Mick Hartley

You may be wondering – I think we all are – about King's College London's new Visiting Research Fellow Yasmin Benoit, after her courageous asexual coming-out. Asexuals are, as we now know thanks to Yasmin's eloquent advocacy, a persecuted demographic. So, what contribution has she been making on the academic front?

Well…

New research suggests people who are asexual face considerable ignorance and potentially intolerance, with as many as one in three (31%) respondents in an experimental study of 400 people believing asexuality can be “cured” by therapy.

The research, carried out by the Policy Institute at King’s College London in collaboration with the aromantic-asexual activist and model Yasmin Benoit, also finds around one in four (23%) participants wrongly believe asexuality is a mental health problem.

Not only asexual, but aromatic too. Good lord.

Ah sorry…aromantic.

The study, based on a survey of 400 people in England, suggests notable minorities hold other misconceptions about asexuality:

• Two in five (42%) respondents believe people cannot be asexual if they have sex. The authors emphasise that in reality asexuality refers to how someone feels about sex, and whether they experience sexual attraction – not their behaviour.
• A quarter (26%) believe asexual people just haven’t met the right person yet.
• One in nine (11%) go as far as saying they don’t believe asexual people exist.

The ignorance is astounding. Imagine two in five people thinking that if you have sex you can't be asexual. Clearly Benoit, as a lingerie model who likes to show off her well-developed decolletage, may not be lacking in sexual experience. That doesn't mean she has to like it.

Yasmin Benoit, aromantic-asexual activist and Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London’s Policy Institute, said:

“Acephobia – that is, discrimination, prejudice and negative attitudes towards those who identify as asexual – is not something that most people recognise or take seriously. It's something the asexual community are not protected from. My experiences with this kind of intolerance are well-documented, but there's a huge lack of research into the phenomenon. It's essential to raise awareness and collect data to create the change the asexual community needs. It's an honour to be able to work with King's College London on this research as a Visiting Fellow and be part of that progress.”

Michael Sanders, Professor of Public Policy at the Policy Institute, said:

“Our previous work on the wellbeing of university students revealed those who identify as asexual have the worst wellbeing of any group in the LGBQA grouping, yet there is little quantitative data relating to their experiences or to wider public perceptions of asexual people. We wanted to address this gap, and our study is the first that we’re aware of that makes use of these methods to assess people’s attitudes towards asexuality. The findings are troubling, both in that many people hold misconceptions about asexuality, and that they are happy voicing discriminatory views – at a greater rate than for other groups.”

An important step in the battle against acephobia.

A couple of thoughts, though…

Like most things human, our levels of sexuality are surely on a scale. Some go for it full-time; others aren't all that bothered. This is really a non-problem, designed for grifters like Benoit and for academics who like to expand their little empires. Define a new problem and enough sad people will sign up for it – telling their friends, bothering their doctors/therapists, and soon enough adding their colours to the ever-expanding Pride flag as yet another discriminated-against minority, even though there's no obvious connection between the LGB and the A. As sure as night follows day, a new problem must have its new phobia…so, join the party.

Also, if these people really have "the worst wellbeing of any group in the LGBQA grouping", maybe that's the nature of the beast. They're miserable because they don't like getting involved with other people.