Asexuality: Encyclopedia II - Asexuality - Asexuality in fiction

Asexuality - Asexuality in fiction

Perhaps the earliest example of an asexual character can be found in Hippolytus, who shuns all women and devotes his life to chastity.

In fiction, John Braine's novel The Jealous God (1964) is a good example of sex mainly seen as a sin. On the other hand, in his science fiction novel Distress (1995), Greg Egan imagines a 22nd century world where "asex" is one out of seven acknowledged gender settings. To quote from Distress:

An example of a sympathetically presented asexual character in science fiction is Aghora, one of Alejandro Jodorowsky's Metabarons, who is not only asexual but also a transman.

Samuel R. Delany's 1969 short story "Aye, and Gomorrah..." depicts a society where astronauts become sexless because cosmic radiation renders their reproductive organs useless.

Ryan A. Morgan's 1997 novel John-Jack Christian tells about a teenager struggling to deal with his asexuality in a normal teenage environment, before resorting to bodybuilding to keep himself sane.

In the original Doctor Who television series (1963–1989), the Doctor was almost always depicted as asexual despite his regular stream of attractive young female companions. Since the First Doctor's first companion, Susan Foreman, was introduced as his grandaughter, it is often assumed, but never confirmed, that the Doctor was at one time in his early life married with children. The 1996 Doctor Who television movie caused some controversy among Doctor Who fans by having the Eighth Doctor kiss his companion Grace. In the new series (2005–), the Doctor is occasionally flirtatious, and has a romantically tinged relationship with his companion Rose Tyler. See also The Doctor and romance.

In the K. Sandra Fuhr's online strips Boy Meets Boy (ended) and Friendly Hostility (ongoing), the cynical Collin Sri'Vastra claims to be asexual. He later forms a relationship with his best friend Kailen "Fox" Maharassa, but his romantic/affectionate levels appear to be rather low, at least at the beginning.

One of the central characters of Isabel Allende's The House of Spirits, Clara, could be construed as asexual. In her later years, she expresses a lack of interest in coitus, commenting that it only makes her bones ache.

The eponymous central character in Kurt Vonnegut's Deadeye Dick is asexual due to childhood trauma.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Asexuality in fiction", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki