You evil gatekeeping aphobic scum.

/s

In all seriousness though I have met more than my fair share of pedophiles in the ace community. Just an example.

Damn, that's insidious! And it makes sense because kids who have a delayed puberty are the most likely to identify as "asexual". Hell, if I had been interrogated about my sexuality when I was younger than 15 I would have said "asexual" as well.

In reality, I just wasn't ready to admit my attraction to men because then I would be vulnerable up to their mocking and scorn based on my appearance.

That was certainly an issue in my teens, not anymore but the attraction still isn't there. Go figure. Actually I do feel some sort of attraction but it isn't sexual. I think.

You do you, I'm just not a fan of the split attraction model because I don't see any way in which attraction can be split into a sexual and non-sexual mode. I also have an issue with some people who claim it's no reason to worry if someone doesn't have a libido. Low or nonexistent libido can be a sign of hormonal impairment, autism, or depression and it's not something that should be glossed over.

On the other hand, the label of asexual can also be an understandable cope for women who are constantly pressured into sex by men. Men's prerogative of "pump and dump" is effectively countered by women with the labels of asexual/demisexual. These labels give women something to point to that's "out of their control" when men pressure them for sex. In reality tho, heterosexual sex fucking sucks for women unless the guy actually cares about you...which usually doesn't happen unless you've been dating for 3+ months or you're a Stacy.

Women also have it harder because men are violent, predatory, and disgusting in general so it makes sense to be wary of any attraction we feel towards them, especially when they see undesirable women as sub-human.