Episode 189: What Asexuality Is, And Isn’t
Sex and Psychology Podcast
The Importance of Studying Asexuality
Study looked at sexual arousal patterns in asexual men. Previous similar study had been done on asexual women. Study could tell us a lot, I think, about the nature of asexuality," says researcher.
Asexuality is a broad umbrella term that refers to individuals who do not experience sexual attraction to others, or who only do so under rare or limited circumstances. Growing research in this area is helping to shed important light on the nature of asexuality because there are a lot of misconceptions about it, such as the idea that asexuality is a sexual dysfunction. But that’s not the case—and that’s what we’re going to be talking about today. We’re going to be exploring a new study that looks at sexual arousal and response in asexual men. The results are fascinating and help to give us a better understanding of what asexuality is and is not.
I am joined once again by Dr. Malvina Skorska, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto Mississauga and at Brock University. She is also in training to become a psychotherapist in order to bridge both research and clinical work. Her research focuses on sexual orientation and gender dysphoria and has been published in leading scientific journals.
Some of the specific topics we discuss include:
- How is asexuality defined scientifically?
- Why is it important to study asexual person’s sexual response and function?
- What can studying asexual persons’ sexual response and function tell us about the nature of asexuality?
- When showing people erotic films, how are asexual men’s sexual responses similar to or different from those of gay and heterosexual men?
- How are the fantasies of asexual men different from men of other sexual orientations?
- What do we know about sexual arousal and response in asexual women?
Be sure to check out Malvina’s website to learn more.
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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.
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