What asexual people fantasise about: Study reveals they think about others taking part in fetishes and BDSM
- Both asexual men and women said they masturbate and have fantasies
- Study also revealed the fantasies often overlap with those of sexual people
- Both groups were found to fantasize about fetishes and BDSM equally
- Asexuals more likely to fantasize about situations not involving them
People who identify as asexual may not experience sexual attraction, but that doesn’t stop them from masturbating and even having sexual fantasies.
A new study has found that nearly half of asexual women and three quarters of asexual men reported having these experiences – and, they’re just as likely to fantasize about fetishes and BDSM as ‘sexual’ people.
The findings shed new light on this little-understood orientation and suggest that, while sexual fantasies are not ubiquitous, the ‘asexual’ label may capture a more diverse group than previously thought.
In the study, researchers from the University of British Columbia surveyed 739 people, of which 351 were asexual (292 women, 59 men).
Participants who identified as asexual, using the Asexual Identification Scale, were more likely to report that they’d never experienced a sexual fantasy.
This was the case for roughly 20 percent of these men and 30 percent of women, New York Magazine reports.
But the results, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, also reveal that a large number of asexual men and women do experience sexual fantasies and masturbate, despite lacking sexual attraction to other people.
In addition, the researchers found that the fantasies of asexual and sexual participants often overlap.
Both groups, across the genders, were equally likely to fantasize about topics such as fetishes and BDSM, the researchers noted.
Asexual individuals, however, were more likely to report fantasizing about sexual activities that did not involve themselves.
In one example, a respondent said most of their fantasies don’t involve real people, but focus on fictional couples instead, New York Magazine reports.
Others said they often imagined other people engaging in sexual activities, or enjoyed watching other people ‘enjoy their sexuality.’
‘I don’t want to do anything sexual with any of the people I imagine, and by themselves, they don’t turn me on,’ a 32-year-old female respondent explained in the study.
‘I think it’s because I’m not capable of feeling sexual attraction or lust, so I mentally conjure up people who are and empathize with them.’
The results reveal that a large number of asexual men and women do experience sexual fantasies and masturbate, despite lacking sexual attraction to other people. In addition, the researchers found that the fantasies of asexual and sexual participants often overlap
These individuals were also less likely to fantasize about topics such as group sex, public sex, or having an affair.
When it comes to masturbation, asexual women were least likely partake compared to the rest of the group, while both asexual women and men reported masturbating for sexual pleasure far less than their sexual counterparts.
According to the researchers, the findings suggest that sexual fantasies are not ubiquitous, and may be driven by different motivations than once thought.
‘An asexual individual may not experience sexual attraction, but may nonetheless engage in sexual fantasy, perhaps to facilitate physiological sexual arousal and masturbation,' the authors wrote.
‘The sexual fantasies may not be reflections of innate sexual wants or desires.’
