1887
Volume 12, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2211-3770
  • E-ISSN: 2211-3789
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Abstract

Abstract

Previous research on language, sexuality, and affect has focused primarily on the presence rather than the absence of desire. This analysis investigates the linguistic manifestations of non-desire on two subreddits: r/AskReddit and r/Asexual. Contrasting asexual redditors’ responses to threads such as with straight, allosexual redditors’ responses to a thread titled , I find that allosexual and asexual redditors’ responses differ in agency and emotionality. While straight allosexual redditors attribute their lack of homosexual desire to factors other than themselves, asexual redditors attribute their lack of allosexual desire to their own identity. Additionally, asexual redditors frame their realizations of their asexuality as processual and emotional, using and more often than straight allosexual redditors’ responses. These results expose the importance of emotionality – including lack of desire – as a resource for asexual identity construction.

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2023-07-13
2024-12-04
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): affect; agency; asexuality; desire; heterosexuality; masculinities
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