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Asexual Awareness Week – day five
Day Five – prejudice against asexuality
Asexuality: The 'X' In A Sexual World
Six articles are featured in this series giving a good overview of the topic. I'm mentioning it here because it includes a section called "'I Hope You Get Raped' A glimpse into the battle against asexual discrimination and sexual violence" - because some people can't bear the thought that a person, especially a female bodied one, would never submit to their sexual advances. Lesbians in particular have long had the threat of "corrective rape" levelled at them, but asexuals also encounter it.
Sexuality and why asexuals are not oppressed or queer Someone argues that asexuals don't face prejudice and are not oppressed. This post is a link to that original article and the response to it (short version, yes, asexuals do face prejudice).
Prejudice Against “Group X” (Asexuals)
I'll just one of the most relevant passages:
"In a recent investigation (MacInnis & Hodson, in press) we uncovered strikingly strong bias against asexuals in both university and community samples. Relative to heterosexuals, and even relative to homosexuals and bisexuals, heterosexuals: (a) expressed more negative attitudes toward asexuals (i.e., prejudice); (b) desired less contact with asexuals; and (c) were less willing to rent an apartment to (or hire) an asexual applicant (i.e., discrimination). Moreover, of all the sexual minority groups studied, asexuals were the most dehumanized (i.e., represented as “less human”). Intriguingly, heterosexuals dehumanized asexuals in two ways. Given their lack of sexual interest, widely considered a universal interest, it might not surprise you to learn that asexuals were characterized as “machine-like” (i.e., mechanistically dehumanized). But, oddly enough, asexuals were also seen as “animal-like” (i.e., animalistically dehumanized). Yes, asexuals were seen as relatively cold and emotionless and unrestrained, impulsive, and less sophisticated."
I think some of the blame for these attitudes lies with what few representations we have in media of asexual people, whether they claim that label or not. I may discuss representation later.
Asexuality: The 'X' In A Sexual World
Six articles are featured in this series giving a good overview of the topic. I'm mentioning it here because it includes a section called "'I Hope You Get Raped' A glimpse into the battle against asexual discrimination and sexual violence" - because some people can't bear the thought that a person, especially a female bodied one, would never submit to their sexual advances. Lesbians in particular have long had the threat of "corrective rape" levelled at them, but asexuals also encounter it.
Sexuality and why asexuals are not oppressed or queer Someone argues that asexuals don't face prejudice and are not oppressed. This post is a link to that original article and the response to it (short version, yes, asexuals do face prejudice).
Prejudice Against “Group X” (Asexuals)
I'll just one of the most relevant passages:
"In a recent investigation (MacInnis & Hodson, in press) we uncovered strikingly strong bias against asexuals in both university and community samples. Relative to heterosexuals, and even relative to homosexuals and bisexuals, heterosexuals: (a) expressed more negative attitudes toward asexuals (i.e., prejudice); (b) desired less contact with asexuals; and (c) were less willing to rent an apartment to (or hire) an asexual applicant (i.e., discrimination). Moreover, of all the sexual minority groups studied, asexuals were the most dehumanized (i.e., represented as “less human”). Intriguingly, heterosexuals dehumanized asexuals in two ways. Given their lack of sexual interest, widely considered a universal interest, it might not surprise you to learn that asexuals were characterized as “machine-like” (i.e., mechanistically dehumanized). But, oddly enough, asexuals were also seen as “animal-like” (i.e., animalistically dehumanized). Yes, asexuals were seen as relatively cold and emotionless and unrestrained, impulsive, and less sophisticated."
I think some of the blame for these attitudes lies with what few representations we have in media of asexual people, whether they claim that label or not. I may discuss representation later.
