Asexuality in men and women

Among the definitions of lack of sexual desire, as well as interest in and desire to engage in sex, asexuality has generated the most controversy over the past decade and a half.

If we start from the definition of human sexuality, then its opposite should be defined as the absence of a physiological and emotional need for sexual contact.

Medical aspects of asexuality

According to some experts, asexuality is a type of sexual orientation and fits into the same category as heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality, especially since there are entire communities of “asexuals”.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) have concluded that asexuality is neither a psychiatric condition nor a symptom of a mental disorder of a sexual nature. And the classification criteria provide grounds for classifying this condition as a specific sexual orientation.

On the other hand, according to the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), sexual desire disorders - hypoactive sexual desire disorder and inhibited sexual desire - are classified under the section "Sexual and Gender Personality Disorders", which is characterized by the absence of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity.

But already in DSM-V5, changes and comments were made, which boil down to the following. For disorders of sexual desire to be assessed as a dysfunction, they must be accompanied by clinically significant mental and physiological changes and cause severe anxiety and serious interpersonal difficulties. At the same time, these disorders should not be explained by any other mental disorders, the effects of drugs, some other disease or asexuality.

Thus, the main difference between these sexual dysfunctions and asexuality is that patients with the disorders suffer from a lack of sexual desire, while people who consider themselves asexuals do not care about this at all.

Practically taking this condition beyond the scope of medical problems, experts recommend not to introduce confusion by associating a low threshold of sexual arousal in women with the absence of a physiological and emotional need for sexual contacts, that is, frigidity and asexuality. Although frigidity is considered a hypoactive disorder of sexual desire, it is very often idiopathic.

Epidemiology

There are no recent data published on the prevalence of asexuality, but statistics from more than a decade ago listed nearly 70 million adults worldwide as asexual.

According to the journal Sex Research, as of the end of 2004, 0.4-1% of the UK population (out of 39 million adults) considered themselves asexual.

3.3% of Finnish women and about 1.6% of French women, as well as almost 2% of New Zealand college seniors, admitted to never feeling sexually attracted to anyone.

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Causes asexuality

The study of persistent lack of sexual desire continues to be studied by specialists in the fields of psychiatry, sexology, and psychology, but they have not yet come to a common point of view on the causes of asexuality, despite the widespread discussion of this problem in medical circles.

Many believe that possible risk factors for this condition include anxiety, stress, and depression; aversive sexual experiences or other traumas; and various health problems (psychosomatics, sex hormone levels, sexual dysfunction). For example, asexuality in men is most often associated with low testosterone levels (although clinical studies have not been conducted on this issue).

Lack of desire for sexual intercourse may be the result of difficulties associated with their implementation, or problems in the relationships between sexual partners?

Some try to link the pathogenesis of asexuality with an imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters - dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, which act on the hypothalamus and pituitary gland (which produce and release into the blood such sex hormones as oxytocin, prolactin, follicle-stimulating and luteinizing hormone).

And biologists have come up with the idea that perhaps this is how the transformation of the sexual instinct of the human population begins. After all, unlike animals (with their instinctive desire to mate and reproduce for the survival of the species), the sexual instinct of people has long been aimed at reproduction. Remember Freud, who unconditionally believed in the primacy of the sexual instinct in human behavior and claimed that only physical pleasure received during sexual intercourse provides psychological release.

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Symptoms asexuality

How do you know if someone has symptoms of asexuality? It is not sexual abstinence, not a synonym for celibacy, not low libido (which can be caused by health problems), not a consequence of hormonal imbalance or fear of sexual relations.

Moreover, asexuals can meet, experience emotional attachment (platonic love), have children. Even arousal or orgasm do not contradict this state, and some asexuals have sex if they have a romantic partner who wants it.

By the way, there are different types of asexuality: romantic – non-sexual relationships that are often associated with sympathy and affection, and non-romantic – deep emotional and psychological attachment without sex.

Romantic attraction, devoid of sexual desire, can be heteromorphic - that is, towards a person of the opposite sex, or, accordingly, homomorphic.

Members of the world's largest online asexual community, AVEN, say that in a world where everything revolves around sex, many people with a lack of sexual desire can feel marginalized by being labeled as having a sexual disorder. This can lead to low self-esteem, anxiety, and a tendency toward depression.

Although scientists studying the physiology of asexuality suggest that in this condition the ability for genital arousal does not disappear, there may be difficulties with so-called subjective arousal - at the level of the mind and emotions.

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Complications and consequences

The main consequences and complications of asexuality concern relationships with people who have a normal level of need for sexual intercourse.

Therefore, asexuals are better off associating with others like themselves, and some of them wear a black ring on the middle finger of their right hand as a form of identification.

In modern Western societies, sexual experience is considered a defining feature of the good life. This is great for people who enjoy sex. But the asexuality of those who do not enjoy it should not be presented as an anomaly.

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Diagnostics asexuality

The proposed diagnostics of asexuality consists of identifying the absence of sexual desire. For this, there is a very simple test for asexuality, which allows you to understand how asexual a person is.

The test consists of the following questions:

• Can sex be considered something dirty or forbidden?
• Do you feel embarrassed or awkward when others talk about sex?
• Do you think it is possible to live without sex?
• Can there be relationships between people without sexual intimacy?
• Is it possible to live a full life with a man or woman without intimacy?
• How do you feel about having sex?
• Have you ever felt uncomfortable because you don't have the same sexual feelings as those around you?

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Asexuality of modern youth

Teenagers experience an "identity crisis" with the onset of puberty, and their sexuality and interest in the sexual side of life is part of the natural process of growing up.

Sexual interest among young people, as among adults, can vary greatly and depends on cultural norms and prevailing morals in society, sexual orientation, social control and the level of sex education. It should be borne in mind that the brain has not fully matured until the age of 25, and partly because of this, many young men and women are unable to make informed decisions and anticipate the consequences of sexual behavior: unwanted pregnancy; infection with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

Psychologists tend to see the asexuality of modern youth, particularly American youth, in problems of sex education. According to research conducted in several educational institutions (among students over 17 years old), during a "sexual situation", 81.2% of respondents did not feel sexual interest, and 75.8% experienced anxiety and fear during sexual contact.

As The Journal of Marriage and Family writes, studies show that 10% to 40% of young people in the US and other Western countries do not have sexual intercourse after the age of 18. And at the age of 25-29 – 5%.

But it seems that the Japanese have broken all records for asexuality: according to 2012 data, 61.4% of unmarried men aged 18-34 did not have a girlfriend, and more than 49% of women of the same age did not have a sexual partner. At the same time, more than 25% of unmarried young men and women under 30 have never had sex.

The "genderless lifestyle" has become popular among young people in China, with asexuality most often exhibited by girls living in megacities.