Am I Asexual?

Am I Asexual?

By: GirlShrink

There is a huge sexual movement going on. It's not about gay pride. It's not about sex among the elderly. It's not even a hidden Viagra agenda I'm speaking of. Today, it's all about the asexual a.k.a. the person who has no interest in having sex. Does this sound like you?

Case Study

*Monica is 24-year-old woman who lives a healthy and vibrant life. She has a satisfying job as a registered nurse, loves to swim, and is in a new 8-month relationship.

What's unique about her relationship is that neither she or her boyfriend are interested in having sex with each other or anyone else for that matter. They are what they describe as "asexuals", and where many physicians and psychologists would call this a problem that needs to be addressed - Monica and her boyfriend feel it is a just a part of who they are and there is nothing wrong with it.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with us. Me and *Jim have just never experienced sexual attraction. It's not like I'm a woman who use to enjoy sex and now I don't. That could very well be hormonal. In my case, I have never had a sexual attraction for anyone - male or female. I enjoy snuggling with my boyfriend, going out with him, and all the other non-sexual things couples do."

Coming Out

Interestingly enough, it seems as if Monica and her boyfriend are not alone. What was once something that many people kept to themselves is now coming out of the closet and members are happy to finally be able to find each other and to define themselves as asexual. Asexuality is emerging as a new sexual orientation.

"I'm kind of glad there is a name for this. I didn't feel broken, just different, and I didn't know what to call it. Now slowly but surely I'm finding others who are just like me. Like this guy who started this website - http://www.asexuality.org/home/ - for people like us."

The Growing Debate

Of course there is growing debate in the mental health and medical community about the term asexual. Some professionals believe that people who do not care about sex at all are either experiencing a physical, emotional, or hormonal problem. There are many who define humans as "sexual beings" who should normally desire a sexual relationship with their partners.

Positive Proof?

People who are asexual feel that this is incorrect, and that is just the effort of medical professionals to tell them what is wrong with them in order to fix them. Or it is just out of ignorance that many professionals don't know about this community of people. But slowly things are beginning to change. Concrete research is something most professionals will accept as proof of recognition.

In a study conducted last year (2004) by Anthony Bogaert, a psychologist and human sexuality expert at Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario-- results concluded that 1 in 100 adults were asexual. That can be defined as 1% of the population which is not too far behind the 3% of the population who are gay.

Celibate or Asexual?

People who are asexual want it to be known that there is a concrete difference between celibacy and asexuality. Someone who is celibate is someone who has chosen to abstain from sex - Asexuals have not made that choice. Just as the heterosexual didn't choose to be attracted to the opposite sex or the homosexual didn't choose to be attracted to the same gender - neither has the asexual made a choice - it's just the way they have always been.

Is this a new thing?

The only thing new about asexuality is the fact is that there is finally some scholarly study and research beginning on the topic and therefore it is receiving more media and therefore public attention.

"There is quite a bit of circumstantial proof that people who have lived decades, even centuries, ago were asexual. This is nothing new - its just getting its fair share of publicity - finally!"

Learn more about asexuality: http://www.asexuality.org/home/

Find an asexual support group in your area: http://asexuality.meetup.com/

The next United Asexuality Meetup Day is on September 3rd.

Famous asexuals:

Sir Issac Newton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton

H.P. Lovecraft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.P._Lovecraft

Would you like to talk about your asexuality? Talk to an advice expert at http://www.girlshrink.com/advice.html

Short note about the author

Lisa Angelettie, M.S.W., is a psychotherapist, author, and an online advice expert. She has been helping people make smarter life choices since 1998. Visit her for Advice & Counseling, or take a free Depression Screening today at: http://www.girlshrink.com.

