Look around you. Statistics indicate that 20 percent of everyone you see is asexual. There's almost no way to distinguish them from the rest of the world.
These men and women have forced themselves to blend in so well that no one can really be sure of how many asexuals one knows. They try, indeed desperately so, to participate in class discussions on neo-Freudian interpretations of Shakespeare, or smile politely at the lewd jokes heard at work, or intelligently discuss the problems facing homosexual bath houses, anything to fit into today's sex-obsessed culture, when deep-down, the truth is they don't care.
But they must hide all the same, for in this society, divided according to one's bed partners, no room has been made for those who sleep alone.
For a long time, asexuality was quietly tolerated, allowed to exist only in isolated religious communities. But as monks and nuns began establishing schools, society recoiled, fearing that their true objective was to recruit the youth into their so-called twisted life-style.
Nowadays, Catholic priests, the only true asexuals, are under fire, accused of molesting children, engaging in illicit affairs with both men and women, and God-only-knows how many other depraved acts. All this because society does not want to accept the possibility of asexuality or the celibacy in which it manifests itself.
No incident in recent memory better exemplifies this antipathy towards asexuals than the vicious treatment of that paragon of androgyny, Michael Jackson. Unable to accept the celibate life-style of this prominent asexual, the sex-starved press projected their own sick obsessions onto the poor man, inferring that he had to have some sort of outlet for his 'pent-up' sexual desires, i.e. the little boys and girls he's tried so hard to help.
The suffering that man endured to satisfy the hate-vultures stands as one of the ugliest moments in society's history. It was a battle which Jackson could not win: either he 'accept' his powerful sex-drive by admitting he molested those children, or advertise to the world that he, in fact, feels no such feelings, and be branded inhuman.
The trauma so scarred him that he began to believe that he was somehow lacking, and in an effort to 'prove' his sexuality, and, consequently, his humanity, forced himself into a ill-fated union with Lisa-Marie Presley.
If the marriage had been for any other reason, would the two have felt obliged to announce on national television that they did 'the dirty'? The conflict was apparent even in Jackson's musical endeavors, in which he presented a sexy, angry persona, trying desperately to become what society said he should be.
But from the outset the effort rang false, and one sensed that when he reached out for Presley, he would much rather have been reaching down for himself. Far from the vulgar sexuality of Madonna, Jackson's crotch-grabs were the signs of a childlike desire for comfort, a wistful longing for a simpler existence. That simplicity is now gone, leaving only the pain of rejection and self-denial.
The asexuals of the world must now rise up against such gross insensitivity. They must claim their life-style not as an abstract religious concept or, even worse, a condition in need of medical treatment, but as part of the human condition. Scientific studies could surely enlighten the mystery of human asexuality, but as of yet no research has been done. Why has this vital subject been so long ignored by the scientific community? Simple: because society at large fears what it might find out -- that man and fern are not so different after all.
The time has come for asexuals to come out to the world and take pride in their.
This pride will only come, however, when the academic community gives them the recognition they deserve. Acknowledging the significant contributions asexuals have made to Western culture, universities must offer courses and eventually major and minor programs in asexual studies.
Along these lines, colleges should actively recruit asexual professors who will serve as counselors and role models for their students. Support groups need to be established to help those young men and women who feel inclined towards the celibate life develop a positive self-image.
These young people also need a room of their own, free from the pressures that copulative society places on them. As such, a residence hall must be created in which asexual concerns are a focus and residents promise to respect the basic principles of celibacy.
Asexuals have much to offer to the world. It is time for the silence to end. They should no longer be ashamed of their inexperience but, even in the face of condom advertisements and Madonna videos, become Virgin Positive. Leaders of asexual groups should be appointed to all major policy-making bodies, in order to offer their unique outlook and foster asexual awareness and understanding. They need to come out and advertise that they are not copulating, and are proud. And if they refuse, then other, braver asexuals must do so for them.
The asexual community must not allow those who believe that their private life should remain private to inhibit the creation of a viable asexual culture.
Asexuals must brand themselves, wear white badges that announce exactly what they do not do in the bedroom, and how asexuality defines their very being. For only then, when humanity has been appropriately divided up, and all people feel comfortable announcing the most fundamental truths of their existence to the world, will we truly be free.
