Allosexual: It’s time to add this word to your vocab
| Updated: Jun 28, 2018, 11:07 IST
What if someone was to ask you if you are asexual? It’s not surprising if we say that sexual nomenclature has vastly broadened in the past few years with words like ‘queer’ and ‘pansexual’ entering our vocab (rather casually sometimes too). Well, today we have got you a new term to learn and add to your vocab, that being ‘allosexual’.
What does it mean? "Allosexual is a word emerging from the asexual community to describe someone who isn't asexual," said Rena McDaniel, who has a master's degree in counselling with a speciality in gender and sexual identity. Basically, this word undercuts the assumption that sexual attraction comes standard in every human, and people who identify as asexual are ‘abnormal’. And to understand what allosexual means, it's important to have a clear understanding of what asexual means. So, do your reading on that first before loosely throwing this new word around. "There is a lot of diversity in how asexual people want to relate to others in a romantic or sexual capacity," said McDaniel. "Some asexual people have sex regularly, some asexual people are in relationships, and some asexual people engage in self-pleasure," explained x rance, an asexual trans, AFAB (assigned female at birth) GLAAD campus ambassador.
“The term ‘allosexual’ helps eliminate the idea that being ‘asexual’ is abnormal — which, on top of feeling shitty for someone who identifies that way, can lead to "harassment, persecution, and oppression," McDaniel added. Well, guess this means that no identity can be deemed ‘normal’ than the ‘other’.
What does it mean? "Allosexual is a word emerging from the asexual community to describe someone who isn't asexual," said Rena McDaniel, who has a master's degree in counselling with a speciality in gender and sexual identity. Basically, this word undercuts the assumption that sexual attraction comes standard in every human, and people who identify as asexual are ‘abnormal’. And to understand what allosexual means, it's important to have a clear understanding of what asexual means. So, do your reading on that first before loosely throwing this new word around. "There is a lot of diversity in how asexual people want to relate to others in a romantic or sexual capacity," said McDaniel. "Some asexual people have sex regularly, some asexual people are in relationships, and some asexual people engage in self-pleasure," explained x rance, an asexual trans, AFAB (assigned female at birth) GLAAD campus ambassador.
“The term ‘allosexual’ helps eliminate the idea that being ‘asexual’ is abnormal — which, on top of feeling shitty for someone who identifies that way, can lead to "harassment, persecution, and oppression," McDaniel added. Well, guess this means that no identity can be deemed ‘normal’ than the ‘other’.