Asexuality: prevalence and associated factors in a national probability sample

I used data from a national probability sample (N > 18,000) of British residents to investigate asexuality, defined as having no sexual attraction to a partner of either sex. Approximately 1% (n = 195) of the sample indicated they were asexual. A number of factors were related to asexuality, including gender (i.e., more women than men), short stature, low education, low socioeconomic status, and poor health. Asexual women also had a later onset of menarche relative to sexual women. The results suggest that a number of pathways, both biological and psychosocial, contribute to the development of asexuality.     

Asexuality: Prevalence and associated factors in a national probability sample

I used data from a national probability sample (N > 18,000) of British residents to investigate asexuality, defined as having no sexual attraction to a partner of either sex. Approximately 1%(n = 195) of the sample indicated they were asexual. A number of factors were related to asexuality, including gender (i.e., more women than men), religiosity, short stature, low education, low socioeconomic status, and poor health. Asexual women also had a later onset of menarche relative to sexual women. The results suggest that a number of pathways, both biological and psychosocial, contribute to the development of asexuality.     

Asexuality: A Multidimensional Approach

While lack of sexual attraction, lack of sexual behavior, and self-identification as asexual have been used as criteria to define asexuality, it is not known how much they overlap in describing the same group of people. This study aimed to assess how many individuals could be identified as asexual based on each of these criteria and on combinations of these criteria. Participants were recruited through the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, social media, and posts on several health- and lifestyle-related websites. In total, 566 participants between 18 and 72 years old (M = 27.86, SD = 10.53) completed an online survey (24% male, 68.9% female, 7.1% “other”). Based on self-identification or lack of sexual attraction, 71.3% and 69.2%, respectively, of participants were categorized as asexual, while based on lack of sexual behavior only 48.5% were categorized as asexual. Gender differences were found only for those participants who indicated that they did not experience sexual attraction, with more women (72.8%) than men (58.8%) indicating a lack of sexual attraction. Given that self-identification as asexual implies familiarity with the term asexual, we argue for the use of lack of sexual attraction as the primary criterion to define asexuality.     

Young Adult Suicide and Sexual Orientation

ABSTRACT

The current project focused on the suicidal ideation and risk potential of young adults (N = 312) and explored scores on self-report measures of suicidal ideation inclusive of various sexual orientations. Results suggest that the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) youth surveyed (N = 73) differ in their display of suicide risk with significantly higher Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Suicide Probability Scale (SPS) scores. Social support served as a mitigating factor relating significantly to lower levels of hopelessness and suicidal ideation, especially among those LGB participants. The SPS held a significant relationship to suicide attempt in the past year, while the BHS held a significant relationship to suicide attempt in the past six months. Implications for counselors serving young adults are addressed, including specific suggestions to enhance counselor education and supervision related to suicide assessment and LGB counselor competency.     

Have Japanese People Become Asexual? Love in Japan

This article examines changing romantic relationships in contemporary Japanese society. It specifically investigates whether Japanese people in their twenties and thirties have become asexual; that is, whether they tend to have few sexual experiences or interests. Data were collected through an internet survey; this article uses a subsample of 9,940 respondents. The dependent variables were the number of lovers respondents had during and after junior high school; the independent variable was the respondents’ age. Regression analyses found a clear trend toward asexual behavior among young men (in their twenties and thirties). However, young women are not as asexual as the previous generation. This asexualization of men may have contributed to Japan’s sharply declining marriage and birth rates. If so, other Asian societies may learn lessons from Japan’s experiences in the future.     

Developing the Fearless School Counselor Ally and Advocate for LGBTQIQ Youth: Strategies for Preparation Programs

To better serve the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and questioning (LGBTQIQ) youth population, counselor educators can assist school counselors-in-training in developing advocacy competencies within their training programs. A focus on advocacy competencies outlined by the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards, and infusion of techniques throughout the education process, may increase levels of comfort for neophyte school counselors-in-training when working with LGBTQIQ youth. To increase efficacy in this multicultural population, myriad environments representative of the systemic nature of the school environment and culture must be examined and explored through training processes. These authors discuss intervention strategies for counselor educators to develop future school counselor advocacy, which align with the ACA advocacy competency domain areas.     

