Editorials

Could You Be Autosexual?

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9 May 2019

By Bronwen

The LGBTQ+ community is always expanding as society learns about and accepts more and more sexual identities. In years gone by, the LGBT community was thought of as being exclusively for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as the acronym would suggest. More and more letters have been added to include asexual, intersex and poly-amorous people, and it could soon feature an extra ‘A’ to represent autosexuality or autoromance.

You’ve probably never heard of it but this sexual orientation is the latest to hit the headlines. Considered by some to be narcissistic, autosexuality is seen as less valid than other LGBTQ+ identities, but if you experience feelings of sexual and emotional attraction to yourself, then you could be autosexual.

Image result for autosexual flag
The autosexual flag

What is autosexuality?

Put simply, autosexuals are turned on by their own looks and character. It goes beyond being self-confident or having high self-esteem. In fact, some autosexuals have low levels of self-esteem caused by bullying or other factors. Autosexuals focus more on the feelings of lust they have towards themselves rather than confidence. Blogger Ghia Vitale, who considers herself her own lover, reports feeling “crush-like butterflies” in her stomach when she thinks of herself. “I began writing love poetry… to myself” she writes for The Establishment.

While this may sound like a form of narcissism to some, autosexuals insist that their self love is purely romantic and in no way a form of narcissistic personality disorder. While autosexuals still prioritise themselves and love themselves above all else, they don’t believe they are more important or better than everybody else.

How do autosexuals differ from asexual people?

While asexuals don’t experience feelings of sexual attraction towards others, they also don’t have a sexual attraction for themselves. Autosexuals will masturbate to the thought of themselves or how great they look. Vitale writes that she will perform “sensual dances” for her own entertainment and she has had wet dreams about herself. Furthermore some autosexuals actively seek out romantic relationships and sexual interactions with others. The difference between them and others is that the majority of their romantic and sexual gratification comes from time spent alone stimulating their mind and body.

This sexual orientation hasn’t been written about in great depth and little research has been done to discover if this is a more common sexual orientation.

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