Autosexual is when one experiences sexual attraction primarily or exclusively towards themself; and can occur in many forms as follows:
- Having a hard time responding to someone's sexual touch, but being able to or is comfortable with self pleasing like masturbation.
- Feeling little or no attraction to others sexually but feeling attraction to yourself.
- Fantasizing about sexual interaction with yourself.
The romantic counterpart to autosexual is autoromantic.
History
Autosexual was first used as a very specific term used by Bernard Apfelbaum, a PHD graduate in clinical psychology in his work on the book "Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy", he considered it as a sexual abnormality. Often autosexuals do not seek out sexual relationships as it is simply a way of life and how they feel about others, it is strictly the attraction to yourself and is not a psychological or sexual abnormality.
Autosexuality was once considered to be a narcissistic trait and selfish/selfcentered, but more recently has been concluded that anyone can be autosexual, regardless of personality or mental health. Typically autosexual has been represented to portray narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths in different types of media therefore giving it negative connotations.
Being autosexual vs narcissism
Many people confuse narcissism with autosexuality, however, the differences, as Dr. McGowan explains; "Autosexuals are more comfortable sexually when in their own company, while narcissists crave attention. Autosexuality is also not likely to be associated with a lack of empathy or desire to give others pleasure – sexually or otherwise – but rather a preference towards a private and personal sexual experience."
In summary, while narcissism is a self obsession that causes harm to others and oneself, autosexuality is harmless in the sense that one does not put oneself above others, and it is not a mental abnormality.
Flag
The first flag was made by a user going by aturinfortheworse on an unspecified site. They had a meaning for the flag originally, but forgot it.
The second flag was coined by a user going by Anamika on November 21st, 2020. It is based off the original flags colors. The shades of blue stand for self compassion and self care, the heart stands for self love, and the grey stands for the ace-spec category.
Etyomology
The prefix comes from the Greek term 'auto', meaning 'self'.