The holidays are upon us and that means it’s time to indulge in some festive musings relating to Asexual and general issues.

We’ve talked about the differences between Asexuals and the LGBT community in great detail in the past. This time we turn the table and talk about the similarities.

Another unplanned but prolonged absence creates the necessity for an entire episode of reading your feedback.

As the logical continuation to the continuous exploration into the subject of gender, the panelists look at androgyny as it was and as it is.

Inspired by a blog comment, we go over three harsh top ten lists.

We’re back! And because of the extended hiatus, there’s a whole lot of feedback to cover. And that is what we did, uncharacteristically thoroughly as well, not even abridging the longer messages. So it’s feedback galore, for your enjoyment and/or dread.

Feeling repulsed by your own gender is a theme that seems to come up pretty often in the asexual community. Gender repulsion goes beyond “simple” genital repulsion, since it encompasses other parts of your body as well as the societal norms and expectations placed on you because of your physical sex. This is what the rather small crew of A Life discusses this time around.

Poll:
Are you repulsed by your own gender?

Queer is a term that has proved itself to be rather problematic for both people who identify as such and those who don’t. What does the word actually mean and who should be using it to describe themselves? And, ultimately, can asexuals be considered queer? These are the questions that accompany general randomness in this episode of A Life!

Poll:
Are you queer?

Sex is said to be one of the most important great pleasures in life and therefore we asexuals suffer as we’re missing out on it. But that is rather silly, because everybody derives great pleasure from different things. Therefore we discuss our great pleasures as well as a large dosage of the signature randomness you’ve come to expect in this episode of A Life.

Poll:
Do you feel there is validity to the existence of the men’s movement?

How does feminism relate to asexuality and how do different kinds of feminists deal with the asexual community? And what exactly is feminism and why should we or why should we not care? These are the questions processed by the team with the aid of Sy. Who is Sy? You’ll find out in the 60th episode, released sometime next week.

In this very eeeeeevil episode of A Life, the team digs into the very eeeeeevil topic of kinks and fetishes as they apply to asexual people. Featuring the guestive expertise of Diedra.

Poll:
Do you engage in activities considered kinky?

Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. However, we’re talking about the other variety of dating, the human interaction inducing personal contact kind.

Poll:
What, if any, of the dating sites do you use?

Randomness is the word of the day when the A Life team heads off to the unknown territories of an offtopic show. Although, to be honest, I don’t know what the official word of the day is, so it probably is not randomness. In any case, the show features the special guestitude of Kendra.

Poll:
If you need to prioritize your romantic or sexual identity, which one do you go for?

This week the intrepid panel of A Life delves into the depths of maturity. Often asexuality is confused with sexual immaturity, so we discuss how they differ from each other and how to tell them apart.

Poll:
At what age do you believe you came into your sexual maturity?

Life happens! Even when it’s offline. So asexuality happens. Even when it’s offline. And that is what we discuss.

Poll:
Do you participate in offline asexuality activities?

It may come as a bit of a shocker, but there actually are other online communities than AVEN around. We go over the more larger and notable ones.

Poll:
Do you participate in other asexual communities beside AVEN?

This week’s show got a little out of hand… In fact, it got so out of hand that Vlad did a pretty major editing for the show afterwards, so I thank her for the effort in here as well. The show makes repeated attempts to have a topic… but fails. So enjoy! …or at least don’t hate it too much.

A series of unfortunate occurrences have prevented the brave crew of the starship A Life from convening and bringing you another dosage of asexual discussion. But here we are again, this time mainly going over the past several weeks of feedback and playing the Asexual Elitist Blame Game!

Poll:
Has you romantic identity evolved since you found the asexual community?

Demisexuality and Grey-A’s are a part of the asexuality community as well. So naturally they’ll be a part of this podcast as well. This is what the brave crew of the starship A Life discusses this time around. Special guestness provided by Cat & Wojtek.

