Sex-averse is a term that is used most commonly by asexual and other ace-spec individuals to indicate that they find the idea of personally engaging in sexual activity undesirable, uninteresting, uncomfortable, or otherwise unwanted. These feelings towards personally engaging in sex can range from dislike or discomfort to intense fear or disgust, but sex-averse people aren't repulsed by the idea of sex in general. They don't mind others engaging in sexual activity or sexual discussion. They themselves may enjoy discussing sexual topics, telling sexual jokes, or consuming sexual media. For some people, the sex-aversion only applies to the act of intercourse; for others, the aversion may extend to other sexual acts. Some people may experience varying levels of sex-aversion.
Some people use sex-aversion and sex-repulsion interchangably, but they are distinct despite their overlap. Sex-aversion specifically refers to negative feelings regarding the idea of oneself being in a sexual situation. Aversion to the idea of sex in general would fall under sex-repulsion. Repulsion also has the association of stronger negative feelings like fear or disgust, or physical reactions like cringing, shaking, pain, or nausea.
Sex-aversion can overlap with sex-ambivalence since one's feelings about sex changes depending on whether or not they are involved. One's feelings towards sex in contexts not involving oneself may reflect indifference or favorablility.
Someone who is sex-averse may identify as apothisexual, ARCsexual, or discarnal. Sex-aversion is also common for aegosexuals.
Flag
Sex-aversion shares its original flag with sex-repulsion. It was created on January 15, 2018 by Tumblr user beyond-mogai-pride-flags.[1]
Two flag edits were created on March 19, 2021 by wikia user Smollishbean. One features a circled dash, a special defined operation similar to subtraction, representing the similarity to sex-repulsion. It can also be interpreted as being a mix of the repulsed and indifferent pride flags. Another flag features a single tilde, showing similarity to sex-ambivalence. It can also be interpreted as a mix of the repulsed and ambivalent pride flags.