Sometimes, they're just not that into you. Or anyone really.
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Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by DNews today. I am Trace and i'm here with my good friend Cleo Stiller visiting us from Fusion.
Hey Cleo! Hey Trace! Not being into others sexually speaking is actually a completely understandable thing.
It could be that you're asexual.
Exactly, approximately one percent of the population identify as asexual and the evidence indicates it is a sexual orientation and
akin to homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, heterosexual, and so on.
just going it to its most basic definition asexual is to not have sexual feeling
or desires towards others and just like other sexual orientations
it's not a choice or a disfunction. It's simply how you are born.
At puberty when some children begin to get hair in funny places and start making eyes at each other or whatever
asexuals commonly describe confusion being bored with the idea of sex
or simply perplexed and frustrated.
Now, while asexuality in plants and animals is widely documented, thinking about asexuality in humans is
a fairly new concept for scientific research. At first psychiatrists described
as a psychological disorder but that's an old school definition and now the
thinking is as long as it's not causing the person distress it's not a problem.
Asexuality was noted by Kinsey and acknowledged by other sexual researchers
in their studies as well but I thought to study at the US Sheep Experiment
Station which is a real place in Idaho was particularly telling. Researchers
were looking for ways to encourage sheep to bone more efficiently. When they looked
at their herds more closely though it turned out between five and ten percent of the sheep were gay,
and about two to three percent were asexual.
I wanna be sure to say that you know sheep and humans are not a direct comparison but
this does give insight into this not amounting to cultural shifts or
changing attitudes but biology. I know, it's hard to imagine life without sex
but asexual people still find value in physical intimacy. A 2011 study published
in the Archives of sexual behavior found that asexual women feel physical pleasure.
They just don't associate those feelings with sexual urges.
That's pretty cool and for example they do find that some asexual people masturbate in
writings about asexuality people describe their masturbation not
as a sexual urge
but as simply cleaning the pipes. Now, by attempting to study those who feel no
sexual attraction to others we can also better understand those who do have
sexual attraction. The Journal of Sex Research looked at a huge collection of
asexuality studies, and part of the problem science is having is that there's
no single definition of what asexuality is.
But just because there's no definition doesn't stop science from exploring.
Cleo reached out to one of the leading experts in asexuality studies, Tony Bogart, and he said his
findings indicate there may actually be more asexual women out there than there are men.
He told me yes there are more women than men and that he speculates
that women may be biologically more flexible in their sexuality and thus
more likely to be influenced by early learnings and cultural factors. Now, this in
turn might make women less interested in sex or why they have no sexual attraction at all.
This claim is supported by other recent studies that
show women tend to be more sexually fluid throughout their lifetimes as well
Now, you may think a life without sex sounds pretty lonely, but many asexual
folks have fulfilling, romantic relationships.
There's just a very deep emphasis on emotional intimacy.
Western culture can feel hyper sexual and at times prudish. We are constantly bombarded with sexual
media encouraging us to fulfill our biological and sociosexual needs,
but just like some people are tall while others are short sexuality comes on a
spectrum and there is room for everyone.
And here is how I've come to think about asexuality: if you think of all the variations there are with sexuality
monogamy, polygamy, bisexuality, everything is so individual, so doesn't that also make
sense that a small portion of the population sex would just be completely off the table?
How do you guys feel about asexuality? Have you ever met someone who
is openly asexual? Tell us down in the comments.
Thanks for having me on DNews. Now, to find more my content on health and technology
follow me on Twitter @CleoMSF and check out my video on how you can treat your depression with
robots and avatars. Hello, Elly.
Hi, I'm Elly. I was created to talk to people in a safe and secure environment.
We're here at a pretty bad ass lab where psychologists and software developers have partnered up to work on Elly.
Thanks for coming on Cleo, it was super cool. Aw, thanks man, I had a good time.
You can also find me on twitter if you like. I'm @tracedominiquez. You can subscribe to DNews right here, and thanks for watching!
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