological and physiological predisposition with an ideology or a way of thinking, but it is not so.

For example, celibacy is not a type of asexuality. It is, in any case, a self-imposition, a commitment by which sexual activities are avoided for ethical or religious reasons.

There are also people who declare themselves antisexual.. In this case, something similar to what occurs in celibacy occurs: the person believes that sex is something bad, an element that corrupts things and is problematic. Unlike what happens with celibacy, here the attitude towards sex is not only serves to regulate one's own behavior, but it is believed to be a general problem, of the whole population.

Both celibacy and antisexuality they are ideological positions which, in part, are voluntary and depend on the way in which each person interprets reality. In both cases it is possible to feel sexual desire.