Beyond 'The Whole Sex Thing': Co-Constructing Fulfilling Asexual/Allosexual Relationships
Leslie Chandler Batchelor
proquest.com
While research on the experiences of asexual individuals has undoubtedly increased over the past
two decades, there has been relatively little research on the relationship experiences of these
people. Research that does exist in this area has tended to focus on negative experiences and
obstacles to relationships for this population. To counter deficit narratives, the current narrative
inquiry study addresses this gap through unstructured narrative interviews with six couples in
which one partner is asexual and the other is allosexual. Results indicated that couples use a
combination of asexual discourse learned from exposure to the asexual community as well as
erotics co-constructed with their partner to understand themselves, their partner, and their
relationship. Implications for the theorization of asexuality and clinical application are discussed.
Keywords: asexuality, allosexuality, relationships, couples therapy, sexuality discourse, erotics