Knee-Deep In The Discourse

Here’s why Chappell Roan fans are asking if she’s demisexual

Chappell Roan’s music is undeniably sex-forward, but in a recently resurfaced clip, the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer herself discussed her complicated feelings toward sex, including how she relates to demisexuality.

On a year-old episode of the podcast We’re Having Gay Sex, Roan explained why she connects with demisexuality, which means not experiencing sexual attraction to someone until you’ve formed an emotional connection.

“I’m pretty turned off if someone is coming really hard onto me. I think it’s called demisexual when you have to have a really foundational relationship with them and then you start getting feelings,” Roan said around the 37-minute mark of the episode. “I’m very much like that.”

Later in the podcast, Roan returned to the topic, saying she wished that she were comfortable with casual hook-ups.

“I don’t want being demisexual. I wish I liked having flings,” she said around the 40-minute mark. “The thought of a one-night stand makes me really — like, the anxiety it gives me is f*cking crazy.”

Roan also discussed the contrast between her personal sex life and what she sings about in her music: songs like “Red Wine Supernova” and “Femininomenon” are all about the joys of queer sex, but Roan said they come from a place of performance art and embracing her stage persona, rather than her own feelings when she’s not in character.

“It’s super interesting because my project is very sexually forward. There’s a lot of sexual themes, queer sex in a lot of the songs on the album, the visuals. That is the character of Chappell. That is very much the performance art of it,” Roan said. “But I think I still have that Christian guilt vibe about sex in real life, not so much in my project. But I wish I could have flings and hook up with girls and it would just be a fun thing, but it’s so not for me, and I wish it was.”

With that podcast making the rounds in the Chappell Roan fandom, lots of asexual and demisexual folks were rejoicing to see their idol providing some much-need representation to the often misunderstood identity.

But fans also don’t want to jump to conclusions. Not only is that podcast episode more than a year old, but Roan never explicitly says she’s demisexual during it. Rather, she talks about her relationship to casual sex and compares it to demisexuality. She very well could be demisexual — but folks are pointing out that it’s important not to put labels on folks before they claim them.

So, is Chappell Roan demisexual? She hasn’t definitively said one way or the other — and with matters of identity, it’s always best to wait and let folks speak for themselves.

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