More Me and More Why

First of all, Me.

As I said, my name is Erin, and I am currently a pseudo-freshman in college. I'd explain the pseudo, but... it's complicated. Regardless, I live in an all-female dorm in a small, rural liberal arts college, studying English and Environmental Science. I am a person of many interests. I'll bring them up as I go, but suffice it to say, my hobbies and passions are legion. I have a job as a web designer, and also do freelance web design. I am a scholarship student, and therefore blandly middle-class. I'm non-religious, but I was brought up in a Methodist family and confirmed Methodist and fairly acquainted with all things Christian.

As for the asexual side of Erin, I am currently identifying as heteroromantic asexual. For the uninitiated, that means that I'm romantically attracted to the opposite sex but my sexual attraction is nil. In my case, I'm a pretty straightforward asexual. I can't remember feeling sexual attraction to anyone and I have no interest in anything involving my girl parts. I strongly identify with my female gender and am a bit of a feminist. Even so, I'm a tomboy in many regards (except for my athletic ineptness).

Second of all, Why.

At this point, asexuality is so unrecognized by the public that I think there's still more to be said. The more personal literature that is out there about asexuality, the more presence the asexual community has, and the greater likelihood there is for us to become accepted as another part of the sexuality spectrum. There are still too many psychologists and therapists out there that look at asexuality as a condition and not an orientation. By personalizing it and showing how this is a valid experience, asexuals can show the rest of the world how we should be accepted by the world at large. The asexual movement is still very new, and perhaps collecting this information here online will be a step towards publishing it and making it known in the real world.

On a more personal level, I live in a small community. I will admit that I am currently finding it hard to find my social 'group' without the help of drinking or partying--neither of which I'm really in to. I don't have issues making friends so much as finding a way to relate with them in a communal way that doesn't involve us making idiots out of ourselves. Over the course of the past year, this situation has led me to think more closely about relationships and friendships in a way that I hadn't been able to during most of high school. My musings often wandered back to sexuality, and how it played such a greater part in other peoples' lives, but not so much in mine. I eventually came to accept that I was, indeed, asexual, as the idea lodged itself more and more in my head. I found myself often pushing myself away from relationships where I might end up in a sexual situation. So I'm now resolved to move more freely socially, reminding myself that I should never worry about the issue of sexuality unless it became immediate. I feel that I should chronicle how different social life is when you're dealing with differences of sexuality, especially lesser-known sexualities like asexuality. There has to be an alternate way to interact with other people beyond the context of parties, sex and booze: this is my search for that.

Beyond my personal experience, I want to document asexuality as I see it in the world and as I stumble upon it in my studies and random readings. Where does sexuality stop and asexuality begin? Is asexuality really such a new concept, or does it have more historical and current context? I'm not repulsed by the idea of sex, and I tend to take both academic and personal looks at it. Asexuality should be examined both in relation to other sexualities and the culture that is being formed around it.

And so, we'll take a look at asexuality and all the fun things to do with it! Wheeee!