Yelena Belova is CONFIRMED Asexual in the comics. "I'm not anything" is a phrase I myself have used in the past and I've also heard others use it. It's an easy enough description to use.
"But nothing was said about her being Aromantic"
It's important to note here that while the split attraction model is useful especially when someone is not both Aromantic and Asexual we are NOT required to use it.
Using Asexual as our singular identity is just as valid a way to say we're not attracted to anyone. Just as Bisexual is a valid way to say that you are attracted to multiple genders.
In an interview her creator specifically said that she wasn't likely to "follow Nat's romantic path"
"But this is the MCU not the comics, things could be different"
The fact that you feel like you can say this when you would likely be up in arms if someone tried to say the same thing about a gay or lesbian character in the comics says a lot. It's aphobic and really shitty, stop it. Get over yourself and give us the same fucking respect.
"But it's only fanfiction/headcanons/ a ship what harm are we doing"
It's erasure. Erasure of an identity that's important to so many people, erasure of an identity I needed as a kid when my 10 and 11 year old classmates were kissing each other and dating, as a teen when I sat in my sex Ed class wondering why I was uninterested even as all my classmates were filled with nervous excitement.
Erasure of an identity that has practically no mainstream representation.
Representation is vital for all LGBTQIA+ identities, Asexual included, it saves lives.
And Yelena is great rep something Asexuals and especially Aromantics have been denied time and time again in mainstream media.
"Some AroAce people get in relationships"
Yes, they do but using this to justify a ship especially if you aren't aroace yourself or haven't done adequate research by talking to aroace people about their relationships. It can come across as though you think that finding your "ship" is what makes a human. This isn't the case and it dehumanises people like me.
Bottom line: please respect us and Yelena. She's already a badass.
