/u/confused_middleager on Asexual vs. sexually anorexic?

i think of it as orthogonal because we often say that asexuality is a lack of attraction for any reason

any reason would include reasons that can be "cured," like biological/hormonal issues or psychological issues.

i do not believe that understanding a cause or attributing to trauma is necessarily aphobic.

i think aphobic behavior is when someone tries to fix something that is not broken.

as part of that it is important to know that a response to trauma or an "imbalance" is not by itself "broken". the fundamental thing about a medical disorder is that it has to be an actual disorder. that is, if you have all of the symptoms of, say, depression but if it doesn't have any actual negative impact on your life, then that is not a clinical or pathological condition, and you wouldn't be diagnosed with a disorder. you wouldn't actual be "broken" and there would not be actually be anything to fix.

if you are perfectly happy and content in your life and are not looking to change anything, but someone still wants to "fix" your asexuality, then that is something aphobic. maybe there is trauma in your past that "caused" it. if there is no problem now, then there is no problem. making a problem out of it because it doesn't seem right is aphobic.

but attributing a cause without judgement is not itself negative, i don't think.

April 29, 2021 at 12:06AM