It’s about time we desexualize conversations about sex. This week, Kenna and Brianna are joined by fellow Peer Educator and all-around cool human Tacs to talk about what it’s like to be asexual in sex ed. circles, the abstractness of gender, and the importance of vocabulary, community, and communication.
Below you can find a glossary of jargon-y terms we might’ve said on the show.
- AFAB: Acronym meaning Assigned Female at Birth. AFAB people may or may not identify as female some or all of the time. AFAB is a useful term for educating about issues that may happen to these bodies without connecting to womanhood or femaleness.
- Androgynous: Having physical elements of both femininity and masculinity, whether expressed through sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
- AMAB: Acronym meaning Assigned Male at Birth. AMAB people may or may not identify as male some or all of the time.
- Asexual: Describes a person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to others. Asexuality is not the same as celibacy and exists on a spectrum with varying relationships and feelings towards sex.
- Aromantic: Sometimes abbreviated as "aro," the term refers to an individual who does not experience romantic attraction. Aromantic people exist on a spectrum of romantic attraction and can use terms such as gray aromantic or grayromantic to describe their place within that spectrum. Aromantic people can experience sexual attraction.
- Cisgender: Those who identify and present as the gender they were assigned at birth. In its simplest terms, cisgender describes someone who is not transgender.
- Gender dysphoria: Describes the distress, unhappiness, and anxiety that transgender people may feel about the mismatch between their bodies and their gender identity.
- Gender non-conforming: A person whose gender expression is perceived as being inconsistent with cultural norms expected for that gender.
- Neopronouns: A neopronoun can be a word created to serve as a pronoun without expressing gender, like “ze” and “zir.”
- Nonbinary: Non-binary is an umbrella term for gender identities that are neither male nor female—identities that are outside the gender binary.Words that people may use to express their nonbinary gender identity include “agender,” “bigender,” “genderqueer,” “genderfluid,” and “pangender.”
- Pansexual: A sexual orientation that describes a person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to people regardless of gender.
- Transgender: A general term used to describe someone whose gender expression/gender identity are different than the sex assigned at birth. Sometimes shortened to trans or trans*.
For more information about the resources we talked about in this episode, check out the links below.
- Planned Parenthood website:
Disclaimer:
The experiences and opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida does not guarantee the completeness, nor the accuracy of the content of this podcast and accepts no liability for any direct or indirect damage of any kind arising from, or in any way related to, the podcast’s content. The information provided in this podcast does not constitute medical, mental health, legal, or other professional advice or services.
Thank you’s and credits to the following amazing people:
- Hosts: Brianna Nelson and Kenna Bartlett
- Planned Parenthood Staff: Kathy Dobson, Kelsey Hunt-Dolan, and Nan Morgan
- Audio Editor: Brianna Nelson
- Intro and Outro Music: “Mellow” by Ethan Korvne (Check out his LP “Something Else to Do” on Spotify and Apple Music!)
- Cover Art: Brianna Nelson