Beyond 'The Whole Sex Thing': Co-Constructing Fulfilling Asexual/Allosexual Relationships

Abstract

While research on the experiences of asexual individuals has undoubtedly increased over the past two decades, there has been relatively little research on the relationship experiences of these people. Research that does exist in this area has tended to focus on negative experiences and obstacles to relationships for this population. To counter deficit narratives, the current narrative inquiry study addresses this gap through unstructured narrative interviews with six couples in which one partner is asexual and the other is allosexual. Results indicated that couples use a combination of asexual discourse learned from exposure to the asexual community as well as erotics co-constructed with their partner to understand themselves, their partner, and their relationship. Implications for the theorization of asexuality and clinical application are discussed.