Yasmin Benoit
Yasmin Benoit, at Pride in London's You!Me!Us!We! launch at the House of St. Barnabas
Born1995/1996
Reading, Berkshire, England[1]
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Model
Modeling information
Hair colorBlack
Eye colorBrown

Yasmin Benoit (born 1995/1996) is a lingerie and alternative model in the United Kingdom. She is also an asexual activist.[2][3]

Early life

Benoit is of Trinidadian, Jamaican, and Barbadian descent.[4] She attended Reading Girls' School and Padworth College.[5] At a young age, Benoit knew she was not interested in anyone sexually or romantically.[6][7] She chose to attend an all-girls school to avoid conversations about sexual intercourse and relationships.[6][8] Benoit came across the term, asexual, in high school, but she did not identify with it until later in life.[8]

Modeling career

Benoit began modeling as a teen, and she focused on alternative fashion.[9][10]

Asexual activism

In February 2019, Benoit appeared in a Sky News documentary about asexuality.[11] In 2019, she joined the board of directors of AVEN.[12] Later that year, Attitude featured Benoit, making her the first asexual woman to be on the cover of a UK magazine.[13]

In early 2020, Benoit worked with England Unwrapped to interview asexual people.[7] The episode was originally broadcast on BBC Radio Berkshire and later published on BBC Sounds.[citation needed] In 2022, Benoit launched an asexual rights initiative - known as the Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project - in partnership with Stonewall.[14][15]

In June 2023, Benoit became the first asexual person to be a grand marshal for the NYC Pride March.[16]

Benoit was a consultant for the final season of Netflix's Sex Education. Following the release of the season, Benoit expressed disappointment that scenes involving an asexual character - especially those dealing with "the intersections of race, privilege, and acephobia" - had been cut or changed in editing.[17][18]

Recognition

In 2021, Benoit was given an Attitude Pride Award.[19] In 2022, Benoit was nominated for a British LGBT Award in the category of Online Influencer.[20]

Personal life

Benoit is asexual and aromantic,[21] and she came out in a video on YouTube in 2017.[22]

References

  1. ^ Bennett, Freya (29 March 2016). "MEET: Yasmin". Ramona Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  2. ^ "BBC Radio 1 - Radio 1's Life Hacks Podcast, Asexuality with Yasmin Benoit". BBC. 12 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Attitude becomes first magazine to put an asexual woman on the cover". The Independent. 6 December 2019.
  4. ^ Yasmin Benoit (14 April 2020). "English aromantic asexual via Trinidad, Jamaica & Barbados! Where are my Black aces at? What's your heritage?". Retrieved 6 September 2020 – via Twitter.[dead link]
  5. ^ Mackley, Elizabeth (15 December 2019). "'I just figured it would kick in': What it's really like to be asexual in Reading". Berkshire Live. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b Marsh, Stefanie (8 August 2020). "We're The Asexuals: Let's Not Get Physical". The Times. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b Boyle, Samuel (26 October 2020). "England Unwrapped - Me and my Asexuality". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b Pantony, Ali (19 February 2021). "People Think I Must be Unlovable, Fussy or Mentally Ill. Here's What it Really Means to be Asexual and Aromantic". Glamour. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Black alternative model Yasmin Benoit fights her way into the industry". Afropunk. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  10. ^ Nicholle, Taja (10 December 2018). "An interview with black alternative UK model and activist Yasmin Benoit". Punk Black. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Life without sex - what is asexuality?". Sky News. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Yasmin Benoit (2 October 2019). "I'm proud to announce that I'm officially on the Board of Directors of AVEN (@asexuality)! It's an honour to join forces with such an incredible organization. 💜 It's a pretty great way to start #BlackHistoryMonth too!". Retrieved 17 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Gallagher, Sophie (6 December 2019). "Attitude becomes first magazine to put an asexual woman on the cover". Independent. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project". Stonewall. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  15. ^ Baska, Maggie (6 April 2022). "Stonewall launches groundbreaking project to stamp out acephobia". PinkNews. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Pride profile: I will be the first asexual grand marshal at NYC's Pride March". The Independent. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  17. ^ Monteil, Abby (2 October 2023). "'Sex Education' Asexuality Consultant Says Much of the Show's Ace Storyline Was Cut". Them. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  18. ^ Iftikhar, Asyia (2 October 2023). "How Sex Education season 4 let down asexuals with the character of O". PinkNews. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  19. ^ James, Alastair (11 June 2021). "The asexual activist dispelling myths around lack of sexual attraction". Attitude. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Top 10 Online Influencers 2022". British LGBT Awards. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  21. ^ Jaffray, Chris (5 March 2019). "The + in LGBTQ+: An Interview with Yasmin Benoit, Asexual Activist and Model". The Nopebook. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  22. ^ Benoit, Yasmin (11 August 2018). "I'm Asexual, And I'm A Lingerie Model. Here's How I Balance The Two". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 23 September 2019.

External links

Asexuality
Categories