It does take all kinds of people—ever-singles, solo singles,
celebates, anchorites, monks, nuns, roommates and domestic
workers—to make up this world. What’s surprising is the rapidity
with which asexuality is tumbling out of the closets and the way
asexuals—who have no interest in sex—are flaunting it as an
integral part of normal, healthy life.
Although celibacy can be a repression of sexuality under some
circumstances and lead to a diminished response to life and personal
growth, it can also have quite the opposite effect—be it spiritual,
health-related or social—if it’s chosen for positive reasons, says
new age thinker Gabrielle Brown
Forget metrosexuality. It had its 15 minutes of fame. Asexuality is
the newest rage on the block. A-pride apparently is the newest sex
club: `A’ stands for asexual; not something hormone-ridden as `Alpha
male’ or bigot-infested like `Aryan’.
As a term of sexual preference, however, it’s a non-starter. For
as a new study shows that about one in 100 adults have absolutely no
interest in sex.
Anthony Bogaert, a human sexuality expert and psychologist of love
at Brock University conducted the new study published in the Journal
of Sex Research.
He analysed interviews done in 1994 in Britain of 18,000 people.
They were asked about their sexual practices. One of the responses was
“I have never felt sexually attracted to anyone” which was
tick-marked by 1% of the respondents.These are people who apparently
don’t experience sexual attraction: `birds and the bees’ have
never been their things of beauty and joy forever.
By itself that shouldn’t surprise. It does take all
kinds—-ever-singles, solo singles, celebates, anchorites, monks,
nuns, roommates and domestic workers—-to make up this world.
What’s surprising is the rapidity with which asexuality is
tumbling out of the closets and the way asexuals are flaunting it as
an integral part of normal, healthy life.
Check out the chatrooms or networks like AVEN (Asexuality
Visibility and Education Network), founded by that
Arch-American-Asexual David Jay in ‘01, and you will find that not
having sex is not about laziness, dysfunction, lack of libido or
opportunity nor is it about taking a position (no pun intended) or
being a frustrated reject.
It’s also not about fear and loathing of sex in the age of the
virus. This may explain why some New Age thinkers like Gabrielle Brown
prefer the term `new celibacy’, adding, “In this way, perhaps we
can best think of celibacy as `the rest state of sexuality’, where
the sexual response becomes more diffuse, expanding in many directions
beyond a simple genital response.”
She goes on to argue that although celibacy can be a repression of
sexuality under some circumstances and lead to a diminished response
to life and personal growth, it can also have quite the opposite
effect—-be it spiritual, health-related or social—-if it’s
chosen for positive reasons.
`The eastern counterpart of `new celibacy’ is brahmacharya, which
seems harder to assimilate in a tradition that views sexuality as a
fundamental, call it god-given part of human identity or Eros
hard-wired into our psyche. According to some experts, the flurry of
activity in the asexual movement is reminiscent of the beginnings of
the gay revolution of the 1970s.
Others like Elizabeth Abbott, dean of women at Trinity College,
University of Toronto, believe asexuality is likely to be a far milder
trend because, “it doesn’t repel, it just doesn’t appeal”.
In 1999, Abbott’s own History of Celibacy became a runaway
bestseller, raising the possibility that there are lots of people in
the oxymoronic category `happy singles’. They may be below our radar
today. Tomorrow, they could steam up into a critical mass.
Source by Vithal C Nadkarni, December 17, 2004 - Times
Internet Limited©2003
