The Invisible Orientation

An Introduction to Asexuality

De: Julie Sondra Decker

Narrado por: Reay Kaplan

What if you weren't sexually attracted to anyone?

A growing number of people are identifying as asexual. They aren't sexually attracted to anyone, and they consider it a sexual orientation - like gay, straight, or bisexual.

Asexuality is the invisible orientation. Most people believe that "everyone" wants sex, that "everyone" understands what it means to be attracted to other people, and that "everyone" wants to date and mate. But that's where asexual people are left out - they don't find other people sexually attractive, and if and when they say so, they are very rarely treated as though that's okay.

When an asexual person comes out, alarming reactions regularly follow; loved ones fear that an asexual person is sick, or psychologically warped, or suffering from abuse. Critics confront asexual people with accusations of following a fad, hiding homosexuality, or making excuses for romantic failures. And all of this contributes to a discouraging master narrative: there is no such thing as "asexual". Being an asexual person is a lie or an illness, and it needs to be fixed.

In The Invisible Orientation, Julie Sondra Decker outlines what asexuality is, counters misconceptions, provides resources, and puts asexual people's experiences in context as they move through a very sexualized world. It includes information for asexual people to help understand their orientation and what it means for their relationships, as well as tips and facts for those who want to understand their asexual friends and loved ones.

©2014 Julie Sondra Decker (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Awareness is Helpful

Highly repetitive, but it gets the point across.

I’d recommend this to anyone looking to learn more.

Good informative writing, not the best narrator

Great writing about asexuality and what that means, but the last half hour or so is just a ton of websites and things read mechanically. I understand they're resources which can and should be spread, I just don't know why they couldn't have made an accompanying PDF for those.
Other than that, I really loved this, and will likely be sending it to friends and family if/when I come out.

Eye Opening

Wonderful, eye opening information and beautiful narration. Thank you for creating something so meaningful and special for Aces and their allies.

Asexual manifesto

I liked the unwavering advocacy for asexuals. All situations and arguments are addressed. It’s a very thorough analysis of asexuality. Also a guidebook for how to come out as asexual.
The narrator sounded like they were just reading for parts of it, and it seemed a bit repetitive. Granted, they were reading, and there’s not a unifying story, so nothing to act out. But it sounded boringly academic at times.

Pronunciation grates on my nerves

I couldnt finish this book after hearing the narrators pronunciation of mature. I cannot take seriously someone who says ma-tyor and not ma-choor. Might be a silly reason to stop a book...but this has grated on my ears for years.