#aceerasure

[agnesgoesadventuring-blog]

Your vaxleth post is so bad. Yes bisexuals dont become "straight" at any moment but saying "heterosexual relationship" at no point in the real world means "both people are necessarely het" it literally just means "a man and a woman in a relationship". Also the "-sexual" has never been exclusively about sexual attraction (thats a mogai fabrication, as the sam cant be expanded to non-ace people) it has always been about the genders one is attracted to. Also one can be both ace and het too.

The fact that you think that this is about shipping demonstrates that you pretty much missed the point from the beginning. 

In the “real world” there’s a prevalent perception of bisexuality as “fake”, as a phase, that bisexual people are selfish, or that they just can’t make up their mind, or they just need to find the right person. This is a perception that exists both among people outside of the queer community and inside of the queer community. Those perceptions don’t come from nowhere, and mislabeling the relationships bisexual people are in as “het” when they’re with a person of a different gender perpetuates those ideas. 

Some argument of “but this is what these words are accepted to mean” doesn’t actually contradict this discussion because that’s the whole point. There’s a popular and accepted usage of these words within our community and society, and that popular and accepted usage is inaccurate, harmful, and erases bisexual experiences in ways that lead to exclusion and discrimination. 

And yes, the suffix of “-sexual” is exclusively about sexual attraction, speaking both in a more clinical sense and in the more modern language within the queer community. That’s why we have terms that separate the way someone experiences sexual attraction and the way someone experiences romantic attraction. A person cannot be asexual and heterosexual. They can be asexual and heteromantic. A person cannot be bisexual and homosexual. They can be bisexual and homoromantic. And yes, the “-sexual” suffix being used to describe how people experience sexual attraction can and does apply to asexuals, as “asexuality” is a term that describes the fact that we don’t experience sexual attraction.

[laughy-sapphy-is-embarrassed]

Why Ace erasure is a problem in Riverdale

I watched Riverdale and I have to say, I’m disappointed. Not in the plot or the actors, both were great (although, I’m pretty sure you can’t get casts wet, Archie) I am disappointed by the fact that Jughead Jones is not Asexual.

I am an asexual, agender, fifteen year old from the mid west. So I, obviously, only have a few people who realize how awful that is. When I realized I was ace I thought I was broken, I wanted nothing more than to be “normal” to be the straight, white, cis girl that is in every show on every network. But I’m not, and I can’t be. I tried. Ace people in the media, which is not often, are portrayed this way, as broken. I am not that person anymore and I don’t think I ever would’ve been had I seen a positive portrayal of what I am. Of what several million people around the world are.

I have seen maybe two ace people in the media. Two. Compared to the thousands of shows about straight white men that I see on a daily basis. I was excited when I heard that Jughead might be ace. I was severely let down when he was not. I watch people who I can’t identify with play parts in movies and tv shows all of the time. I just wanted this one. This one positive portrayal of someone who didn’t feel bad about being ace, someone who knew that he’s not broken, Someone who could’ve been exactly what I needed, what so many people needed, to tell them that it isn’t wrong to be ace.

I am not surprised though, I think I’d have been more surprised if he was. That’s the worst part. That ace erasure isn’t surprising or unexpected, it’s a common recurrence. It happens every single time something is released about the LGBT+ community and the word asexual is nowhere to be found. It happens every time you think a character might actually be ace, only for them to prove you wrong. It happens every single day when I flip through the channels on tv and never see a show with an ace character.

I am thankful for Cole Sprouse, who believes that ace exposure is important. I don’t think that taking away Jughead’s asexuality was the right call. I absolutely loved the show but how many more times does this have to happen? How many more times do ace people have to sit behind the scenes, acting like we don’t exist? There is still a chance for Jughead, and I desperately want him to be ace and proud but I’m just a teenager from the midwest, I have no control over this, not alone.