Coming to an Asexual Identity : Negotiating Identity, Negotiating Desire

Sexuality is generally considered an important aspect of
selfhood. Therefore, individuals who do not experience sexual
attraction, and who embrace an asexual identity, are in a unique
position to inform the social construction of sexuality. This study
explores the experiences of asexual individuals utilizing open
ended internet survey data from 102 self-identified asexual
people. In this article I describe several distinct aspects of asexual
identities: the meanings of sexual, and therefore, asexual
behaviors, essentialist characterizations of asexuality, and lastly,
interest in romance as a distinct dimension of sexuality. These
findings have implications not only for asexual identities, but also
for the connections of asexuality with other marginalized
sexualities.