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Gender Discrepancy in Asexual Identity: the Effect of Hegemonic Gender Norms on Asexual Identification

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Gender Discrepancy in Asexual Identity: the Effect of Hegemonic Gender Norms on Asexual Identification Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Honors Program Senior Projects WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship Spring 2018 Gender Discrepancy in Asexual Identity: The Effect of Hegemonic Gender Norms on Asexual Identification Tori Bianchi Western Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Bianchi, Tori, "Gender Discrepancy in Asexual Identity: The Effect of Hegemonic Gender Norms on Asexual Identification" (2018). WWU Honors Program Senior Projects. 81. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/81 This Project is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Honors Program Senior Projects by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Gender Discrepancy in Asexual Identity The Effect of Hegemonic Gender Norms on Asexual Identification Tori Bianchi Western Washington University Thesis Advisor Dr. Sean Bruna 2018 Table of Contents Chapter I: Introduction, Research Questions, Literature Review...................................................... 3 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Identifying Asexuality ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Gender Distribution .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................................................. 8 Gender Roles ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 Femininity Masculinity Breaking the Binary Queering Gender Roles (or not) ................................................................................................................. 13 Women Loving Women Men Loving Men Perceptions of Asexuality ............................................................................................................................. 16 Medicalization Romantic Relationships Presentation in Media Chapter II: Research Methodology ...................................................................................................... 21 Quantitative...................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Qualitative ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Chapter III: Findings ................................................................................................................................ 25 Quantitative...................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Figures ................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Gender Identity ................................................................................................................................................ 32 Sex assigned at birth ...................................................................................................................................... 33 Interviews and Survey ................................................................................................................................................... 34 - 1 - Asexuality and Femininity ............................................................................................................................. 35 Asexuality and Masculinity ........................................................................................................................... 38 Asexuality and Religion ................................................................................................................................. 40 Asexuality and Gender Non-Conformity ................................................................................................. 43 Asexuality, Discomfort, and Dysphoria .................................................................................................... 46 Chapter IV: Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 48 Why do more women and genderqueer people identify as asexual? .......................................................... 49 Do masculine stereotypes dissuade individuals from identifying as asexual? ........................................... 51 How do gender roles and expectations affect individuals identifying as asexual? .................................. 52 Chapter V: Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 53 Future Work ..................................................................................................................................................................... 54 Author’s Note .................................................................................................................................................................. 56 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................................... 57 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................. 58 Appendix A: AVEN Census Data........................................................................................................... 61 Appendix B: Interview Guides ............................................................................................................... 67 Appendix C: Survey Questions ............................................................................................................. 72 Appendix D: Interview Transcripts ....................................................................................................... 83 Jessica ................................................................................................................................................................................ 84 Alex ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 90 Ryan .................................................................................................................................................................................. 100 Riley .................................................................................................................................................................................. 105 Val ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 111 Marlo ................................................................................................................................................................................. 118 Xander.............................................................................................................................................................................. 125 Henry ................................................................................................................................................................................ 132 Sadie ................................................................................................................................................................................. 142 - 2 - Chapter I: Introduction, Research Questions, Literature Review The following is a research study conducted by Tori Bianchi as a thesis paper for the Western Washington University Honors Program. This project was advised by Dr. Sean Bruna in the Anthropology Department. - 3 - Introduction Identifying Asexuality To be asexual is to be “someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction” (Mardell 2016). It is an orientation largely unknown and ignored in society. Asexuality is also an uncommon identity, popularly cited to be only 1% of the population (Wellings 1994) but is reported as high as 4% for individuals aged 18-24 (GLAAD 2017). This is 1% higher than those reporting strictly gay or lesbian in the GLAAD study in the same age range. Asexual can also be used as an umbrella term to encompass many more specific sub-identities on the asexual spectrum1. There is a lot of diversity among those identifying as asexual, and it is important not to conflate notions of sexual action and sexual attraction. Attraction
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