Asexuality and the sexuality dispositif: biopower, sexual normativity and the limits of health

Abstract

This article analyzes the effects of the medicalization of sexuality on asexual people, understanding them as outcomes of the sexuality aqui é correto dispositif que é um nome, é uma palavra francesa, mas se usa assim em inglês, dispositive é um adjetivo . The research was conducted through virtual ethnography in an online community, in-person observations, and semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis identified four categories: sex as a norm and foundation of life; pathologization and symbolic violence in healthcare; biomedicine as a normative device; and resistance, activism, and meaningmaking. The findings show that the absence of sexual desire is often interpreted as dysfunction, reinforcing cis-heteronormative standards in clinical settings. Healthcare professionals tend to delegitimize asexual identity, causing embarrassment, misdiagnoses, and silencing practices. On the other hand, digital spaces emerge as territories of resistance, where narratives of recognition and collective care are constructed. It is concluded that the pathologization of asexuality is upheld by exclusionary biomedical epistemologies, highlighting the urgency of critical professional training and the development of health policies that affirm sexual diversity as a legitimate expression of humanity.