a form of acephobia i see a lot is this idea that asexuals and asexuality are inherently or uniquely dangerous or regressive. people will rarely say this outright, but the implication is constant.
asexuals are seen as more prone to holding politically sex negative views than people of other sexualities. we are told we have to be careful because our sexuality predisposes us to regressive ideas about sex. this lens shapes how people interact with us and interpret the things we say. if two people say the exact same thing, but only one mentions being asexual, the asexual is more likely to be interpreted in bad faith, publicly ridiculed, and have their point discounted entirely. we are not allowed to talk about sex the same way other people are. any personal aversion or repulsion we have to sexual content is read as judginess and a call for censorship, regardless of how it's expressed. any societal critique we have of compulsory sexuality or allonormativity is read as puritanism and an enforcement of purity culture, regardless of what we actually said or believe.
intersectional asexuality is seen as harmful to allosexuals who share our other identities. this is especially common with disabled aces, autistic aces, and aces of color. because asexuality is not viewed as a real sexuality with the same amount of sexual agency as every other sexuality, it's seen as inherently desexualizing. essentially, asexuality is seen as synonymous with not having sex, and not having sex is not seen as a valid expression of sexual agency. thus, intersectional asexuality is a negative; in media, it's bad representation. the real people at these intersections are unimportant, we are outliers, we are stereotypes, and we need to wait until there is enough "good" rep to offset our existence.
speaking of representation, asexual representation is seen as inherently less important or meaningful as other queer representation. our queerness is lesser. a character being gay and asexual is seen as more palatable to homophobes, because asexuality dilutes gayness.
a pattern you'll notice is the refusal to see asexuality as a real sexuality. it is, at best, a modifier, or a weird quirk some people have. maybe it's a preference or a political viewpoint. in any case, it's an empty vessel onto which one can project any views of sex they find distasteful. asexuals are not real people, we are not important, our experiences don't matter, and our sexuality certainly is not a real sexuality that should be fully considered as part of the human experience. it is dangerous, and we are dangerous, and we have to be small and quiet and careful to make up for that. we are expected to be allies for everyone else, but no one is expected to be our ally. after all, we wouldn't want to take any space or resources away from the real people who really matter, would we?
izzy806
yousharknotpass
discoholicmusic
andulkaphoto
