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The Demography of Asexuality

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International Handbook on the Demography of Sexuality

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 5))

Abstract

Asexuality has begun to receive both academic (e.g., Bogaert 2004, 2006a, 2008; Prause and Graham 2007; Brotto et al. 2010; Poston and Baumle 2010) and public (e.g., New Scientist; Pagán Westfall 2004) attention. Why does the study of asexuality matter, aside from the scientific and public curiosity about a sexual minority that has been overlooked until recently? A person’s sexuality, particularly as basic as whether he or she is asexual or not, may play a profound role in their social circumstances and life choices, including whether they marry or not, whether they have children or not, and their mental and physical health (e.g., atypical hormonal profile; lower STI risk, etc.). Thus, the study of asexuality is relevant to a number of demographic issues such as health, marriage, and fertility.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A significant gender difference emerged in both the weighted and unweighted analyses in Bogaert (2004).

  2. 2.

    Unlike NATSAL-I, there was a question on sexual interest/desire in NATSAL-II. Unfortunately, 44 of the asexual people were coded as having inapplicable responses, either because they did not have sexual experience or because they did not report sexual desire issues (or any other sexual issue) as a problem. Thus, the investigators did not make a distinction as to how they grouped people as having “inapplicable” responses. Even if the investigators did make a distinction, however, a more appropriate question in the context of this research issue is whether asexual people experience no/low desire (not whether they consider low desire or lack of interest a problem).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Community Health Sciences and Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Anthony F. Bogaert

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  1. Anthony F. Bogaert
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Correspondence to Anthony F. Bogaert .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Sociology, University of Houston, Philip Hoffman Hall 450, Houston, 77204, Texas, USA

    Amanda K. Baumle

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Bogaert, A.F. (2013). The Demography of Asexuality. In: Baumle, A. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Sexuality. International Handbooks of Population, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5512-3_15

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