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Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-11-29T11:28:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Valéria Konc dos Santos.pdf: 727860 bytes, checksum: 8d8b61e24491b13f861608825f5e02cc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-29T11:28:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Valéria Konc dos Santos.pdf: 727860 bytes, checksum: 8d8b61e24491b13f861608825f5e02cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-03 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The term asexuality is understood in this work as a sexuality array characterized by the absence of sexual attraction or/and sexual activity. Asexuality has become of popular interest over the last years as the mainstream media has given some attention to the subject. Seen as a “novelty” in sexual multiplicities, it still needs further research. This dissertation embraces a theoretical investigation, approaching the locus of communities in virtual space and support forums. It addresses the problem of conceptualization and apprehension of asexuality in a context which many of its features are tangled in essentialist discourses (that define it as a fourth sexual orientation), political and identity discourses (especially when it becomes a movement fighting for recognition — observed in the major asexual communities), or in subject's singular processes. On the other hand, it also can be problematized through the queer approach directed at deconstructing and subverting heteronormative sexuality, as asexuality phenomena also strengthens the struggle and creation of that “new” that disturbs the status quo. People who think of themselves as asexual are beyond the limits of normative sexuality. They affirm that their condition is not a result of trauma, sexual repression, hormonal problems, religious choice, or explained by any other regulatory discourse. Thus, the discussion proposed here indicates that asexual people show rhizomatic and polymorphic sexuality. Although asexuality is encompassed in historical and social conditions that still nourish conservative and colonial thoughts, the conclusion of this work suggests that sexuality may be viewed as a line of flight and, therefore, it entails a micro-political force that struggles to prevent its own suppression as well as its weakening / humana caracterizada pela ausência de atração sexual e/ou ato sexual, vêm se popularizando nas grandes mídias, causando curiosidade e estranheza. Por ser considerada uma “novidade” dentro das multiplicidades sexuais, a assexualidade ainda carece de estudos mais profundos sobre o tema. Esta dissertação faz uma revisão bibliográfica, enfatizando o espaço virtual, lócus de comunidades e fóruns de apoio entre seus membros. A análise sobre o tema, discute sua difícil conceituação e entendimento, sobretudo porque vários aspectos se fundem a discursos essencialistas (quando é caracterizada como uma quarta orientação sexual), políticos e identitários (sobretudo quando se torna um movimento que luta por reconhecimento, tal como observado nas principais comunidades assexuais), até aos processos singulares do sujeito. Por outro lado, também pode ser problematizada através da abordagem queer, que atua na desestabilização e desconstrução da sexualidade heteronormativa, princípio que também se aplica a assexualidade enquanto um fenômeno que atua na resistência e na criação de um “novo” que perturbe o status quo. As pessoas que se autodenominam como assexuais, fogem do padrão da sexualidade normativa e enfatizam que sua condição como tal não está atrelada a traumas, repressão sexual, problema hormonal, escolha religiosa ou qualquer outro discurso regulatório. Desse modo, a discussão provocada sugere que os assexuais apresentam uma sexualidade rizomática e polimorfa. E a conclusão compreende que a assexualidade, apesar de estar elencado a fatores históricos e sociais de uma sociedade que ainda exibe resquícios de um pensamento conservador e colonial, também é uma linha de fuga e, nesse sentido, se modela como uma força micropolítica, que busca não permitir seu esmagamento e tampouco seu esvaecimento

The purpose of this dissertation was to create a psychometrically sound measure of asexual prejudice through microaggressions that can be used to document and identify the unique experiences of asexual people (i.e., those reporting a lack of sexual attraction towards others). Asexual prejudice encompasses anti-asexual beliefs and attitudes that stem from sexual normativity which promotes sexuality as the norm while positioning asexuality as deviant (Carrigan 2011; Chasin, 2011; Flore, 2014; Gupta, 2013). Applying Sue’s (2010) description of microaggressions, asexual microaggressions are conscious and/or unconscious daily occurrences of insults and invalidation that stem from implicit bias against asexual people and asexuality. Development of the scale included creating items with content that was derived from close readings of the literature on asexuality and related measures of discrimination, prejudice or bias as well as expert review for clarity and verifying applicability of content. A total of 738 participants participated on-line and half were randomly assigned to Phase 1 for the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) while the other half was assigned to Phase 2 for the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Results of the EFA indicate a 16 item four-factor structure for the AMS that capture expectations of sexuality, denial of legitimacy, harmful visibility, and assumptions of causality as descriptors of the types of microaggressions that occur. The CFA revealed support for the AMS total score with good internal consistency and strong validity as reflected in strong positive relationships with stigma consciousness, collective self-esteem, and another measure of discrimination and bias. Combined, the