Sex lowers risk of heart attack, breast cancer, prostate cancer, plus other benefits. Thoughts?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/07/sex.health.benefits/index.html

ETA: I dunno, it makes me feel more like asexuality isn't normal. Obviously it's not to say that we're unhealthy, but I don't know... it's hard to argue with numbers. Just wondering what other people thought of this :x

As an asexual, how do you feel about nudity (your own, that of others, in media, in art)? Do you associate nudity with sexuality? Does the context of the nudity make a difference in how you perceive it (i.e. a painting compared to an erotic photograph)? Does seeing nudity or being nude (alone or in front of others) make you uncomfortable?

I ask because there is, of course, an undeniable tendancy in society to associate nudity with sexuality, to the point where nudity in any context is taboo, and I don't understand that at all and I'm not sure if it's because of my asexuality or not. I'm interested to know how other asexuals view the natural body. Feel free to discuss.

So, goddessofchaos's post got me to thinking about romance. An asexual "dating" site could cater to both romantics and aromantics, theoretically.
So I thought I'd ask you folks what you consider romance to be, and why you're aromantic or not. As for me, I consider romance to be game-playing. All the social gestures I don't understand - the sorts of things one sees around Valentines day. Classic romance is obviously flowers and candles and dinners for two and ... well, shit. It's remembering anniversaries, sappy gifts and stressing about your looks.
I dislike romance, because I feel as if I'm being played and the other person isn't being honest with me, rather hiding behind all this pomp and preconceived gestures. Plus any kind of sappiness makes me uncomfortable. I consider myself aromantic and am unsure of how I'm supposed to respond when people do this kind of thing to me, so it just ends up awkward. I'm not, however, against close companionship. Sometimes, I think I need more of that being usually quite a solitary person. Unfortunately, companionship is out of style and most people can't manage it without tripping over romance in the process.
What about you guys? What do you think romance is, and why are you a romantic or an aromantic?

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 Hi! I'm new to this community (I just joined what...last night?) and figured I should make an introduction post.

My name is Chloe.  I'm 17 and up until, well, last night, identified as pansexual after a two-year-long struggle with sexuality identification.  I thought I was straight up until two years ago, when I crushed pretty hard on a female classmate, and then not quite as hard (it was closer to infatuation than a legit crush) on another.

( More )

Current Music: Queen

i am trying to believe that as a romantic asexual,
i will not be alone like this forever.
but it is so lonely.

can anyone else relate?

"Facebook says you're a man."
"I'm as male as I am female, which is to say not very."
"Hahaha, of course you're female, you're Gemma, you're a female called Gemma."
"...Well, I'm not inside, that's the point."
"No more talk of androgyny please, I'm confused."

People just can't take the hint. I mention this sort of thing as casually as I can, in real life, online, with everybody. The number of times I've been told to to shut up, that I'm talking bollocks - "Of course you're not asexual, you're just scared of sex 'cause your parents split up, of course you're not genderless, you're a woman, you're all woman, a beautiful, curvaceous woman with fantastic breasts" (weeell, that may've been exaggerated slightly) - but accusing me of putting myself down, that I'm just a bit worried about being with somebody, I just need to get over myself and enjoy life, I'm always being so down on myself. Thing is though mate, I'm not. I'm cheerfully and casually telling you the truth about my life, because I want to change this perception people have that asexuals are obviously unhappy, repressed, miserable beings with no pleasures to delight in, or to speak of; and that because I can't force myself into playing the role I was supposedly born to play - even though I have tried and tried again - I must hate myself. I must be so unhappy. If they were genderless and asexual, they would be unhappy. So, to cheer me up, they tell me what they think I want to hear. That it's all imaginary. Brilliant! They mean so well, but they get it so, so wrong. They're telling me that who I am is wrong and incomprehensible.

I suffer from depression as it goes, and confusion about my sexuality and my place in life is a big part of that. People dismissing the things I am sure about makes me feel worse. It reinforces the confusion and makes me want to change, which is what makes me miserable. I can't change. This is the way I am. I can't accept being a woman, a sexual woman or a girlfriend if it all feels wrong. It's not something new. It's always felt wrong. 'Getting over it' wouldn't make me happy. Being who I am makes me happy. I don't know what else I can do (short of radical surgery/brain transplant/telepathy/leaving this entry public) to make people listen to me. It's so difficult, trying to tell people how I feel but at the same time, not make it a big deal. Because it isn't a big deal. I don't feel female and I don't experience sexual attraction. That's it. It sounds confusing, but it's really not. Call me Gemsy, call me 'woman', call me 'her'... whatever, I don't mind, it's not a big deal. But telling me I'm being silly for describing myself how I chose to describe myself - well, it hurts. I'm me and if you're going to love me I want you to love me for who I am, not despite of my depression/repression/confusion, or for what I am underneath it. I don't know. Just listen to me, and stop telling me what you think I want to hear.

I dunno what else to tell ya.

Current Music: Faith No More - From Out of Nowhere | Powered by Last.fm

Not new to Asexuality, seeing as how I discovered I was asexual over 4 years ago (after many years of thinking there was something wrong with me, or that I was broken), but new to the group. My question is, how do you meet someone who has no desire to have sexual relations what so ever in a world full of those who have sex as the center of their lives? Sadly I also have issues with space and also have no real desire to have someone cling to me (cuddling/prolonged hugging/kissing/holding hands/etc), so it makes it that much harder to find someone who would fit into my life without feeling like something is lacking and they look elsewhere.


So how do some of you deal with issues like this? And have you found someone to share a relationship with without all of the sexual strings attached?