Skip to main content
View expanded cover

LGBTQ+ Activism in Central and Eastern Europe pp 289–311Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Polish Asexualities: Catholic Religiosity and Asexual Online Activisms in Poland

Abstract

This chapter explores Polish asexual activism through an analysis of posts on the largest Polish-language forum devoted to asexuality, the Asexual Education Network (SEA). We focus on two themes in particular: Polish asexuals’ alliances and antagonism to LGBTI+ identities and Polish asexuals’ articulations of religiosity. We find that asexuals express ambivalence regarding their participation in LGBTI+ activism, with some arguing for inclusion in the community and others taking explicitly homophobic and transphobic positions. While most asexuals understand their identity as a secular sexual orientation, some use Catholic-influenced concepts of purity and supremacy to conceptualize it. We conclude that Polish asexual activism online is not uniform in its political alignments; rather, it can be and is mobilized for both progressive and conservative purposes depending on its conceptualization.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-20401-3_12
  • Chapter length: 23 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-030-20401-3
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘Post state-socialist’ is our term of choice because it indexes the ways in which Poland, under occupation, never achieved socialism but rather was state-socialist, built on inequality and dictatorship (Grabowska 2012).

  2. 2.

    Many of these are secular Catholics: Only 39% of Poles declare that they follow Catholic directives, while 52% refer to themselves as ‘religious in their own way’ (Public Opinion Research Center 2015, p. 2).

  3. 3.

    Chastity is not synonymous with refraining from sex; in marriage, chastity can be practiced as sexual faithfulness to the spouse and as the proper conduct of one’s sex life, following Catholic dogma on the place and practice of sex (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1993, p. 2349).

  4. 4.

    In a foundational Catholic text on love and religion, Miłość i Odpowiedzialność [Love and Responsibility] (1982), Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) discusses the uses of sex within marriage as including not only reproduction but also functioning to strengthen the bond between spouses.

References

  • AVEN: The Asexual Visibility and Education Network. (2001–2012). http://www.asexuality.org/home/general.html. Accessed 19 Sept 2018.

  • Batričević, M., & Cvetić, A. (2016). Uncovering an A: Asexuality and Asexual Activism in Croatia and Serbia. In B. Bilić & S. Kajinić (Eds.), Intersectionality and LGBT Activist Politics: Multiple Others in Croatia and Serbia (pp. 77–103). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, M. (2003). Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained? Conceptualizing Social Movement “Success” in the Lesbian and Gay Movement. Sociological Perspectives, 46(3), 353–379.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, C. (2017). The History of the Asexual Community. Asexual Countercultures: Exploring Ace Communities and Intimacies, organized by Ela Przybylo and Justine Munich. Vancouver, BC: Simon Fraser University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrigan, M. (2011). There’s More to Life Than Sex? Difference and Commonality Within the Asexual Community. Sexualities, 14(4), 462–478.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Catechism of the Catholic Church. (1993). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM. Accessed 5 June 2017.

  • Cerankowski, K. J., & Milks, M. (2010). New Orientations: Asexuality and Its Implications for Theory and Practice. Feminist Studies, 36(3), 650–664.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, C. (1997). Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics? GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 3(4), 437–465.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Dave, N. (2012). Queer Activism in India: A Story in the Anthropology of Ethics. Durham: Duke University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • De Lappe, J. (2016). Asexual Activism. In N. A. Naples (Ed.), The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies (pp. 1–2). Wiley-Blackwell. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118663219. Accessed 3 June 2018.

  • Decker, J. S. (2016). The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality. New York City: Skyhorse Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyer, R. (1997). White: Essays on Race and Culture. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emens, E. F. (2014). Compulsory Sexuality. Stanford Law Review, 66, 303–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fahs, B. (2010). Radical Refusals: On the Anarchist Politics of Women Choosing Asexuality. Sexualities, 13(4), 445–461.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Gdula, M. (2016). Dogmat Płci: Polska Wojna z Genderem [Sex Dogma: The Polish War with Gender]. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Katedra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginoza, M. K., Miller, T., & the AVEN Survey Team. (2014). The 2014 AVEN Community Census: Preliminary Findings. https://asexualcensus.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/2014censuspreliminaryreport.pdf. Accessed 19 Sept 2018.

  • Grabowska, M. (2012). Bringing the Second World In: Conservative Revolution(s), Socialist Legacies, and Transnational Silences in the Trajectories of Polish Feminism. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 37(2), 385–411.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Grabowska, M. (2013). Between Gender Studies and ‘Gender Ideology’: Gender Education in Poland. Warsaw: Heinrich Boll Stiftung. pl.boell.org/sites/default/files/downloads/Magda_Grabowska_gender_education.pdf. Accessed 23 Aug 2017.

