Ace Week 2021 Beyond Awareness
Ace Week (formerly known as Asexual Awareness Week) has been held annually in late October since its inception in 2010. This year, it will be held from October 24th to October 30th with the theme “Beyond Awareness.” Its purpose is to make A_Sexuality visible and to give a_sexual people the opportunity to talk about their experiences.
The term “a_sexual” is formed from the prefix “a” which means “none” or “without” and refers to no or only slight sexual attraction to other people and/or oneself. However, different organizations, but also a_sexual people themselves define A_Sexuality mostly individually.
In contrast, a_romantic describes no or only a slight romantic attraction to other people. A_sexual people are not necessarily a_romantic and vice versa. The opposite of A_sexuality is allosexuality (people who are sexually attracted to other people).
A_sexuality is on a spectrum, which is made clear by the underscore. Also part of the spectrum are for example demisexual (a person feels sexual attraction to another person only after a deep emotional connection), greysexual or also graysexual, (a person feels sexual attraction to others only rarely or very little) and many more.
A_sexuality is not related to celibacy. That means a_sexual people do not decide voluntarily or for religious reasons to abstain from sex. Moreover, despite their a_sexuality, they can perform sexual acts for various reasons, e.g. to have children.
This also distinguishes A_Sexuality from Antisexuality, where sex is rejected on principle. Additionally, A_Sexuality has nothing to do with repressed sexuality or fear of it. Ace people simply do not feel sexual desire. It is estimated that about 1% of humanity is a_sexual.
The symbolism behind the colors of the A_sexuality flag:
- Black stands for a_sexuality
- Gray symbolizes the a_sexual spectrum
- White stands for sexuality
- Purple represents the a_community
A_Sexuality can be defined individually, so this post is to inform about the topic and provide a basic overview. Use this week to learn more about the topic, because – you never stop learning!