I’m not sure if I’m fit to answer this. I’m demisexual, which is considered to be on the asexual spectrum.
The answer for me is no. I smile awkwardly at everyone. I can tell when someone is traditionally attractive but I just feel nothing. I become nervous if it seems like they’re up to something or are emotionally unstable or they have a lot of power over me or if I feel that other people are watching my interaction and judging me. Sometimes I get nervous cause I have those intrusive thoughts like “bite their nose, imagine biting their nose!” Similar to when your driving and you think “swerve into incoming traffic!”
I tend to mentally categorize people as cartoon caricatures in my head and there are certain caricatures I tend to like more because they match with caricatures from media. When I meet someone that matches a caricature architype I like, I think that’s as close as I come to finding someone attractive without knowing them, but I don’t act any differently when around them.
There was one time where I did feel instantly ‘attracted’ to someone. It was the strangest thing, I saw them and somehow got this intense and assured feeling that they would be an important part of my life. (She’s my SO of 12 years now.) I didn’t smile awkwardly (more than usual) at her or feel nervous. I just spoke to her as normal and then 2 years later I told her that I believe we would make a good couple due to several factors like political beliefs. It was not very romantic in hindsight. More like a scientific conjecture lol.
I hope that meandering ramble helps answer your question.
I’m not sure if I’m fit to answer this. I’m demisexual, which is considered to be on the asexual spectrum.
The answer for me is no. I smile awkwardly at everyone. I can tell when someone is traditionally attractive but I just feel nothing. I become nervous if it seems like they’re up to something or are emotionally unstable or they have a lot of power over me or if I feel that other people are watching my interaction and judging me. Sometimes I get nervous cause I have those intrusive thoughts like “bite their nose, imagine biting their nose!” Similar to when your driving and you think “swerve into incoming traffic!”
I tend to mentally categorize people as cartoon caricatures in my head and there are certain caricatures I tend to like more because they match with caricatures from media. When I meet someone that matches a caricature architype I like, I think that’s as close as I come to finding someone attractive without knowing them, but I don’t act any differently when around them.
There was one time where I did feel instantly ‘attracted’ to someone. It was the strangest thing, I saw them and somehow got this intense and assured feeling that they would be an important part of my life. (She’s my SO of 12 years now.) I didn’t smile awkwardly (more than usual) at her or feel nervous. I just spoke to her as normal and then 2 years later I told her that I believe we would make a good couple due to several factors like political beliefs. It was not very romantic in hindsight. More like a scientific conjecture lol.
I hope that meandering ramble helps answer your question.