  • Grabowska, M. (2014). Cultural War or “Business as Usual”? Recent Instances, and the Historical Origins, of a “Backlash” Against Women’s and Sexual Rights in Poland. Warsaw: Heinrich Boll Stiftung. pl.boell.org/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/10/cultural_war_or_grabowska.pdf. Accessed 23 Aug 2017.

  • Graff, A. (2009). Gender and Nation, Here and Now: Reflections on the Gendered and Sexualized Aspects of Contemporary Polish Nationalism. In E. H. Oleksy (Ed.), Intimate Citizenships: Gender, Sexualities, Politics (pp. 133–146). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graff, A., & Korolczuk, E. (2017). ‘Worse Than Communism and Nazism Put Together’: War on Gender in Poland. In R. Kuhar & D. Paternotte (Eds.), Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing Against Equality (pp. 175–194). London: Rowman and Littlefield International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grupa Stonewall [Stonewall Group]. http://grupa-stonewall.pl/kim-jestesmy/. Accessed 29 Nov 2017.

  • Gupta, K. (2015). Compulsory Sexuality: Evaluating an Emerging Concept. Signs, 41(1), 131–154.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • ILGA Europe. (2017). Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex People in Europe. https://www.ilga-europe.org/sites/default/files/Attachments/annual_review_2017_online.pdf. Accessed 19 Sept 2018.

  • Jagose, A. (2012). Orgasmology. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, E. (2010). How Much Sex is Healthy? The Pleasures of Asexuality. In J. M. Metzl & A. Kirkland (Eds.), Against Health: How Health Became the New Morality (pp. 157–169). New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lexicon. (2017). AVENwiki. http://wiki.asexuality.org/Lexicon. Accessed 19 Sept 2018.

  • Nabrdalik, M. (2018). Out: LGBTQ Poland. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nair, Y. (2015). Your Sex Is Not Radical. Yasmin Nair’s Blog. http://yasminnair.net/content/your-sex-not-radical. Accessed 19 Sept 2018.

  • Owen, I. H. (2014). On the Racialization of Asexuality. In K. J. Cerankowski & M. Milks (Eds.), Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives (pp. 119–135). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Przybylo, E. (2011). Crisis and Safety: The Asexual in Sexusociety. Sexualities, 14(4), 444–461.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Przybylo, E. (2016). Introducing Asexuality and Asexuality Studies. In S. Seidman & N. Fischer (Eds.), Introducing the New Sexuality Studies (3rd ed., pp. 181–191). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Przybylo, E., & Cooper, D. (2014). Asexual Resonances: Tracing a Queerly Asexual Archive. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 20(3), 297–318.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Puar, J. (2007). Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham: Duke University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Public Opinion Research Center. (2015). cbos.pl/PL/publikacje/public_opinion/2015/02_2015.pdf. Accessed 23 Aug 2017.

  • Renninger, B. J. (2015). ‘Where I Can Be Myself… Where I Can Speak My Mind’: Networked Counterpublics in a Polymedia Environment. New Media and Society, 17(9), 1513–1529.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Scherrer, K. (2008). Coming to an Asexual Identity: Negotiating Identity, Negotiating Desire. Sexualities, 11(5), 621–641.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sieć Edukacji Aseksualnej / SEA [Asexual Education Network]. (2017). http://pl.asexuality.org. Accessed 19 Sept 2018.

  • Smith, O. (2017). Asexual. UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Świder, M., & Winiewski, M. (Eds.). (2017). Sytuacja Społeczna Osób LGBTA w Polsce. Raport za lata 2015–2016 [The Social Situation of LGBTA People in Poland: Report for 2015–2016]. Warsaw: Kampania Przeciw Homofobii. https://kph.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Sytuacja-spoleczna-osob-LGBTA-w-Polsce.pdf. Accessed 1 Dec 2017.

  • Warner, M. (2002). Publics and Counterpublics (abbreviated version). Quarterly Journal of Speech, 88(4), 413–425.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wojtyła, K. (1982). Miłość i Odpowiedzialność [Love and Responsibility]. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland

    Anna Kurowicka

  2. Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA

    Ela Przybylo

Authors
  1. Anna Kurowicka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ela Przybylo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Radzhana Buyantueva

  2. Gainesville, FL, USA

    Prof. Dr. Maryna Shevtsova

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kurowicka, A., Przybylo, E. (2020). Polish Asexualities: Catholic Religiosity and Asexual Online Activisms in Poland. In: Buyantueva, R., Shevtsova, M. (eds) LGBTQ+ Activism in Central and Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20401-3_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20401-3_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20400-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20401-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)