AMS is a valid and reliable measure of asexual prejudice. Contextualization of these results as well as implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Orientador: José Sterza Justo / Banca: Fernando Silva Teixeira Filho / Banca: Diana Pancini de Sá Antunes Ribeiro / Banca: Rafael Siqueira de Guimarães / Banca: Paulo Roberto de Carvalho / Resumo: Os assexuais se definem como pessoas que não sentem atração sexual. A ideia de um sujeito assexual traz à tona discussões acerca dos usos políticos do sexo, coloca em exame as epistemologias da sexualidade e suscita debates a propósito dos modos de subjetivação contemporâneos. Nesta tese, procura-se apresentar o percurso científico da assexualidade e traçar uma compreensão sobre esse fenômeno. No primeiro capítulo, faz-se uma narrativa minuciosa de toda a produção bibliográfica sobre o tema, contemplando todos os artigos e livros publicados até o presente, bem como aquelas fontes mais antigas que se relacionavam diretamente com a assexualidade. Compilou-se essas leituras de modo a reconstruir, identificar e contextualizar as primeiras menções ao termo e os desdobramentos do surgimento das comunidades virtuais de assexuais, fato que impulsionou e justifica a atual produção acadêmica a esse respeito. Aponta-se que a produção científica sobre a assexualidade reflete em muito o campo de produção acadêmica em sexualidade, contendo os principais elementos deste último: uma preponderância das tarefas de legitimar, universalizar e naturalizar, geralmente amparadas por uma visão biologista, mas, também contém uma porção de produções críticas e engajadas com a visão das políticas de identidade e de uso do sexo. No segundo capítulo, toma-se como objeto de estudo a assexualidade, e não os assexuais. A partir de alguns artigos, da navegação por seus loci virtuais de encontro e de autores contemporâneos, apresenta-se uma possibilidade de entendimento acerca desse grupo, identificando-o como uma tribo virtual. Ademais, articulam-se as concepções de sociedade do simulacro, do espetáculo, do sujeito da aparência e da subjetividade forjada pelo trabalho imaterial, entre outras, a fim de compreender a emergência da assexualidade e a posição que ela toma nesse cenário... / Abstract: The Asexuals define themselves as people who do not experience sexual attraccion. The idea of an asexual individual brings up discussions about the political uses of sex, calls into question the epistemology of sexuality and raises debates about contemporary modes of subjectification. This thesis presents the scientific development of asexuality and outlines some understanding on the issue. The first chapter provides a detailed narrative of all the scientific writings on asexuality, covering every article and book published until now, including the early sources that somehow are related to it. These researches were compiled intending to rebuild identify and contextualize the first mentions to the idea of asexuality as well as the unfolding of the asexual's virual communities, which boosted the scientific production on this field. It is noted that the scientific production on asexuality is much like the scientific production on sexuality, rendering the main focusses of the last: the widely held task of legitimating, universalizing and naturalizing, commonly under a biological approach, but it also contains a fewer critical works, aligned with the policies of identity and uses of sex. The second chapter takes asexuality, instead of the asexual individuals, as object of study. Grounded on some articles, on the virtual sites of meeting as well as on some contemporary psychosocial theorists, a possibility of understanding about the group is presented, identifying it as a virtual tribe. Moreover, the ideas of simulacra society, spectacle society, the semblance subject and the subjectivity built over immaterial labor, amongst others, are coordinated in order to comprehend the emergency of asexuality and its position in the present, picturing it as both a form of subjectivation and of resistance. The third chapter reaches to position asexuality within the readings of Foucault's History of Sexuality... / Doutor

For many individuals, the college environment provides the context in which one develops sexual identity. To understand students’ sexual identity development, many theories exist including theories on heterosexuality, queer sexual identities, and those broadly covering all sexual identities. One commonality across these theories is the assumption that all people experience sexual attraction. For students who identify with the spectrum of asexual identities, existing theories do not account for their experiences. Moreover, in hyper-sexualized college environments entrenched in hookup culture, asexual students experience harassment and erasure. The purpose of this study is to develop a theory of asexual college students’ identity development considering the context of their collegiate environment. Having a theory of asexual students’ identity development will allow students to see their experiences represented in theory, provide a framework for student affairs professionals to develop services and resources to support asexual students, and provide theoretical contributions for further research about asexuality. This study uses qualitative inquiry to learn from participants’ stories and experiences by employing constructivist grounded theory methods. Study participants include undergraduate and graduate students who self-identify within the spectrum of asexual identities. The study acknowledges students’ multiple identities including race, gender, ability status, and romantic attraction to create a theory where diverse individuals are depicted. Two questions guide this study: 1) What is the process of asexual college student identity development? and 2) How does the college context influence asexual college students’ identity development?

