Asexuality as a Defensive or Coping Mechanism?

[isometry]

There are physiological causes for low sex drive. Poor diet, lack of exercise, and a variety of other ailments can impair desire, even for a young person. These causes can be easily treated, but there are pros and cons to having low sex drive, so not everyone with the condition wants treatment. Also there might be cases where low sex drive has a psychological cause as opposed to a physiological one, then treatment is not clear.

 

[Caverat]

People who express Asexuality overly often or at all are entirely doing so because they are sexually frustrated and chose that attitude instead of being depressed over their dissatisfying sexual situation(IE:Not getting any) More respect to them than emos, but seriously, a truly asexual being would not even understand/enter into conversation about sexuality as it would actually be an alien topic for them.

Again, kudos to making the best out of a fail hand.

 

[HardkorSB]

Yes, because if a person has no desire to have sex, they have something wrong with them.

Human beings (and all living things really) have a natural desire to reproduce. It's in the genes. If that desire is not present then YES, there is something wrong with you, from a biological standpoint. I'm not talking about societal norms, those vary from person to person. However, a being which reproduces via sexual intercourse having absolutely no desire to perform it, doesn't function properly. Again, from a biological standpoint.

 

[Vegosiux]

Yes, because if a person has no desire to have sex, they have something wrong with them.

Human beings (and all living things really) have a natural desire to reproduce. It's in the genes. If that desire is not present then YES, there is something wrong with you, from a biological standpoint. I'm not talking about societal norms, those vary from person to person. However, a being which reproduces via sexual intercourse having absolutely no desire to perform it, doesn't function properly. Again, from a biological standpoint.

Oh, if we bring it down to reproduction, then I'm pretty sure something's wrong with pretty much everyone again, by your definition. Safe sex, birth control, all that...not functioning properly from the biological standpoint either.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Lack of sexual desire, and the inability to derive pleasure from said is a symptom of a variety of psychological conditions. That's not to say that people not interested in sex fall into that category, just that there is more than a handful of explanations for why people show no interest in sex.

 

[SyphonX]

I don't think you could fairly determine you are 'asexual' if you are still in your teens (at the least), in my opinion.

Some people say it just to belong, or to legitimize what they perceive as an "undesirable" trait (no relationship, no intimacy, etc). Whenever someone displays 'angst' in an otherwise 'mild' discussion of sexuality, that to me is the clearest indication they are simply not sure or are not being true to themselves.

 

[Kynreave]

Yes, because if a person has no desire to have sex, they have something wrong with them.

Human beings (and all living things really) have a natural desire to reproduce. It's in the genes. If that desire is not present then YES, there is something wrong with you, from a biological standpoint. I'm not talking about societal norms, those vary from person to person. However, a being which reproduces via sexual intercourse having absolutely no desire to perform it, doesn't function properly. Again, from a biological standpoint.

Okay I totally get what you are stating from a BIOLOGICAL standpoint, but as any psychologist would know cognitions are also affected by environment, that means that if someone doesn't want to have sex, it won't be that they aren't functioning 'properly' it is far more likely that even if you can consider that asexuality should be treated (With the growing population, it's a blessing), it's almost certainly society causing it.

 

[Kynreave]

Lack of sexual desire, and the inability to derive pleasure from said is a symptom of a variety of psychological conditions. That's not to say that people not interested in sex fall into that category, just that there is more than a handful of explanations for why people show no interest in sex.

This also, it should be said that someone suffering from something like clinical depression could be genuinely asexual for years of their life, and they may even sometimes continue to be even after the depression has passed.

 

[CODE-D]

None of us are asexual for its not really sex and we cannot reproduce that way.
We just prefer to say that over...well Jackin it. I love to jack it though
Its fast, I know what I want/what feels good and I dont have to get another person involved which may be a hassle in some cases. also less clean up.

Its also weird to say your asexual just cause your disinterested in sex(not horny), since thats not even sexual at all.


These are just me thoughts.

 

[Terminal Blue]

However assuming that asexuality was a defense mechanism, in a certain time period, to legitimise virginity or whatever stimuli they were responding to. Does that make it any less valid?

I think not.

I was one of the people who had a very precocious sexuality, but even I had a few months when I just felt like my desire for sex had been burned out. Was that an asexual phase? Maybe, if it had lasted forever I'd definitely be calling myself asexual.

As far as I'm concerned, the only requirement for being asexual is feeling asexual at that moment. Noone is obliged to call themselves bisexual just in case they walk down the street tomorrow and see a member of the same/opposite sex who totally blows their mind.

I like your line of thinking.

Again, from a biological standpoint.

What relevance does a "biological standpoint" have though.

Human being aren't attracted to each other because they see mammary glands and know they will produce good milk for the young, they're attracted to each other because they like boobs (or don't, some people don't).

This evolutionary-psychology based idea that everything happens for a purely evolutionary reason and cannot deviate simply by accident or learned experience really doesn't correlate with even a cursory examination of human behaviour.

It leads to weird lines of thinking. For example, surely from a biological standpoint being afraid of spiders is a good thing, so are people who overcome a fear of spiders suffering from a 'mental illness' because of it? When you start second guessing the intentions of some anthropomorphised version of evolution, I think you've stepped into profoundly unscientific territory.

 

[Hipster Chick]

If I type anything more than this, I'm gonna start raging and end up getting myself banned, so...that's a load of bull, OP. It's the same as saying someone would turn gay if that was the only option, and believe me, most won't even when it is.

 

[Leppy]

My question is is asexuality used as a defence mechanism used by people who, for whatever reason, have never had sex to legitimize their virginity?

Hell yeah it is. Asexuality is definitely the new cool way for the kiddies to mask their lack of romantic experience. Just like 'aspergers' or 'mild autism' is the new cool way to say you sometimes have difficulty coping with new situations or your own emotions. And there's way too much of it on these forums.

Sure, there are probably some real cases of asexuality around here and I don't want to be disrespectful to them, but even right now in this thread there are people who are already confusing their lack of romantic interest with asexuality. I'm willing to bet that at least half of them masturbates and has a preference of doing it to imagery of either naked men or women. Although most of them probably won't admit it because then they'd loose that coolness of saying they're asexual.

This, one thousand times over. Honestly, these forums are overflowing with people claiming to have 'aspergers' because they lack social skills. A few years back, ADD (now ADHD) was the 'cool' thing to be suffering.

 

[everythingbeeps]

There's a lot of reasons. In some cases, TC's right. In some, TC isn't. Everyone has different reasons for doing or believing what they do, and of course some people say they're asexual because they just can't get any and want to act like it's their decision. And of course some people are just genuinely not interested.

 

[AbyssalSanhedrin]

If I don't get banned for bumping an old (self authored) thread then I'm going to discuss some of this stuff tomorrow because a post-pub musing that I forgot about in the cold light of day has thrown up some some really interesting discussion. If I'm able to log in in the morning then I'll flesh out my argument; stay tuned...



Or don't, I don't really care.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Heh, I don't know. It seems pretty unreasonable to suggest that asexuality is a lie, but I suspect that there are people who will hide behind the idea if it's easier than facing up to any inadequacies they might have. It's just the nature of people discussing sexuality, it makes peoples egos fragile. I'd be amazed if you hadn't met a straight male who has claimed to have been with x amount of women, and you don't believe it for a second.

People be insecure, and people lie.