Association for Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender Issues in Counseling’s Best Practices in Addressing Conscience Clause Legislation in Counselor Education and Supervision

The amount of various, state-level legislation allowing the denial of counseling services to individuals with values that conflict with those of the professional counselor continues to increase. Such laws are in direct conflict with the values, principles, and ethical standards of the counseling profession. These “conscience clause” legislations are of concern due to the ability of the counseling profession to safeguard and protect the welfare of clients seeking counseling services. Potently, however, much of the focus of conscience clause legislation centers around the legal sanctioning of bias and refusal to provide services to affectional and gender minority clients, and the intersection of sexual/affectional orientation to spiritual and religious values. Provided is a review of these laws and the way they clash with the counseling profession. To assist profession counselors in navigating appropriate ethical behavior, specific counseling-appropriate and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer affirming recommendations are provided. Each layer of professional counseling, direct work with clients, supervision, and counselor education, is addressed.     

Sexual Identity Formation of Women Who Love Women: A Contextual View Point

Nonheterosexuals experience oppression and discrimination that affect personal development on all levels. An increased awareness of sexual identity development could create more inclusive sexual identity models, better understanding for counselor educators, and better training for counselors on issues of sexual identity. The purpose of this study was to identify the life experiences that influence sexual identity in women who love women. This study required that participants attach meaning to sexual identity formation. From the data collected, four themes emerged: I was just different, information seeking, view of self as a woman within the context of culture, and contextual relationships. Findings of this study did not support a stage model of sexual identity development. Instead, this study supported the view that sexual identity is fluid and strongly related to relationships with peer groups.     

Career Development With Lesbian and Gay Clients

Trends in career counseling with lesbian and gay clients are reviewed along with discussions on considering lesbian women and gay men a different cultural minority. The role and direction of career development with lesbian and gay clients is presented based on current information regarding employment discrimination, the decision to pass as heterosexual on the job, counselor and student training issues, age-related factors, and differences between gay men and lesbian women with respect to careers. Concrete suggestions are made to career counselors who wish to prepare themselves to work with this group or to extend their effectiveness, and suggestions for services are also presented.     

Sexual Orientation Curriculum in U.S. School Counselor Education Programs

The sexual orientation–related content of 60 school counselor preparation programs across 22 U.S. states is described. The findings include the percentage of curricular time devoted to sexual orientation–related topics, the specific sexual orientation–related topics addressed, and the locations of sexual orientation–related curriculum within programs (e.g., foundations, methods, and fieldwork/practica). The research also investigated any relationship between sexual orientation–related curriculum and faculty demographics and Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) accreditation. Findings and recommendations are addressed in light of CACREP and American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards.     

Sexuality,romantic orientation,and masculinity: Men as underrepresented in asexual and aromantic communities

This study examines men as a minority in asexual (experiencing low/no sexual attraction) and aromantic (experiencing low/no romantic attraction) communities. First, we situate our research in existing literature on asexuality, compulsory sexuality/compulsory romance, and hegemonic masculinities. In our analysis, we use survey data from the 2020 Asexual Community Survey (n = 4974) and 2020 Aromantic Census (n = 3018) to provide evidence that asexual and aromantic men are demographic minorities within asexual and aromantic communities. Next, we turn to two interview samples with 39 individuals who identify as aromantic and 77 individuals who identify as asexual. We analyzed these interviews to explore how sexuality and romance contribute to the construction of hegemonic masculinities. Our interviews reveal several important themes that highlight how asexual and aromantic men navigate their masculinity and identity amid asexual and aromantic communities as majority-woman spaces. We focus on three main themes: (1) masculinity as inherently sexual; (2) masculinity, heteronormativity, and the gendered construction of romance; and (3) asexual/aromantic identity, masculinity, and the split attraction model. Taken together, our results show how (hetero)sexuality and romantic relationship formation are fundamental to hegemonic masculinity. We find that asexual and aromantic men face cultural pressures and social stigma around initiating sex and performing romance. Asexual men must contend with managing a sexual identity that runs counter to men's supposedly innate sexual desire, thus situating them as inadequately masculine. Aromantic men, meanwhile, must manage inhabiting an identity that is conflated with the fuckboy/player trope, situating them as excessively masculine. This study demonstrates how centering asexual and aromantic perspectives reveals complexities in the ways hegemonic masculinity relies on participation in both sex and romance. We conclude by relating our findings to larger conversations on gender and sexualities as well as implications for future research on marginalized sexual identities.     

Picturing Space for Lesbian Nonsexualities: Rethinking Sex-Normative Commitments through The Kids Are All Right (2010)

This article examines representations of lesbian nonsexuality in the film The Kids Are All Right and in responses to the film by feminist and queer scholars. In some moments, the film offers a limited endorsement of lesbian nonsexuality, placing pressure on the category lesbian to include nonsexuality and asexuality. However, in their responses to the film, many feminist and queer scholars rejected nonsexuality as an aspect of lesbian experience, placing pressure on the category lesbian to exclude nonsexual and asexual women. Asexual activism challenges scholars to question their sex-normative commitments and to keep the category lesbian open and flexible.     