Subscribe to the growing self-help ezine "Better Choices" at: http://www.girlshrink.com/better_choices.html

Contact info: info@girlshrink.com

© GirlShrink Inc. The author grants reprint permission to opt-in publications and websites so long as the copyright and by-line are included intact and the article is not used in spam

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Neale Sourna at Cleveland Public Library

PIE: Perception is Everything's publishings of Neale Sourna's award-winning erotic romance novel "Hobble" can be loaned from the wonderful Cleveland Public Library area locations. Let them know that you want the rest of Neale's catalog of fine ebooks and printed books.

Project Keanu

I've started an new world project--Project Keanu. I will be adding commentary, observations, opinions, statistics, and surveys for you to participate in as an ongoing, long-term project. Please go to www.ProjectKeanu.com for more details, and help us grow with information and funds when you can. There's a book or two in the what I seek, but it will be awhile until it can be compiled. --Thanks, Neale

Neale Sourna's Romance Lies at Blogspot.com

Hey Valentine, Hey Lover: Ever lie for romance? Ever been lied to in the name of love? Tell me about it in my open blog Romance Lies at BlogSpot.com http://romancelies.blogspot.com/ And, remember shop for Neale Sourna/PIE: Percept products online and in-store, they're 25% or more off! Telling your story and buying a great book to read to your lover is better and longer lasting than chocolate and flowers. What a fantastic gift for your own personal love holiday! --Neale

Alabama Trailer Son Rapes Drunk Mom--not porn, but reality

Teen Arrested for Raping His Mother
Nov 4, 2006 10:03 PM

Albertville, Ala. -- Police say a Marshall County teen raped his mother to get revenge on his brother.

Police say 19-year-old Gary Helms, Jr., raped his 45-year-old mother this past weekend at Willow Terrace Trailer Park on Doyle Drive in Albertville.

It's a twisted crime that police say Helms admits.

"From what we understand the rape stemmed from an argument between him and his brother. And apparently they were arguing over a girlfriend. And the rape was some sort of retaliation towards his brother," said Sgt. Jamie Smith of the Albertville Police Department.

It was unusual retaliation on an unsuspecting victim.

Authorities say Helms' mother was apparently passed out drunk on the couch when the rape started.

"During the attack she did come to and recognize her attacker. (Reporter: As her son?) As her son," said Smith.

That's when, according to the police report, the mother "tried to get away, but he held her down until he was finished."

"It's totally sick is what it is," said Smith.

Helms was arrested and charged with the 1st degree rape of his own mother.

Smith says it's hard to wrap your mind around.

"Shocked, shocked would be more a better way to describe it. That somebody would dip to the lows to do something of this nature. It's just pretty much a shock to the conscience of the general public," said Smith.

Helms is being held in the Marshall County Jail on $100,000 bond.

wsfa.com

Lovers to the Gallows

Panchayat sends lovers to the gallows

Hemendra Chaturvedi
Agra, January 31, 2007

For every landmark judgment in India, there are several outrageous rulings by kangaroo courts in the garb of village panchayats. One such court ordered a death sentence against a couple for daring to fall in love.

Twenty-year-old Mahesh and Gudia were lynched, their bodies cut into pieces and burnt at Naharra village in Agra district late on Monday.

Mahesh and Gudia were distant relatives, but the panchayat decided that they were brother and sister and the “incestuous relationship” warranted death.

Mahesh, who belongs to Biruni village in Agra, frequently visited his uncle Yogesh in Naharra village. That is where he met Gudia, Yogesh's niece who stayed with him, and fell in love.

On Monday, Mahesh and Gudia eloped and reached Bandipur village in Hathras district but their family traced them and brought them back to Naharra village on Monday night.

A panchayat was hurriedly called where the couple was asked to end their relationship. But when they insisted on sticking it out, the panchayat passed its verdict death for lowering the dignity of the Thakur community.

A mob beat Mahesh mercilessly and sliced him to pieces. A similar treatment was meted out to Gudia. Their bodies were bundled in a sack and burnt in a field early on Tuesday.

All along, the only person whose conscience moved him enough to protest was Mahesh's grandfather. He lodged a complaint at the Khandoli police station on Tuesday night.