Poll:
What is the status of demisexuals and grey-a’s in relation to the community?

In honour of the 50th episode, the panelists decided to go for video. With disastrous consequences!

Well, they’re really not all that disastrous, but I thought that a sensationalist description might boost our numbers a bit…

Poll:
What was the best prop?

Allies! Who are they, do they exist and do we need them? Those, and somewhat similar questions, are answered in this episode of A Life. Or, well… they’re not as much answered than discussed… after the feedback… somewhere around there… It’s very entertaining, I promise!

Link:
Reflections on a year spent studying asexuality

Poll:
Do you, in your regular life, require sexual allies?

Last week’s offtopic show ended up to actually have a topic. So we tried again. This time we talk about everything from Adar to warehouse management in space. Mission accomplished!

Poll:
What should we do with the haters?

Being different is probably the worst thing you can be in this world, and you’ll never be forgiven for being that. Being asexual is rather different, so the panel discusses how the world has made them pay.

Poll:
Do you feel that you are different?

Children. I can’t stand them, but fortunately there were other panelists on the show, who have something more constructive to say. In the episode, the panel digs into the prospect of raising them and being one.

Poll:
When did you know you were asexual?

Epic topic results in epic runtime. So sit back and enjoy as the panel digs into aromantic considerations with a special guest.

Poll:
How romantic are you?

Like it or not, sexuals are all around us and they’re multiplying in numbers. Therefore we have to deal with them a lot. That’s why the intrepid crew of A Life discusses some common themes that come up when dealing with them.

Poll:
Does asexuality make us boring?

Most larger minorities have developed a cultural sensibility of their own. Is asexuality one of those minority groups that have achieved that? And if not, why not?

Poll:
Do we have a subculture of our own?

As tradition dictates, it is time to go off topic for our final episode of the year. This naturally means immediate derailment and general confusion in the part of the panelists. Let the festivities begin!

Poll:
Do you drink alcohol?

The culture around us is full of sex, that is something we cannot do anything about. So what is a poor asexual soul to do? Well, as luck would have it, most of us still can enjoy sexual culture in one form or another for some more or less convoluted way. That is what we discuss in this edition A Life.

Poll:
What form of sexual culture you enjoy?

This time around the crew of A Life revisits an old topic well due for a revisit. Gender identity is something that the asexual community talks about often and maybe has a unique angle to.

Poll:
How important your gender identity is to you?

If 1% of people are asexual then logically 1% of artists should be asexual as well, so why isn’t 1% of art asexual? That is the question on the table on this episode of A Life as well as a recap of some of the more popular fictional characters who may or may not be asexual.

Links:
Gay Geekery: Holmes & Asexuality
Asexual Blues
Half Death
Girls With Slingshots

Poll:
What form of art is inherently the most asexual in nature?

Labels. Some people revel in them, some people hate them. But everybody should probably be aware of them, so that is why labels are the topic of this edition of A Life.

Poll:
Do you find labels useful or restricting?

“Coming out” is usually covered a lot in these sorts of podcasts and is universally hailed as a good thing for everybody. But what if you just want to stay in and not deal with the hassle or repercussions of coming out. Is it as respectable and if it is, what are the ways to stay in without blowing your cover? These questions and a lot of tangential sidelines are at the core of this episode of A Life.

Poll:
Do you think not coming out hurts the community?

This episode of A life has it’s hosts tell personal stories of their asexuality and parents, some sex education stories, and more.

Poll:
Are you out to your parents?

Does asexuality have a place in religion? The team discuses this, celibacy and religion itself in this episode of A Life.

Poll:
Do you feel comfortable as an asexual in your religious community?

The crew leans back with a topicless show once again, which means that more topics are covered than in any regular episode. Among other items of interest, the crew talks about possible health benefits of having sex and the balancing health risks involved, reactions with encountering sexuality in the wild and other considerations of general interest.