Gender,sexual orientation,and truth‐of‐consensus in studies of physical attractiveness

Truth‐of‐consensus methodology presently holds that sex differences in perceptions of physical attractiveness are negligible and may be routinely ignored during prescaling. No determination has been made in the literature of the effects of sexual orientation on this perceptual process. The data presented herein suggest that while sex and sexual orientation of judge are largely irrelevant to prescaling of female stimuli, these variables are important when judging male stimuli. In particular, male homosexuals and male heterosexuals differ significantly in ranking male facial photographs. Thus, experimenters wishing to treat attractiveness levels as known quantities should control for this difference, especially when using a small number of judges for prescaling.     

An Academic Course That Teaches Heterosexual Students to be Allies to LGBT Communities: A Qualitative Analysis

A theory of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) ally identity development integrated the following theories—multicultural counseling theory (MCT), self-concept formation theory (SCFT), and social identity theory (SIT)—to design a course to train heterosexual students to be allies to LGBT communities. Students participated in interviews and activities with LGBT persons, presented seminars on LGBT topics, and wrote papers about these experiences. An analysis of their reactions suggested that initially, students perceived themselves as lacking credibility to be allies. After interacting with LGBT communities, students gained the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they needed to be confident in supporting and advocating for LGBT persons.     

Wellness in Adult Gay Males

Abstract

Adult gay males face significant social stigma, internalize negative societal messages related to their sexual orientation, and experience difficulties related to disclosing their sexual orientation to others, particularly to parents. Although the effects of these challenges in terms of pathology have been established, the relationship among internalized homophobia, self-disclosure, self-disclosure to parents, and wellness has not been examined. The results of a study of these variables among 217 gay males are presented and discussed.     

Being Heard on Sexual Orientation

Abstract

In 2001, Maryland became the twelfth state to pass legislation that prohibits discrimination against gays, lesbians, and bi-sexuals in employment, housing, and public accommodations. As part of a ten-year effort to pass such protections, the Governor of Maryland established a Commission to Study Sexual Orientation Discrimination. The Commission held five public hearings throughout the state in 2000 and used the testimonies to prepare a report which helped pave the way for the passage of the legislation. This article is an analysis of 113 oral testimonies, both for and against the legislation. Such information may be helpful in other states where anti-discrimination efforts are on-going.     

Developmental Implications of Homophobia for Lesbian and Gay Adolescents:

This essay seeks to provide a critical analysis of how the developmental obstacles faced by lesbian and gay adolescents and the limitations on helping them are both byproducts of institutionalized homophobia. Implications for ethical practice grounded in advocacy are presented. Adolescence is above all else a transitional to a more complex set of roles, which have to be integrated into the totality of the self. We argue that most of the difficulties identified among sexual minority youth not burden their development, and that it is an obligation of the helping professional to work toward the eradication of encumbrances to their optimal development. That work must begin with a critical analysis of our own theories and perspectives.     

Resisting Amnesia in the Countertransference: A Clinical Strategy for Working with Lesbian Patients

Seldom emphasized in clinical writings are the ways in which lesbians construct and revise multiple narratives to create and navigate their lesbian identity within the clinical relationship. Case material is presented to show how the examination of the psychic meaning of the move from lesbian child to lesbian woman can be explored retrospectively through the collaborative therapeutic relationship set forth in the constructivist approach. To address the potential countertransference problems for clinicians working with this population, the concept of countertransference amnesia is introduced to describe a particular type of forgetting that reproduces within the clinical relationship the subtle forms of discrimination that restrict lesbian expression within the culture at large. This work also seeks to liberate lesbian identity formation from previous explanations and to demonstrate the construction of a lesbian identity as a psychically organizing process, which integrates inner and outer experience and allows the girl or woman to adapt to the social world.     

Supporting Ally Development with Families of Trans and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) Youth

This article is a call to the field of counseling to bridge the research on trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) youth identity development, family acceptance, and ally development to promote TGNC-affirming family, school, and community environments for TGNC youth. Opportunities and challenges counselors face in supporting ally development of families of TGNC youth are described. Interventions and strategies are described and recommendations for counselors working with the family members of TGNC youth are provided.     

A Reaction to Mark Pope's (2000) “A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States”

The author acknowledges the significance of the 6 steps presented by M. Pope (2000) in his article “A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States.” It is proposed that the historical stages for each kind of career counselor are most appropriately organized around federal legislation that affects it. Alternative “stages,” which the author believes are appropriate in tracing the history of the school counselor movement, are presented as an example of this approach.