“An FIR has been lodged against the 12 accused,” Vinay Kumar Yadav, Agra police chief (rural).

hindustantimes.com

Homeless man accused of raping brother's dog

Homeless man accused of raping brother's dog
WLNS.com [2006]

EASTPOINTE, Mich. USA. A homeless man could spend 15 years in prison on a sodomy charge after police say he had sex with his brother's dog.
Police say 33-year-old Delbert Holliday raped the dog in his brother's garage in Eastpointe.

Holliday was arraigned Friday in 38th District Court.

A preliminary examination is set for August 22nd.

Police say the dog may not survive.

Additional information on the dog was not available.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Man murders sister for family honour

Man kills sister for family honour

Indo- Asian News Service
Amman, February 9, 2007


Man kills sister for family honour

Indo- Asian News Service
Amman, February 9, 2007









Advertisement

A 28-year-old man has been charged in Jordan with the premeditated murder of his married sister in the second so-called "honour crime" in the country this year, the Jordan Times reported on Thursday.

The 22-year-old victim was shot five times in the chest and stomach, allegedly by her brother, while she was at a shop on Tuesday, the paper quoted an official source as saying.

The suspect, who was immediately arrested, claimed "family honour" as the motive behind the crime, the official source said.

The victim, who was not identified, was held in prison in 2006 after she went missing for several weeks from her husband's home, the source added.

In his initial testimony, the suspect said he had planned to kill his sister the minute he saw her after her release from prison in October "to cleanse his family's honour" and bought a gun for this purpose, the official source said.

Last year, 15 women were reportedly murdered in so-called honour crimes in the country, according to official sources.

Under the Jordanian penal code, a man proven to have committed an honour crime usually receives a light punishment.

hindustantimes.com

Mother and son gang-raped

Mother and son gang-raped

Asian News International
Bulandshahar, February 12, 2007

A 13-year-old boy and his mother have accused a group of five to six people of committing a brutal sexual assault and torture on them at Kota near Bulandshahar recently.

In their complaint filed at the Gulavati Police Station, the boy, Pramod, and his mother, Reena, have stated that on January 27, five to six people picked up the teenager, suspecting him of committing theft, and took him along with his mother to some anonymous place. The mother was gang-raped and her son was subjected to sodomy by the group. Later, the accused put inflammable material on victims’ private parts while they were in their custody.

The gory incident left Reena in deep shock and hysterical. Pramod is so terrified till date that he cannot work alone like before into the fields.

According to the Pramod, the group raped his mother in front of his eyes.

"They took me and my mother forcefully and raped her before my eyes and also assaulted me sexually," said Pramod.

It all happened after some men suspected Pramod of stealing and took him away along with his mother. The men then raped the mother and boy one-by-one. Both were then taken to a nearby room and the sexual exploitation resumed. Later, the accused poured petrol and chilly powder on victims’ sexual organs.

"They took me away forcefully and raped me along with my son," said Reena, the mother.

Later the rapists took both the victims to the local police station to register an FIR for theft against them.

On learning about the gruesome incident, Jagram Yadav, the vicitm’s husband, sought fellow villagers' help to rescue his wife and son.

When Jagram Yadav, the father of the teenager went to lodge a First Information Report (F.I.R) in the police station, he alleges that he was threatened by the accused.

According to the victims, at first the police officials didn’t try to understand the gravity of the crime. Instead, the sent back the errant individuals with a light warning for not repeating such an act.

It was after Jagram Yadav’s pleading an F.I.R could be lodged.

"Although they (the police) have lodged my complaint we want the criminals should get the severest punishment for the heinous crime they did to my wife and son,” said Jagram Yadav.

According to the District Superintendent of Police, Madhya Pradesh, the police are investigating the matter.

“We are conducitng investigations into the matter and we have arrested two persons in the case. The victims have also been assured of the other involved suspects being traced and arrested."

Despite assurance from the police, the victims’ family is spending every day in terror.

hindustantimes.com