Sexual reproduction is expected to facilitate the removal of deleterious mutations from populations because biparental inheritance (i.e., segregation) and recombination during meiosis break down linkage disequilibria (LD), allowing mutations to be selected independently from their genetic background. Accordingly, the absence of recombination and segregation is expected to increase selective interference between loci, translating into reduced efficacy of natural selection. While there now exist multiple lines of evidence demonstrating that asexual lineages do experience accelerated accumulation of putatively harmful mutations, whether these mutations influence phenotype in a manner that could contribute to the maintenance of sex remains almost entirely unevaluated. Here, I use the New Zealand freshwater snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, to address these questions. In particular, I take advantage of the fact that the mitochondrial genome is expected to suffer from these mutational effects and interacts extensively with the nuclear genome to evaluate potential harmful effects of mutation accumulation in asexuals on a genome-wide scale. I present evidence that harmful mutations remain extant longer in asexual populations than in sexual populations, that the degree of functional constraint determines the extent of mutation accumulation in asexuals, that there is genetic variation for mitochondrial function in asexual lineages of P. antipodarum, and that phenotypic variation for mitochondrial function is mediated by both genetic and environmental variation. Together, these analyses provide strong evidence that asexual lineages are accumulating deleterious mutations, and that there is genetic variation, structured by lake, for mitochondrial function.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-10T14:24:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-06-19. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-12-10T14:30:25Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000851866_20170619.pdf: 257973 bytes, checksum: bebafa46e100f222c5f81a7de0492c6c (MD5) Bitstreams deleted on 2017-06-19T16:12:34Z: 000851866_20170619.pdf,. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2017-06-19T16:13:19Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000851866.pdf: 977149 bytes, checksum: 6878f11a0b50f05b98d6395c5b0d3263 (MD5) / Os assexuais se definem como pessoas que não sentem atração sexual. A ideia de um sujeito assexual traz à tona discussões acerca dos usos políticos do sexo, coloca em exame as epistemologias da sexualidade e suscita debates a propósito dos modos de subjetivação contemporâneos. Nesta tese, procura-se apresentar o percurso científico da assexualidade e traçar uma compreensão sobre esse fenômeno. No primeiro capítulo, faz-se uma narrativa minuciosa de toda a produção bibliográfica sobre o tema, contemplando todos os artigos e livros publicados até o presente, bem como aquelas fontes mais antigas que se relacionavam diretamente com a assexualidade. Compilou-se essas leituras de modo a reconstruir, identificar e contextualizar as primeiras menções ao termo e os desdobramentos do surgimento das comunidades virtuais de assexuais, fato que impulsionou e justifica a atual produção acadêmica a esse respeito. Aponta-se que a produção científica sobre a assexualidade reflete em muito o campo de produção acadêmica em sexualidade, contendo os principais elementos deste último: uma preponderância das tarefas de legitimar, universalizar e naturalizar, geralmente amparadas por uma visão biologista, mas, também contém uma porção de produções críticas e engajadas com a visão das políticas de identidade e de uso do sexo. No segundo capítulo, toma-se como objeto de estudo a assexualidade, e não os assexuais. A partir de alguns artigos, da navegação por seus loci virtuais de encontro e de autores contemporâneos, apresenta-se uma possibilidade de entendimento acerca desse grupo, identificando-o como uma tribo virtual. Ademais, articulam-se as concepções de sociedade do simulacro, do espetáculo, do sujeito da aparência e da subjetividade forjada pelo trabalho imaterial, entre outras, a fim de compreender a emergência da assexualidade e a posição que ela toma nesse cenário... / The Asexuals define themselves as people who do not experience sexual attraccion. The idea of an asexual individual brings up discussions about the political uses of sex, calls into question the epistemology of sexuality and raises debates about contemporary modes of subjectification. This thesis presents the scientific development of asexuality and outlines some understanding on the issue. The first chapter provides a detailed narrative of all the scientific writings on asexuality, covering every article and book published until now, including the early sources that somehow are related to it. These researches were compiled intending to rebuild identify and contextualize the first mentions to the idea of asexuality as well as the unfolding of the asexual's virual communities, which boosted the scientific production on this field. It is noted that the scientific production on asexuality is much like the scientific production on sexuality, rendering the main focusses of the last: the widely held task of legitimating, universalizing and naturalizing, commonly under a biological approach, but it also contains a fewer critical works, aligned with the policies of identity and uses of sex. The second chapter takes asexuality, instead of the asexual individuals, as object of study. Grounded on some articles, on the virtual sites of meeting as well as on some contemporary psychosocial theorists, a possibility of understanding about the group is presented, identifying it as a virtual tribe. Moreover, the ideas of simulacra society, spectacle society, the semblance subject and the subjectivity built over immaterial labor, amongst others, are coordinated in order to comprehend the emergency of asexuality and its position in the present, picturing it as both a form of subjectivation and of resistance. The third chapter reaches to position asexuality within the readings of Foucault's History of Sexuality...

