Notes of an Asexual Muslim

exerciseinexposure:

Well, I’ve officially been referred by a campus doctor to a psychiatrist.  Now all I can do is wait for the call from the student health centre asking me to schedule an appointment.

The doctor is a really nice dude, but he is pushing a couple of points that I don’t really agree with, and I just need to rant a bit about that.

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Content warning: Original post contains discussion of potential psychiatric invalidation of asexuality.

Hi there! I think that your feelings and understanding is completely reasonable. Asexuality is a real thing and the fact that you may have anxiety or other mental health concerns to deal with doesn’t invalidate that. greenchestnuts provided a link to some advice on dealing with therapists and I hope you find that helpful. Maybe you can take some resources on asexuality when you meet with the psychiatrist again. Good luck!

tea-and-anthropology:

I’m also starting to get tired of all these posts saying “there’s too many labels for sexuality.” I’m sorry but there are too many kids out there who don’t know there is a name for what they’re feeling so they think they’re a freak. They think there is something mentally and/or physically wrong with them for not experiencing something that they’re told is only natural to experience. It’s sad to think too that some people in the LGBTQ community especially some of the supposed  SJ bloggers in the LGBTQ community, have been quite disparaging towards us, speaking for us, and even erasing us recently when:

• Asexuals and Aromantics struggle with their identity…a lot.
• Asexuals and Aromantics have to come out to their friends and families 
• Asexuality and being Aromantic has been and is still treated as a symptom of physical or mental illness
• Asexuals and Aromantics are told they choose to be the way they are
• Asexuals and Aromantics are told that their existence is unnatural
• Asexuals and Aromantics are told that their relationships are incomplete 
• Asexuals and Aromantics are treated like freaks of nature by religious organizations
• Asexuals and Aromantics are expected to uphold societal norms. They’re expected to experience sexual attraction. They’re expected to feel romantic attraction. They’re just as expected to uphold the status quo - heteronormativity - as any human being on this planet is or else face prejudice. 
• Asexuals and Aromantics are not always cis-gender
• Asexuals and Aromantics are not always hetero-(romantic/sexual)
• Asexuals and Aromantics are told they can be reformed into “normal” individuals.
• Asexuals and Aromantics are told they can be fixed through violent sexual acts
• Asexuals and Aromantics are bullied and ridiculed by their peers too
• Asexuals and Aromantics experience erasure from their peers
• Asexuals and Aromantics lack proper representation in the media and when they are represented it can be dangerously stereotypical
• Asexuals and Aromantics have various unique-to-their-orientation struggles just as anyone of any orientation does.
• Asexuals and Aromantics experience depression due to any one of the above and could benefit from help hotlines 

Do any of these things sound familiar? Do these things affect your communities too or have they historically affected your communities? This isn’t about Asexuals and/or Aromantics trying to invade your space or adding unnecessary labels to our understanding of sex, gender, and forms of attraction. We exist and we experience these things too.