Keke Palmer says she’s ‘not that sexual’ and that’s a conversation worth having

Keke Palmer’s candor about asexuality, attraction, and connection creates space for people who don’t see themselves reflected in a hypersexualized culture.
It is often said that “sex sells.” And as culture continues to prove that promiscuity does oftentimes lead to profit and or boost in attention, there is a tendency to oversimplify the experiences of those who do not fully align with that idea.
Recently, during an appearance on the “Tea Time” podcast co-hosted by Raven Symoné and her wife Miranda, Keke Palmer revealed that she’s not “that sexual.” So much so that she previously classified herself as asexual, a term used to describe the sexual orientation of a person who experiences little to no sexual attraction to other people. 
“When I said that, I was totally joking. No shade to asexuals out there,” Palmer said, clarifying that she no longer identifies with the asexual label. “What I was ultimately saying was that I don’t feel as sexual as the world is saying is normal. And maybe that is asexual, I don’t know, it’s like, I’m not that sexual.”
Going on to explain how her attraction to people is often triggered by mental stimulation, she explained: “I could talk to somebody when I feel that we have a vibe, then I feel that side of me that can be sensual start to say, ‘Maybe I could, maybe this could happen here.’ But I’m naturally kind of like awkward in that scenario, like, because sex can be so performative.”
“Once the relationship is mentally not stimulating and things come crashing down, I don’t feel sexual,” she explained. “I see you as an inanimate object. Like, I’m not connected.”
The actress, who hasn’t been seen in a public relationship, made her asexual declaration in an Instagram post reflecting on her non-romantic Valentine’s Day. 
“How was your Valentine’s Day? I spent mine with my mom, sister and son. Then went to a colleague’s smashing birthday bash…Absolutely nothing romantic went down, crazy right! I’m so cute! But I like no one and I’m almost 100% sure I’m asexual,” she wrote at the time. “I have no interest in anyone, but I wish I did!” 
While the “Boosters” star has become known among fans and social media users for her charming candor, she goes on to tell Symoné how she sometimes struggles with the vulnerability associated with intimacy. 
“There is a version of me that’s very, very vulnerable, but when it comes to maybe these other interpersonal things, I think there could maybe be some difficulty there because I haven’t had a lot of work with it,” she noted. “You know, I grew up in front of the camera, so my vulnerability was on the scale of the masses. It was a public vulnerability. It’s really easy for me to put myself on the line in front of a bunch of people because I have that relationship that I’ve worked with for years.”
“I think the biggest problem is how to stay connected to people when we’re in such a transactional world. It is so easy to just get hopeless in terms of how to make genuine connections, whether they’re romantic or platonic, how to not feel that it’s safer just being alone,” she concluded. 
Experts have long explained sexuality as a spectrum, and through the years, audiences have been exposed to homosexual, heterosexual, and bisexual relationships, but very few stars, especially Black stars, have opened up about being asexual. Now, regardless of whether or not Palmer identifies with that label is her choice, but listening to the conversation between the two former Disney stars creates what feels like a rare space in a hypersexualized society that rarely creates space for those who experience intimacy on another level.
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