But what does this research on women and object-of-desire self-consciousness have to do with asexuality, and with asexual women in particular? To be sexual (and romantic) for women often emerges out of their sense of themselves as objects of desire. So, if asexual women are not interested in being objects of desire (and have not had socializing forces acting on them in the same way, because of a lack of interest in sex), then all those elements of femininity typically linked to sexuality in sexual women will be different in asexual women. I expect, using language as an example, that words and phrases describing beauty, attractiveness, and body image, particularly regarding areas normally related to sexuality (such as their curves, hair, breasts, and vulva), would be different in asexual versus sexual women. But more than language, I expect that asexual women’s manner and attire would be different from that of average sexual women. For example, relative to sexual women, asexual women may dress in a less sexualized manner (e.g., not showing cleavage). This expected difference between sexual and asexual women in manner, attire, and language partly reflects the idea that gender (i.e., femininity) is often driven by sex and sexuality.
Related to gender roles is gender identity, the very basic sense of oneself as male or female. Of course, most people take their gender identity for granted, breezily checking off either “male” or “female” on surveys that ask about one’s gender. However, as mentioned above, this is not so for a small group of people. Transgendered and intersex people, for example, often believe that their sexual anatomy is inconsistent with their gender identity; a simple “male” or “female” label may thus be inadequate.
But what about asexual people? Interestingly, although the majority of asexual people seem to identify as male or female, there is evidence that a surprisingly high percentage do not want to categorize themselves in this way. In fact, Brotto and colleagues found that approximately 13 percent did not want to identify as male or female (Brotto et al., 2010). This may not seem like an overly large percentage, but consider what proportion of the general population would not want to identify as either male or female: a small percentage (i.e., 1–2 percent or less) (Veale, 2008; Fausto-Sterling, 2000). Thus, a nontraditional gender identity is likely significantly related to asexuality. At this point, however, we do not know whether transgendered or intersex individuals make up a large proportion of asexual people.
Does the fact that gender roles and identities relate to asexuality give clues to its origin? It may. First, let’s consider the potential role of biological factors—in particular, the systems involved with sexual differentiation. Sexual differentiation is the biological process whereby males become males and females become females. It occurs primarily prenatally (before birth) and then secondarily at puberty.
In sexual differentiation, some components are involved with producing female features (feminization) and male features (masculinization), but there are also processes that prevent or remove female features (de-feminization) in male fetuses and prevent or remove male features (de-masculinization) in female fetuses.
The exposure to hormones prenatally (in the womb) contributes to male and female sexual differentiation of both the body and brain. In other words, prenatal hormones (e.g., testosterone) will help to create male internal and external genitalia in male fetuses, while an absence of these hormones will help to create female internal and external genitalia. There is a critical time during gestation when this occurs, when fetal body tissues are sensitive to the levels of these hormones. Prenatal testosterone also affects the brain and potentially helps to create a gender role/identity and a sexual orientation. There is also a critical time during gestation when this occurs, when fetal brain tissues are sensitive to the level of these hormones. Thus, male (XY) or female (XX) fetuses exposed to atypical levels of this hormone during critical time periods of prenatal development can have altered differentiation of the body (e.g., intersex characteristics). Similarly, atypical levels of these hormones during critical time periods may also alter brain development, thus leading to atypical gender identity (e.g., transgendered) and sexual attractions (e.g., being gay or lesbian). If so, one might also speculate that male (XY) or female (XX) fetuses exposed to atypical levels of prenatal hormones, again at critical time periods, may develop an atypical gender identity (not feeling “male” or “female”), in addition to a lack of sexual attraction (i.e., asexuality).
The traditional scientific wisdom was that female sexual differentiation, including brain differentiation, would occur if these male hormones (e.g., testosterone) were absent. Indeed, females were once seen as the “default” sex, with typical female development occurring as long as male hormones were absent. Recent evidence suggests that sexual differentiation is more complex. Male and female sexual differentiation, including brain differentiation, is indeed related to the presence or absence of male hormones, but it is also related to other prenatal mechanisms (Arnold, 2004; Kopsida, Stergiakouli, Lynn, Wilkinson, & Davies, 2009). For example, there are specific genes on the Y and X chromosomes that affect male or female brain development directly (without, for instance, affecting male hormone levels). Thus, without these additional gene-based mechanisms, male and female sexual development, including brain differentiation, would not occur in a typical fashion. If so, male (XY) or female (XX) fetuses having one or more of these genes inactivated may have altered differentiation of the body (e.g., intersex). Similarly, if it is a gene very specific to the brain, any variation or mutation of this gene may alter neural development, leading to atypical gender identity (such as being transgendered) and atypical sexual attractions, including being gay, lesbian, or asexual.
One related possibility is that altered X- or Y-linked genes or prenatal hormones, or their combination, create a form of genderlessness in some asexuals. In other words, some asexuals may lack sexual attraction to both males and females—a genderless sexual orientation—and lack a male or female gender identity—a genderless identity—because these biological processes have a unique effect on brain development. For example, asexuality in women may occur because of an absence/alteration of male hormones (de-masculinization) in combination with an inactivation of one or more (X) female-specific genes affecting the brain (de-feminization). Thus, some asexual women may have brains that are neither “masculine” nor “feminine.” In contrast, the sexual orientations and identities of gays and lesbians may be the result of some “reversal” of a typical masculinization or feminization process. For example, prenatal exposure to a higher-than-typical level of male hormones has been argued to masculinize lesbians, including their sexual/romantic attractions (Ellis & Ames, 1987; Grimbos, Dawood, Burriss, Zucker, & Puts, 2010).