the invisible orientation an introduction to asexuality

It includes information for asexual people to help understand their orientation and what it means for their relationships, as well as tips and facts for those who want to understand their asexual friends and loved ones. In The Invisible Orientation, Julie Sondra Decker outlines what asexuality is, counters misconceptions, provides resources, and puts asexual people’s experiences in context as they move through a very sexualized world. And all of this contributes to a discouraging master narrative: there is no such thing as asexual.” Being an asexual person is a lie or an illness, and it needs to be fixed. Critics confront asexual people with accusations of following a fad, hiding homosexuality, or making excuses for romantic failures. When an asexual person comes out, alarming reactions regularly follow loved ones fear that an asexual person is sick, or psychologically warped, or suffering from abuse. But that’s where asexual people are left outthey don’t find other people sexually attractive, and if and when they say so, they are very rarely treated as though that’s okay. Most people believe that everyone” wants sex, that everyone” understands what it means to be attracted to other people, and that everyone” wants to date and mate. They aren’t sexually attracted to anyone, and they consider it a sexual orientationlike gay, straight, or bisexual.Īsexuality is the invisible orientation.

What if you weren't sexually attracted to anyone?Ī growing number of people are identifying as asexual. Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2015 Winner in LGBT Independent Publisher Book Awards 2015 (IPPY) Silver Medal in Sexuality/Relationships Lambda Literary Award 2014 Finalist in LGBT Nonfictionįoreword Reviews’ INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award 2014 Finalist in Family & Relationships

The invisible orientation an introduction to asexuality