By Jaye Johnson
Asexual Awareness Week is October 20th – 26th
Everything’s A-Okay
#Infographic | This Life In Progress: Asexuaity.org’s Asexual Awareness Week
Q: What does being asexual mean to you?
A: It means being honest with myself about what I want and what I don’t want, and designing all of my relationships to function in line with that.
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“Two main things to consider: 1) Don’t let people who don’t understand get you on the defensive. Because you deserve respect, and it’s okay to demand that they listen to you. 2) I would suggest joining an asexual community. Because at the beginning, it can be really helfpul to be able to talk to and listen to other people who are going through what you’re going through. So that you know you’re not alone.”
“Yes. Asexuality is ‘a thing.’ And not only is it a thing, but it’s a naturally occurring thing.”
– From the Asexual Awareness Week, Asexuality.org and various supporters have been circulating a helpful infographic that explains what asexuality means in easy to understand language. The graphic serves the purpose of educating those who are not asexual and defines asexuality as “the lack of sexual attraction to other people.”
In the movie (A)sexual, the persons of experience in the film who self-identified as asexual found a common understanding and many “am I right?” and “aha!” moments while banding together. However, viewers witnessed firsthand the struggle and continued pushback asexual folks experienced when trying to explain asexuality, even in safer spaces (for example, at LGBTQA pride events).
Check out and share Asexuality.org’s infographic here.
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The infographic text reads:
Asexual awareness week is October 20th – 26th!
Let’s talk about asexuality, the lack of sexual attraction to other people. Have you heard of it before?
Chances are you haven’t, so let’s talk about it now.
“So is that like celibacy, or abstinence?” In short, no. Both of these are active choices, but asexuality is a sexual orientation; and being asexual doesn’t mean someone will never have sex.
“But if someone has sex, surely they’re not asexual?” If a gay man has sex with a woman, does that make him straight? No. Being attracted to someone, being able to feel sexual pleasure and wanting to have sex are three very different things.
“Can asexuals fall in love?” Yes, they can. Romantic attraction and sexual attraction are two different things. While some people may be aromantic as well as asexual, others still date and seek long-term partners.
“That’s silly. They just need to try it/find the right person.” Sounds just like “she’s not straight, she just hasn’t found the right girl yet.” Most people don’t need to have sex to know to whom they are attracted, so it doesn’t make sense to say that someone can’t know whether they are asexual, too.
“Ok, I’ll accept all that. But why should I care?” Sexuality is a very prominent part of our society, and asexuals make up a very small percentage of the population. This makes it easy for asexuals to believe they are alone in feeling this way, even that they are “broken”. Raising awareness helps asexuals to be comfortable with themselves, and to be open about their feelings without fear of alienation.
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Additional Asexuality Awareness Resources
“Asexual Awareness Week began in 2010 as a campaign targeting the LGBT community and its leadership for greater awareness. California activist Sara Beth Brooks joined with AVEN founder David Jay to plan the first year which was primarily conducted online through blogs and web visibility.” – AsexualAwarenessWeek.com
Asexual Awareness Week Official Homepage
http://asexualawarenessweek.com
(A)sexual The Movie
Directors’ Description: “Facing a sex obsessed culture, a mountain of stereotypes and misconceptions, and a lack of social or scientific research, asexuals, people who experience no sexual attraction, struggle to claim their identity.”
Available at Netflix. Find other streaming locations at IMDB or visit the film’s official homepage for more information: www.asexualthemovie.com
Videos: Asexuality In the Media at Asexuality.org
The asexual community has grown with a great deal of welcome public exposure. Below are video clips from various television appearances, courtesy of YouTube. http://www.asexuality.org/home/video.html
Acebook
Acebook is a unique dating and social networking site for asexual people. http://www.ace-book.net
The Asexual Lesbians Community
A private community for asexual lesbians. Per the homepage, guests “are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can’t use. If you join our community, you’ll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.” http:// z4.invisionfree.com/Asexual_Lesbians/index.php
Resources from Everything’s A-Okay!
People in the YouTube outreach video include asexual bloggers and activists:
Amy (amygdala)
Robin L (http://iamvincentliu.tumblr.com/)
QueerAsCat (http://www.youtube.com/user/QueerAsCat)
Swankivy (http://youtube.com/user/swankivy)
For more information on Asexual Awareness Week, visit http://asexualawarenessweek.com/.
Everything’s A Okay will be continuing their asexuality series soon, with a video on ‘Forming Relationships’.
Everything’s A-Okay is an organization that works to spread visibility and education on LGBTQ+ issues, as well as to provide support to those in the queer community who need it. You can visit the website at http://a-okay.org/ for more information on asexuality.
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Asexuality.org encourages you to start a conversation in your community, and if you need support or want to share resources with others, they recommend you call the Trevor Lifeline toll-free at 866-488-7386.
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Source: #Infographic | Life In Progress: Asexuaity.org’s Asexual Awareness Week
