User:FannyHager/sandbox

Lack of Human Sexual Activity
When we think of human sexuality, a lot of things pop off in our minds; for example, we may think about some form of physical contact, attraction, sex, marriage, kids and plenty more. On the contrary, what we don’t usually think about, however, is the low or lack of sexual activity that a small minority of people possesses. This is referred to as asexuality, and has been the subject of new academic and public discourse in the past decade. Asexuality is defined as a genuine lack in sexual attraction and/or sexual desire towards others. Though research is fairly limited in this area, asexual people are estimated to be 1% of the world’s population.

Asexuality and celibacy are two words that are often used interchangeably; however the two are not synonymous. Whereas asexuality is considered the fourth sexual orientation, which concerns about how one feels rather than how one behaves, celibacy is a choice one makes to abstain from engaging in sexual activities due to personal reasons. These can range from personal religious beliefs and values or it can be the cause of environmental factors that may be beyond the individual’s control (such in the case of incarceration). Asexuality does not necessarily equal having no desire for sexual stimulation, or that self-identified asexuals are incapable of physical arousal. A lot of studies have focused on masturbation frequencies and the results indicate a finding of no significant differences in the physiological arousal of sexual and asexual women ; and when it comes to asexual men, their masturbation frequency is said to be equal to that of men with normal sex drives.

The Asexual Spectrum
Contrary to what the definition says, not all asexual people lack sexual desire and/or attraction. Defining asexuality as the lack of sexual attraction and sexual desire “conceals a significant degree of heterogeneity as to the personal reasons that individuals have for defining as asexual”. Not all asexuals fall into this spectrum. They can be romantic or aromantic sub-types, with varying sexual attitudes ranging from sex-positive to anti-sex. A (straight, gay, bisexual or pansexual identifying) romantic asexual thrive for the companionate love as they experience strong, intimate and romantic feelings for their partner; such in the case of a married asexual individual, who engages in sexual behaviors as a gesture of intimacy and commitment, or to compromise with their partner for reproductive reasons, whereas aromantics would not and are simply satisfied with friendships. When it comes to sex, attitudes vary in the asexual individual’s level of interest. In a survey and questionnaire study, Carrigan identifies four categories of sexual attitudes that could be of interest to some :
 * 1) Sex-positive individuals have nothing against the idea of sex and encourage others to engage in it, but do not experience the desire for sex,
 * 2) Sex-neutral individuals have no desire or interest in sex,
 * 3) Sex-averse individuals find the personal idea of having sex repulsive, and
 * 4) Anti-sex individuals view the idea of sex as entirely repulsive and problematic