The lives of asexual individuals outside of sexual and romantic relationships: education, occupation, religion and community

ABSTRACT

Twenty-seven U.S. and Canadian participants who answered a call for interviews about asexual identity were asked about non-sexual aspects of their lives, including education, occupation, community and religion. Many participants indicated that being asexual was not a factor in school or college. Others mentioned advantages such as having more time for studies and fewer distractions, and disadvantages such as feeling lonely, left out or anxious. For some participants, asexuality was not an issue in the work setting, often because it is not visible or not asked about. Others worked in settings with supportive co-workers, had more time for work or were not distracted by office romances. Half the participants were part of thriving social networks, although about one-third indicated that their community was very small and many were introverts. Three-quarters of the sample identified as atheists or followed spiritual traditions that were not directly associated with mainstream religions. They also brought up the lack of asexual role models in the media. Participants reflected on how asexual identity interfaced with societal roles and the results are discussed in light of the foregrounding of sex and relationships in North America.

KEYWORDS:

• Asexual
• non-sexual roles
• AVEN
• lack of sexual desire
• asexuality in education
• asexuality in occupation
• asexual community
• asexual and religion

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by a Weber Honors College Research Fellowship and a College of Arts and Letters Micro-Grant, both from San Diego State University and both awarded to the first author.

Notes on contributors

Esther D. Rothblum

Esther D. Rothblum is Professor of Women’s Studies at San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.

Kyra Heimann

Kyra Heimann and Kylie Carpenter are undergraduate students at San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.