Before she went to college her mother even took her to the doctors because she wasn't expressing 'normal' interest in the opposite sex. Given the all-clear she carried on with her studies, graduating from the University of Florida in 2000 with a degree in elementary education and psychology. She said despite there being more awareness about asexuality today, it still remains largely misunderstood. She's had male friends try and 'fix' her by kissing her against her will and many insist that she will 'wake up one day'.
Since opening up about being asexual on the internet, via YouTube and her blog, Miss Decker says that she’s received death threats and been told by several commentators that she just needs a 'good raping.''When people hear that you're asexual, some take that as a challenge,' she told the Huffington Post. 'We are perceived as not being fully human because sexual attraction and sexual relationships are seen as something alive, healthy people do. 'They think that you really want sex but just don't know it yet. For people who perform corrective rape, they believe that they're just waking us up and that we'll thank them for it later.'
Miss Decker says that asexuality presents itself in many forms. Some people, while lacking sexual attraction to any gender, may engage in purely romantic relationships. However, she defines herself as 'aromantic', meaning she does not have any romantic feelings either. Professor Bogaert, an associate professor at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, suggests in his book Understanding Asexuality, that around one per cent of the world's population - 70million people - are 'asexual. He believes that this demographic are 'under-studied' and that they can feel excluded from our 'very sexualised culture'.
Experts say a certain number of asexuals may have always existed but are only now starting to 'come out' as society becomes more liberal. To her ‘haters’, Miss Decker concludes: 'I'm not damaged, lonely or in need of a conversion because I'm not interested [in sex].' She hopes to raise awareness about asexuality through her writing and public speaking. '[I want] people who feel similarly to know they're not alone.'
Do you think she's missing anything?
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