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Asexual People Break Down The Label In This Incredible Video

It's incredibly personal -- and quite riveting.
Curtis M. Wong
By 

Senior Culture Reporter, HuffPost

In honor of Asexuality Awareness Week, a poignant new video is shedding some much-needed insight into what it means to [truly] be asexual in the modern age.

The Asexual Portraits Collaboration Project shares the experience of asexual and asexual-spectrum people from all walks of life. The clip is particularly captivating in its silence: as each person or couple appears, a quote attributed to them appears on the screen, with just a simple music box chiming occasionally.

The statements are incredibly personal and quite riveting.

"Some people have never understood my asexuality no matter how clearly I explained it," one of the clip's subjects says. "Some have tried to change and fix it. But I've always liked to say that if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

Added another: "It seems like everyone knows or wants to know about your sexual feelings than yourself."

The project was the brainchild of Amy Liang, who told The Huffington Post that she was inspired by Humans of New York as well as Laia Abril's Asexuals project in her goal to "showcase the human [experience] behind the label."

"Asexuality isn't just some fad or trend or inconsequential label," she said. "It's an aspect of many people's lives -- a small aspect, but still an aspect -- and it shapes how we see and experience the world. And I wanted to capture that."

The project "has made me feel more grounded to the asexual community as a whole," she said. "I feel like I'm telling these people's stories, as if I carry this responsibility to do it justice because they barred their souls to the world."

Bravo, Amy, for this incredible project!

Also on HuffPost:

1
Asexual
Digital Vision. via Getty Images
An asexual is “someone who does not experience sexual attraction.” Asexuality.org also notes, "Asexuals may regard other people as aesthetically attractive without feeling sexual attraction to them. Some asexual people also experience the desire of being affectionate to other people without it being sexual. If you do not experience sexual attraction, you might identify as asexual."
2
Aromantic
Fuse via Getty Images
"An aromantic is a person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others,” according to Asexuality.org. The site also notes that “aromantics do not lack emotional/personal connection, but simply have no instinctual need to develop connections of a romantic nature. Aromantics can have needs for just as much empathetic support as romantics, but these needs can be fulfilled in a platonic way.” Being aromantic is usually “considered to be innate and not a personal choice,” in the same way that asexuality is considered innate.
3
Graysexual
By Wunderfool via Getty Images
Jared, one man who identifies as graysexual, defines the term as a "magical place between asexual and someone who is sexual." The Frisky defines it as "something more fluid between sexuality and asexuality." Those who identify as graysexual might also identify as gay or straight or any other sexual identity inside or outside of the binary.
4
Demisexual
Betsie Van Der Meer via Getty Images
Someone who identifies as demisexual doesn’t typically feel sexual attraction unless they “have already formed a strong emotional bond with the person.” Asexualityarchive.com also notes that “the bond may or may not be romantic in nature.”
5
Demiromantic
Caiaimage/Tom Merton via Getty Images
Similar to a demisexual, the individual doesn’t feel romantic attraction “unless they have already formed a strong emotional bond with the person.”
6
Lithromantic
Dougal Waters via Getty Images
According to asexuality.org, the term is described as “a person who experiences romantic love but does not want their feelings to be reciprocated.” The site also notes that lithromantic people “may or may not be ok with romantic relationships.”
7
Pansexual
DreamPictures via Getty Images
Pansexual refers to those “who feel they are sexually/emotionally/spiritually capable of falling in love with all genders.”
8
Polysexual
Dynamic Graphics via Getty Images
Similar to pansexual, a polysexual person “may be attracted to some gender variant people but not have the capability or desire to be with some others.”
9
Panromantic
Asia Images via Getty Images
A person who is romantically -- but not sexually -- attracted to others regardless of sex or gender.
10
Skoliosexual
Leren Lu via Getty Images
According to Genderqueerid.com, skoliosexual refers to “sexual attraction to non-binary identified individuals" or those who do not identify as cisgender. The site also notes that “this does not generally describe an attraction to specific genitalia or birth assignments but rather is an inclusive term.”
11
Queerplatonic Relationships
Jupiterimages via Getty Images
Relationships that “are not romantic in nature but they involve very close emotional connections that are often deeper or more intense than what is traditionally considered a friendship.”
12
Zucchini
diego cervo via Getty Images
The name for a partner who is involved in a queerplatonic relationship, as in "he's my zucchini."
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