Let’s be clear – these terms have common meanings, but they aren’t always completely comprehensive. Sexuality and attraction are spectrums and are, for many people, fluid. This means that things may change over time or across situations. So, while language can help our understanding, the same words can mean different things for different people.
Think of these terms as shorthand for complex ideas. And, keep in mind that if someone describes their identity outside of these terms, that’s also valid. Everyone has a right to define their own identity. Period.
That said, here are some keywords to help better understand the asexual community:
The Asexual Umbrella: The spectrum of sexual identities generally characterized by not feeling sexual attraction or desire for partnered sexuality. Asexuality is not to be confused with abstinence or celibacy and is considered an umbrella term that includes all individuals who fall somewhere along an asexual spectrum. Some examples include:
Demisexual (a.k.a. “demi”): someone who can have sexual attraction only after an emotional connection
Often, people use prefixes to help describe their identities and attractions. Here are a few commonly used prefixes people use to help indicate who they are attracted to:
A-: no attraction
Bi-: attraction to two or more genders
Hetero-: attraction to a different gender (typically, the binary opposite gender, i.e. men attracted to women and women attracted to men)
Homo-: attraction to the same gender
Pan-: attraction regardless of gender
Poly-: attraction to two or more genders, but not all genders
Okay – that’s a lot of words. If you want to hear these terms used in context, check out this interview with 5 asexual people and hear them describe their identities themselves!
Zoe, who identifies as asexual and aromantic, says, “I get a lot of questions like, ‘Well, do you love anything at all?’ And it’s like, YES! It just doesn’t involve people in a sexual or romantic way.”
And Emmanual, who identifies as asexual and biromantic, describes their identity as, “an attraction to both genders, but not sexually.”
So while there’s no one way to define sexuality, we can use these combinations of prefixes and root words to generally describe and understand ourselves and each other.
Want more info? Check out the abundance of resources at AceWeek.org and join us in amplifying the ace voices, stories, and resources this week.
Happy Ace Week!
The information above can be found through the original source at bedbible.com