Im really not sure about my sexuality. I get turned on by female bodies, and male bodies, but I have no desire for sexual contact. I'm really only interested in the romantic side of a relationship. I would have sex with a partner if they wanted, but I wouldnt go out of my way for it. Is this asexuality?
An asexual person is someone who does not experience sexual attraction to anyone but can still feel attracted to people, and have preferences. There are different kinds of asexuals, some are repulsed by sexual activity and others are indifferent to it, and wouldn't mind a sexual situation with their partner. So yes, in short, It is asexuality. I hope this was helpful.
Since you are trans, my guess would be that you are bisexual, but your dysphoria is causing you to have an aversion to any actual sexual contact. I could be wrong, though.
asexuality is not defined by a lack of desire for sexual contact. asexuality is defined by a lack of sexual attraction. if you find yourself being sexually aroused as a direct result of looking at/thinking of/etc someone, you have experienced sexual attraction and therefore are not asexual imho. sexual attraction should not be confused with libidos/sex drives, which is an urge or desire to have sex/masturbate which is not a direct result of someone else. in other words, whether or not you actively desire sex or not has no baring on whether or not you experience sexual attraction. even those who do not experience sexual attraction (ie. asexuals) can still have an urge or desire for sex/masturbation that does not involve anyone else. to me, the answer to your question boils down to what do you really mean by "I get turned on by female bodies, and male bodies"? does the sight of bodies sexually arouse you? (= sexual attraction) or do you simply find them nice to look at? (= aesthetic attraction) have you ever found yourself thinking or fantasizing about someone and becoming sexually aroused as a result? whether you actually want to follow through with those feelings and have sex is another matter and may just be an aversion or repulsion towards sex for various reason.
You don't have to answer this, but it seems like you really thought this through so I have another question: What's the clearest way to differentiate between sexual and physical attraction? I realize that sexual attraction inherently involves sex, but for people who never engaged in sex, how is this form of attraction even a legitimate way of classifying their current sexuality?
I am definitely turned on by certain people, but the thought of sex grosses me out. I would do it for a partners pleasure, but I wouldn't go seeking sex on my own accord.
first of all, what do you mean by "physical attraction"? "physical attraction" is a very vague term, imho, and i don't think everyone means the same thing when they say it. to me, physical attraction could include aesthetic attraction, sensual attraction and sexual attraction. the above illustration illustrates different types of attraction, from an asexual's point of view anyway. each of those types of attraction are mutually exclusive to one another. for some people, they may happen in conjunction with each other, but it doesn't necessarily have to happen that way. an asexual may experience everything shown there except for squishes (unless the person is aromantic) and sexual attraction as a lack of sexual attraction is the ONLY thing that defines asexuality. so again i ask you.... what is it that you mean when you say "physical attraction"? regarding your second question, one does not need to engage in sex to know that it is or isn't for them. in fact, whether or not one engages in sex or not is beside the point of what asexuality is, as i tried to explain in my previous post. but getting back to the "how do you know if you haven't done it?", how does the vast majority of the population know that they are heterosexual before they have ever had sex with the opposite sex? how does an 6 year old biological male know that she is really a girl before having ever experienced life as one? now it can be said that not everyone "just knows", and this is true for some. for some, experimentation or just plain old life experience may be necessary to come to such conclusions. either way, i think it's totally legitimate to base one's sexuality on what one knows and feels about oneself. isn't that how we go through life in general, assessing things and basing our actions on what we know and what we feel? to me, it sounds like you are a sexual person who is repulsed by sex (or "sex-repulsed" for short). there are several threads about sex-repulsion on the AVEN forum. perhaps something there will ring true for you? bear in mind that AVEN is a forum for asexuals, so many of the posters may be asexual as well as sex-repulsed, but there are sexual people who are sex-repulsed as well. Sex-Repulsed Sexual? - Asexual Musings and Rantings - Asexual Visibility and Education Network Am I the only one here who is disgusted by sex? - Asexual Musings and Rantings - Asexual Visibility and Education Network Repulsed by sex - Asexual Q&A - Asexual Visibility and Education Network
I asked my Mom the same question awhile ago, and she said sexual feelings involve some sort of physical sensation in your genital region. I'm not sure exactly what physical sensation she means, but since my genitals have never given me any sensation different from any other body part I concluded I'm asexual.
