After a lifetime of bullying for being asexual, this does not surprise me at all.
A third of people desperately need to mind their own fucking business
I would imagine those people are conflating “asexuality” with “person who is not asexual but experiencing a lack of libido from something like an ssri”. These are distinct, obviously, and the latter can be treated. It is also generally easy to identify
But just like so many things stupid assholes will go “I cannot conceive of a life without ‘x’ so when you say you have a life without ‘x’ I will assume you are either lying or mistaken somehow”.
I would imagine those people are conflating “asexuality” with “person who is not asexual but experiencing a lack of libido
It’s correct that these are different things that are usually conflated, but the way society treats a lack of libido is rooted in the same norms that asexuals suffer under: the idea that people must have sex to be complete, live fulfilling lives and have healthy relationships.
That’s not to say people who genuinely suffer from a low libido shouldn’t find ways to fix that, but that doesn’t hold true for anybody who has a low libido and the automatic assumption that this has to be a problem worth fixing is absolutely part of why being ace is so widely stigmatized.
There’s a book that calls this “compulsory sexuality”
I usually see the term allonormativity used to describe this, but that fits as well.
Yeah, but I think “compulsory sexuality” has a particular way of emphasizing that asexual people aren’t the only ones being pushed in this way
In the study they even asked participants what being ace means and 99% got it right. But yes, unfortunately they missed the low libido distinction.
Although the questions “Legislation should protect asexual people” and “Would you be comfortable if your child was asexual?” with 29% and 27% saying “No” make it pretty clear in my eyes that they’re just bigoted.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/asexuality-in-the-uk.pdf
It’s enough to be a “picky eater” for a lot of people to start second guessing your preferences and mental health.
Cum brains are cooked.
“conversion therapy” is a euphemism for CW
spoiler
SA
Which is even more ridiculous, because if anything, that would make you even more repulsed than you already were
I wouldn’t really call myself asexual because I’m still attracted to women, but I haven’t acted on it for several years now (social anxiety, frustration, that’s a whole can of worms). My friends absolutely do not respect that. I can absolutely see how people would be casually and openly prejudiced against asexual people, even if they’re open-minded about any other kind of LGBTQ person, and even if they’re LGBTQ themselves.
I got into an argument with a comms professor when I was 19 about this. He was insistent that asexuality and demisexuality were mental illnesses and nobody else in the class took umbrage with this. Our textbook even said it, I was shocked
The field of mental health was a complete fucking mess until very recently and it still mostly sucks
A third of people need to be converted into
that’s awful wtfI’m surprised the numbers are this low honestly
was gonna say. p much the only people i’ve met irl who are normal about asexuality are asexual people
