Aegosexuality
Disconnect of the target of sexual arousal from the self
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aegosexuality is a sub-identity (microlabel) of asexuality[1] characterized by a lack of desire to have sex or form sexual relationships with others while still experiencing arousal, enjoying sexual content, having sexual fantasies or masturbating.[2][3] Regarding romantic attraction, the term aegoromanticism is used.[3]
| Etymology | From Ancient Greek: "a-" (α-) (meaning "without" or "not") with Latin roots "ego" (self) and "sexuality". |
|---|---|
| Classification | Sexual identity |
| Parent category | Asexual spectrum |
| Other terms | |
| Synonyms | Autochorissexuality |
| Associated terms | |
| Flag | |
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| Flag name | Aegosexual pride flag |
Etymology and history
To describe this form of asexuality, sexologist Anthony Bogaert coined the term autochorissexualism in 2012, defined as "sex without (choris) one's self/identity (auto)" or "identity-less sexuality", which he classified as a type of paraphilia.[4] This was controversial, and a new term, aegosexual, was proposed in 2014 by a user on Tumblr as an alternative that created distance from what they viewed as the negative connotations associated with Bogaert's original term.[5] Since then, aegosexuality has become the term typically preferred by individuals who identify with this experience.[2][3][1] The term autochorissexualism has been largely abandoned by the asexual community due to being viewed as problematic and pathologizing.[5]
Research
Research on aegosexuality highlights the diversity within the asexual spectrum and the varied relationships between sexual fantasy and self-identity.[6][7] Aegosexual individuals may experience marginalization under frameworks such as amatonormativity and human-oriented sexualism.[8]
According to research by Thom Winter-Gray and Nikki Hayfield, some aegosexual individuals feel that their engagement in sexual fantasies makes them "not asexual enough," while others experience sexual fantasies as disconnected from their self-identity, resulting in little to no conflict with their asexual identity.[7]
Some aegosexual individuals identify as fictosexual to emphasize their preference for fictional objects of attraction. According to a study by Yuu Matsuura, which analyzed fictosexual discourse in Japan, critiques have been raised by aego-fictosexual individuals against the human-oriented sexualism that regards fictional sexual content as secondary compared to human-to-human sexual relationships.[8]
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