do you ever think about how the ace community could have been a great tool for creating a dialogue about rape culture, normalizing the lack of sexual attraction/experience for young adults (especially in a world where we have media created by adult men that consistently sexualizes teenagers, especially teenage girls), or talking about how it’s okay for trauma survivors to just stop feeling attraction or the need to act on it
but instead it’s focused all of its efforts on TRYING to otherize themselves–insisting that it’s “normal” to experience sexual attraction (and frequently/intensely) and that they’re effectively different and oppressed for not doing that “correctly.” even though a significant amount of the population doesn’t feel sexual attraction frequently and has sex even less frequently.
the ace community has decided to focus on earning their LGBT+ Badge (which you can’t do, i’m sorry, you can’t) because getting attention and being considered different is more important than it is actually helping and normalizing a life without sexual interest or activity (because we need to be honest here–the things you guys all focus on are the repercussions to not wanting to have sex, not lacking sexual attraction).
you’ll play lip service to the topics listed above–quick and easy posts screaming “your valid” at any type of ace person (”sexual assault victims who end up being ace are valid!!” or “if you don’t want sex YOU. ARE. VALID.”) or maybe whining “if you just called us LGBT, we could focus on these issues!!”–but you never actually fucking do anything about it.
i don’t see people raising money for charities and programs meant to help sexual assault victims. i don’t see you guys suggesting ace friendly therapists or talking /at length/ about how sometimes you are ace because of your mental illness and that’s okay. i don’t see y’all talking about the pressure teenagers feel to have sex is a pressure all teens feel and how regardless of whether or not you experience sexual attraction, that isn’t okay and it’s not normal to think every 16 year old out there is having sex or even wants it. it’s not okay that adults are creating a culture that pressures teenagers into sex.
you’ve put all your fucking effort into pretending like wanting/liking/having sex and experiencing sexual attraction is normal/frequent for everyone else which is so fucking counterproductive for your cause–combating a simultaneously sexualizing and sex shaming society–that you’ve lost the plot entirely. you’re contributing to the very ideals the ace community should be putting to rest and in the process you’re sexualizing vulnerable groups (teens, people of color, women, survivors, and LGBT+ folk just to start).
the ace community has proven that in its quest to be considered oppressed and “gay enough” for the LGBT community (and yes I am writing “gay enough” sarcastically) it has caused more harm than good.
it cares more about lettings cishets know that they can sit at the Cool Kids Table than it does about saving its own vulnerable members, thus throwing two communities under the bus:
its own and the lgbt community.
this is the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face and this needs to be fixed before any important dialogue can happen
