A common misconception is that all asexual individuals have a negative view on sex and do not engage in sex. As a reminder, asexuality is defined as a lack of sexual attraction towards individuals of all genders. Asexuality is an orientation and it is not synonymous with celibacy.
Cultural and Personal Attitudes Towards Sex:
Asexual individuals can have a wide variety of attitudes towards sex, both in a cultural sense and in personal relationships. For instance, some asexual people may have an accepting attitudes towards sex in general but not be open to having sex themselves, while other asexual people may have conservative attitudes towards sex but are open to compromise within a relationship. To better understand this concept, we can split attitudes towards sex into two categories: Cultural Attitudes and Personal Attitudes.
The following definitions have been collected from AVEN and AceWeek:
Cultural attitudes towards sex can be defined as beliefs often shaped by society and cultural upbringing. These attitudes can be further broken down into: Sex-positive, sex-neutral, and sex-negative. Sex-positive beliefs may have been most likely influenced by healthy portrayals of sexuality in media and accepting of alternative lifestyles (e.g. polyamory, kinks/fetishes, unattached sex partners). Sex-neutral beliefs may have been shaped by moderate portrayals of sexuality in the media. Sex-negative beliefs may have been shaped by censorship of sexual content in media and that sex as a topic should stay in the bedroom.
Personal attitudes towards having sex refers to one’s personal attitudes in engaging in sex themselves. These attitudes can be further broken down into: Sex-favorable, sex-indifferent, and sex-averse/sex-repulsed.
Cultural Attittudes towards sex
Sex-Positive: belief that people have the right to have as much or as little consensual sex as they’d like
Sex-Neutral: belief that sex is not inherently good or bad
Sex-Negative: belief that sex, or certain kinds of consensual sex, are inherently bad
Personal attitudes towards having sex
Sex-Favorable: someone who enjoys having sex in some situations
Sex-Indifferent: someone who is not averse to having sex, but does not find it to be personally beneficial or gratifying
Sex-Averse/Sex-Repulsed: someone who is disgusted by the idea of themselves having sex or by being exposed to sexual content or situations
**Note: not everyone fits into one of the three categories. Some people are Sex-Ambivalent and may have mixed feelings towards having sex.
This 3 x 3 matrix was created by AVEN to better help conceptualize these attitudes. All asexual individuals have a combination of these attitudes (though of course attitudes towards sex can be fluid and may change over time).
Extra Resources:
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