What Does Asexuality Teach Us About Sexual Disinterest? Recommendations for Health Professionals Based on a Qualitative Study With Asexually Identified People.

This article draws on qualitative in-depth interviews with 30 asexually identified individuals living in the United States in order to contribute to our understanding of when low sexual desire should be treated as a medical or mental health issue and when it should be treated as a benign sexual variation. The article discusses five findings of relevance to health professionals: (1) the line between a desire disorder and asexuality is not clear-cut; (2) asexually identified individuals may experience distress, so distress alone does not separate a desire disorder from asexuality; (3) asexually identified individuals may face sexual pressure from a partner or may have difficulty negotiating sexual activity with a partner; (4) asexuality does not need to be distressing, rather it can be experienced as a fulfilling form of sexuality; and (5) many asexually identified individuals believe in the usefulness of low sexual desire as a diagnostic category and support medical and mental health professionals in their efforts to develop treatments for sexual desire disorders. Based on these five findings, this article offers four concrete suggestions for health professionals working with clients with low sexual desire, whether or not those clients identify as asexual.

Picturing space for lesbian nonsexualities: rethinking sex-normative commitments through The Kids Are All Right (2010).

This article examines representations of lesbian nonsexuality in the film The Kids Are All Right and in responses to the film by feminist and queer scholars. In some moments, the film offers a limited endorsement of lesbian nonsexuality, placing pressure on the category lesbian to include nonsexuality and asexuality. However, in their responses to the film, many feminist and queer scholars rejected nonsexuality as an aspect of lesbian experience, placing pressure on the category lesbian to exclude nonsexual and asexual women. Asexual activism challenges scholars to question their sex-normative commitments and to keep the category lesbian open and flexible.

"And Now I'm Just Different, but There's Nothing Actually Wrong With Me": Asexual Marginalization and Resistance.

This article explores the relationship between contemporary asexual lives and compulsory sexuality, or the privileging of sexuality and the marginalizing of nonsexuality. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews, I identify four ways the asexually identified individuals in this study saw themselves as affected by compulsory sexuality: pathologization, isolation, unwanted sex and relationship conflict, and the denial of epistemic authority. I also identify five ways these asexually identified individuals disrupted compulsory sexuality: adopting a language of difference and a capacity to describe asexuality; deemphasizing the importance of sexuality in human life; developing new types of nonsexual relationships; constituting asexuality as a sexual orientation or identity; and engaging in community building and outreach. I argue that some of these practices offer only a limited disruption of compulsory sexuality, but some of these practices pose a radical challenge to sexual norms by calling into question the widespread assumption that sexuality is a necessary part of human flourishing.

"Screw health": representations of sex as a health-promoting activity in medical and popular literature.

Recently, scientific and popular press articles have begun to represent sex as a health-promoting activity. A number of scientific studies have identified possible health benefits of sexual activity, including increased lifespan and decreased risk of certain types of cancers. These scientific findings have been widely reported on in the popular press. This "sex for health" discourse claims that sexual activity leads to quantifiable physical and mental health benefits in areas not directly related to sexuality. Analyzing this discourse provides an opportunity to better understand both broader health promotion discourses and current norms and anxieties about sexuality. In this article, I place this "sex for health" discourse within the context of broader health promotion discourses and within the context of a number of historical and contemporary discourses connecting health and sexuality. I argue that although the "sex for health" discourse may serve to de-stigmatize sexual activity for some, it may also increase pressure on others to be sexually active and may further pathologize sexual "dysfunction." In addition, these representations often serve to further privilege a normative form of sexual behavior - coitus in the context of a monogamous heterosexual partnership - at the expense of non-normative sexual desires, identities, and practices.

The need for care coordination among children with special health care needs in Illinois.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were: 1) to estimate the need for care coordination among children with special health care needs (CSHCN) in Illinois, 2) to assess the need for care coordination among CSHCN in Illinois by sociodemographic, condition-related, and access to care factors, and 3) to discuss approaches for meeting the need for care coordination. METHODS: The study included 745 Illinois families interviewed as part of the State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS) of CSHCN. Classifying families of CSHCN as needing care coordination was based on three survey questions. The prevalence of the need for care coordination among CSHCN in Illinois was examined overall and by sociodemographic characteristics, descriptors of the child's health condition, and measures of access to services. Multivariable modeling was carried out to jointly assess these factors and the need for care coordination. RESULTS: In Illinois, 25.2% of CSHCN families reported a need for care coordination. Condition severity, need for supplementary/ancillary services, lack of insurance coverage and inadequate communication among providers were significantly associated with the need for care coordination (OR = 1.14, OR = 1.72, OR = 2.45, and OR = 3.08, respectively). Having a primary care provider/medical home was not associated with the need for care coordination in multivariable analysis. CONCLUSION: Coordination of health services is important for all children and all adults, but it is particularly important for children with special health care needs. The variation in the need for care coordination both within and across states underscores the need for flexibility in program and policy development for CSHCN.