Poll:
Health benefits of sex

Marriage is a very deeply integrated cultural tradition. But how does it apply to asexuality and what are the specific challenges asexuals have to deal with in the context of marriage. We also discuss the meaning of marriage as a practical, cultural and symbolic gesture.

Poll:
Marriage?

Society has built in an expectation for a person to bring a date for gatherings of several variety. So what to do if you have no desire to bring a date, should you still attend? Should you challenge the expectation or simply ignore it? These are questions that are raised in this episode of A Life.

Poll:
Are you uncomfortable attending events alone?

The challenges in life differ greatly with age, so it’s only logical to assume that the same applies to one’s asexuality. In this episode of A Life, the crew examines the different social challenges of asexuality as they change with age.

Poll:
Does being asexual become easier with age?

Coming out can be hard and scary for some people. For asexuals, it can be harder because not many people have heard of asexuality. This episode of A Life, we talk about coming out, worst and best responses, personal experiences, and give some tips on how to come out of that closet.

Links:
http://asexualadvice.tumblr.com/
http://www.asexuality.org/en/index.php?/topic/54030-national-coming-out-day/
http://www.asexuality.org/en/index.php?/topic/49666-new-ya-novel-with-openly-asexual-character/

Poll:
Coming out questions

Do asexuals belong in the LGBTQ movement? This is what we dig into on this episode of A Life, using personal and other examples.

Links:
The 70′s article
Michale’s PDF
The Comic

Poll:
Do you think asexuals belong in the LGBT group?

This week the intrepid panel of A Life takes a look at psychology of asexuality and especially the ways that asexuals and/or aromantics might teach happiness to sexuals and romantics without the constant need for sex or romance.

Poll:
Can we teach people how to be happy without sex?

After a while, we’re taking a day off with another off topic show. We discuss about examples of Asexuality in literature and television, attacks on the Finnish Pride parade and other more or less asexuality-related tangents.

Poll:
Threat to mainstream culture?

The modern society seems to put extreme pressure on the question of virginity. Who are virgins and who are not? When does one lose their virginity? In this episode of A Life, we examine the question of virginity as it relates to asexuality.

Poll:
Asexuality and virginity

Relationships. They seem to be a big deal in society, but what about for asexuals? On the show we talk about topics about how a romantic relationship is different from a friendship, asexual/sexual relationships, age differences, and more.

Poll:
Relationship questions

Wonderful to be asexual? We’ll find out on this episode concentrating on the potential benefits of asexuality as an orientation.

Poll:
Benefits of Asexuality

All minorities seem to have their selected symbolism to broadcast and share their identity. Asexual symbols are far newer than others and their origins can be traced. On the show, we dig into the symbols and their origins.

Poll:
Symbols of Asexuality

One of the more frequently asked questions from asexuals is: Are we missing out on something? Are we missing one of the great pleasures of life by not having any sex? The question has been asked and answered so many times, that most of us don’t stop to think about it anymore. But drilling deeper into the issue reveals a question that is more complex and one that can be approached from several different angles.

Our contact avenues have been revived, so feel free to get in touch via the email or The A Life Team -profile on AVEN.

Poll:
How many people listen to the show before voting?

Things change in life. Sometimes it means that a show that has finished its run gets renewed. Such is the fate with A Life. We’re back and we’re going to continue the show every other week, pretending like nothing happened.

In this episode we’re talking about shades of being out and how hard it is at times to manage who knows what and how much. Another complication comes into the topic if one is romantic and happens to be in a homoromantic relationship.

We’re also looking for new people to join the show, so feel free to contact us. Details can be heard on the show.

Poll:
Shades of out

Yes, it’s true. Unfortunately production and real life issues mounted too much to keep the show going, so this will indeed be the last time the A Life Team gathers to talk about everything asexual. In the final show, we go over the remaining feedback, go over some random issues and explain our reasons for quitting the show.

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the show by sending comments and contributing in any way. And naturally a special thanks goes out to everyone who listened to the show.