One of my buddies says that they are asexual. What exactly does this mean?

It means it is not interested in sex, it has no sexual feelings.

Asexuality is a lack of interest in/desire for sexual activity, regardless of relationship status.

Previous answers to this question and this other question might also help.

You say they have zero interest: that is what asexuality is. If they haven’t been in a sexual relationship before, that is probably why.

Okay thank you. I just had no idea what they were talking about and didn’t want to ask since they were ranting and needed to vent.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” or not, but one of the characters named Sheldon, is an example of someone who is asexual. Even though the show is a comedy, there are plenty of people out there who are asexual and they simply do not have any kind of sex drive or inclination towards one sex or the other and have no interest in masturbation either.

In Tim Gunn’s book, he says he is asexual. He says that he wasn’t particularly interested in boys, but he really wasn’t interested in girls. He says he is asexual, but also gay.

He is the guy from project runway (BTW).

Hmmm, based on Kardamom’s theory, I would be asexual, but I am not. I still have a drive to create children, but I’ve never been interested in sex or masturbation for pleasure. I am pretty normal and prefer the opposite sex, and love relationships, but my sex drive, on a scale from 1 to 10 – is 2.

Edit: After reading wikipedia’s entry I just might be.

@squirbel Based on the theory I presented, you would not be considered asexual. There has to be both the lack of interest in sex at all (the lack of any sex drive at all, if you have any sex drive, even if it’s a 1 or a 2 on a scale of 10 just means that you have a low sex drive) but there also has to be no inclination of interest or attraction to the opposite sex or any interest in having a couples type of relationship with anybody. You stated that you prefer the opposite sex, asexual people do not have any interest in one sex or the other and they have no sex drive. Plus those people could still desire to have children, but you don’t have to have any sex (or interest in sex) to have children.

They have no sexual interest in men/women.

I would say sexual anorexia

Actually, @Kardamom , you should read the wikipedia entry. It is entirely possible for asexual people to be attracted to one or the other.

The more you know! [sing-song]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality

Asexuality is distinct from abstention from sexual activity and from celibacy, which are behavioral; the latter is usually for a religious reason.[9] A sexual orientation, unlike a behavior, is believed to be “enduring”.[10][11] Some asexuals do have sex, despite lacking a desire for it.[12]

Asexuals, while typically lacking in sexual desire for either sex, may engage in purely emotional romantic relationships.[20][21][22] Terms concerning this:
aromantic: lack of romantic attraction towards anyone of any gender
biromantic: romantic attraction towards person(s) of either gender
heteroromantic: romantic attraction towards person(s) of the opposite gender
homoromantic: romantic attraction towards person(s) of the same gender
panromantic: romantic attraction towards person(s) of any gender or lack of gender
transromantic: romantic attraction towards person(s) of variant or ambiguous gender
polyromantic: romantic attraction towards person(s) of more than one gender or sex but without implying, as biromantic does, that there are only two genders or sexes

The word “attraction” does not refer to sex, only.

I’m sure there are some people who are asexual as described in this thread, and your friend may be one of them. However, it’s also not uncommon for someone who feels an alternative sexuality (homo-, bi-, trans-, etc.), but who hasn’t yet come to terms with that publicly (or perhaps even privately), to proactively deflect any unwelcome questions about their sexuality or relationship status (questions they may be unable to answer, even to themselves) by claiming to asexual, uninterested, etc. I wouldn’t assume this to be the case, but I wouldn’t assume it isn’t either…

No I never said anything. They just started to open up to me and I got it. I don’t talk about what I am and they don’t judge me so I am in no position to be judgmental because everyone is different and that is awesome.

That’s why I said “proactively.” :) I wasn’t assuming that you asked them… I’m saying they may have been taking the initiative to tell you they were asexual so there would be no chance of (or reason for) you wondering about it (which might lead to questions in the future). In other words, they may have been trying to squelch the conversation before it ever comes up.

@derekfnord Or they’re just asexual. Reading too much into a friend’s meaning can very well cause issues. They say they’re asexual, you say okay.

And you sound like a good friend, @emeraldisles. Good on you.

Yes, that’s distinctly possible. Everyone else in the thread pointed it out, and so did I. I simply pointed out that it’s also possible they’re not. I didn’t advocate treating the friend like a liar. In fact, I specifically said not to do that.

(tap…tap…tap) Is this thing on…?

@derekfnord I simply saw no reason to bring it up. The question was what does it mean, and the answer was given. Saying “Oh, by the way, they totally might just be misleading you” seems counter-productive.

I guess I read the question slightly differently. I read it to (at least potentially) include “What information is the person trying to convey by saying this?” rather than just “What is the definition of this term?” And (in my opinion) what I described is one possible answer to “What information are they trying to convey…” Certainly not the only one, perhaps not the most likely one, but a possible one as I see it, and one that no one else had mentioned.

They don’t have a sexual attraction to men or women.

@pshizzle That definition is very incorrect.