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Asexualitet som begrepp är förhållandevis outforskat och omgärdas av många frågor, varför syftet med denna uppsats varit att belysa såväl asexualitetens innebörd som upplevelsen av att vara asexuell i ett samhälle där uttryckandet av sexualiteten ses som en avgörande del av individens hälsa och välmående. Inför denna uppsats har nio självidentifierade asexuella personer i åldrarna 18 till 45 år intervjuats och vägledande frågor i arbetet är; Hur beskriver informanterna asexualiteten och dess innebörd? Hur har informanternas individuella process till att anamma begreppet asexuell sett ut? Hur upplever informanterna att omgivningen bemöter/har bemött deras asexualitet, samt vilken uppfattning upplever de att omgivningen har kring asexualitet i stort? Påverkas informanterna av den obligatoriska sexualiteten som normsystem och hur återspeglas detta i så fall i deras berättelser?Studien visar att asexualitet är ett komplext begrepp som innefattar såväl individualism som mångfald. Asexuella personer möter en misstro och ett ifrågasättande från omgivningen utifrån ett antagande om en essentiell sexualitet, vilket återspeglar den obligatoriska sexualiteten som normsystem. Informanterna efterfrågar en förståelse för asexualitetens existens och en acceptans för att behovet av sexuella uttryck ser olika ut för alla människor. Vidare framkommer parallella beskrivningar av asexualiteten, som å ena sidan medfödd och inneboende del av individen och å andra sidan som någonting rörligt och i högsta grad föränderligt, vilket kan relateras till de normer som påverkar synen på asexualitet och andra icke-sexuella uttryck. Då dessa uttryck existerar, oavsett om de beskrivs som perioder av bristande lust eller livslång asexualitet, finns det ett värde i att bredda synen på såväl sexualiteten som asexualiteten. Detta då ett breddande kan skapa bättre förutsättningar för välmående i relation till såväl asexualiteten som sexualitetens föränderlighet under livets gång. / The concept of asexuality is relatively unexplored and surrounded by many questions, why the purpose of this essay has been to illustrate the meaning of asexuality as well as the experience of being asexual in a society where expressing your sexuality is considered to be a crucial part of the individual´s health and wellbeing. In this essay interviews have been conducted with nine self identified asexual individuals, aged 18 to 45 years and indicative questions in the essay are: How do the informants describe asexuality and its meaning? What has the individual process of embracing its meaning looked like? How do the informants experience society´s approach to asexuality and what percpetion of asexuality do they feel that society has over all? Are the informants affected by the compulsory sexuality as a normative system and if so, how is this reflected in their stories?This study shows that asexualty is a complex concept that includes both individualism and diversity. Asexual individuals face distrust and questioning attitudes in society, based on assumptions of an essential sexuality, which reflect compulsory sexuality as a normative system. The informants ask for an understanding of the excistence of asexuality, as well as acceptance of the fact that the need for sexual expressions is different for all people. Furthermore the study shows parallel descriptions of asexuality as congenital and inherent, as well as something highly variable, which can be related to the norms that affect the perception of asexuality and other non-sexual expressions. These expressions exist, regardless if they are described as temporary lack of sexual desire or life-long asexuality and therefore there is a value in broadening the perception of both sexuality and asexuality. This broadening can create better conditions for wellbeing in relation both to asexuality, and sexuality as changeable during the path of life.

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