An article about the Asexual Manifesto that links you to a transcript
An article about Asexuality's history
[Image ID: 14 digitally drawn pictures with the same white to purple gradient. An ace of spades decorates the two bottom corners.
Image 1: "It's Ace Week" is written in big letters on top of the asexual flag (black - grey - white - purple). A cartoon character with short brown hair, white skin, purple cheeks and a stripped shirt is presenting the slides. They say: "From october 23 until october 29 (2022)! And I'm going to talk about SEX in an educative way"
Image 2: A question is written at the top: What does it mean to be ace? The character answers with this: "Asexuality is actually a complicated spectrum and not a simple yes/no. You may see the words "aspec", "acespec", or "asexual spectrum" used to describe it. In general, you can define asexuality as not experiencing sexual attraction, or experiencing it unusually."
Image 3: A question is written at the top: What is sexual attraction? The character looks unsure, and answers with: "That's a question I can't answer, because I've never experienced it. It would be like asking a blind person what colours are like: we don't know. I can repeat what I've been told: It's a desire for sexual intimacy with another person"
Image 4: The character is looking confused in the middle. A text above them reads: "It's actually really weird to find out people are not joking or hyperboling when talking about sex and such—". Some thoughts are around the character: "oh that was a sex joke", "you mean that the naked lady yogurt ads actually WORK?", "wait that was a metaphor for sex?", and "so sexy actually means you want to have sex with them??"
Image 5: A title above reads: "The Hunger Analogy". Below is a text explaining that "It's a good way of explaining how it all works in a way that everyone understand!". The following associations are made: Sex = Food ; Sexual attraction = Hunger ; Libido = Appetite ; Genitalia = Digestive System ; Kinks = Flavours. The character is below the text, presenting it.
Image 6: A title above reads: "Some examples of how it can present:". Four simple characters are drawn to present specific examples. The first character is making a cross (X shape) with their arms and says: "I'm never hungry and thinking about food makes me sick". Below them is written "(aka ace and sex repulsed)". The second character is shrugging and says: "I'm never hungry but I don't mind eating sometimes". Below is written "(aka ace and sex indifferent)". The third character is holding a fork and a knife, and says "I'm never hungry but I enjoy eating!". Below is written "(aka ace and sex favourable)". The fourth character has their arms on their hips and says "I only get hungry in specific circumstances". Below is written "(aka grey ace)". At the bottom of the image is written: "This can apply no matter your appetite (libido)!"
Image 7: A title reads: "Let's talk about Libido." and the text below is "As said before, it's the sexual 'appetite'. It's influenced by hormones and is different from person to person. Liking to masturbate, watch porn, read smut, or fantasize about sex doesn't make someone any less ace! It's just what's necessary to deal with libido." On the side, the cartoon character has a deep blush, a confused expression, and red strokes around their head. They're saying "WTF" while a text above them reads "(And it randomly hits you with the 'horny' status effect)".
Image 8: A question is written at the top: "What about Romance?". A text below answers with: "Asexuality is particular because it relies on the SAM: The Split Attraction Model. It's a neat tool and everyone can use it!". Two arrows split from the word "attraction" to point towards "romantic" and "sexual" respectually. Beneath one is written "Aromantic ; Heteromantic ; Biromantic ; Homoromantic ; Panromantic ; etc." and beneath the other is written "Asexual ; Homosexual ; Bisexual ; Heterosexual ; Pansexual ; etc." The cartoon character is standing between the two list of words and excitedly saying "mix and match!"
(Added information: not every ace or aro use the SAM, and it came after the term "asexual" was coined")
Image 9: The title reads "The Queer Community". On the side, the text reads "All Acespec people belong in the queer community. YES, even heteromantic cisgender acespec." There is a big circle with the rainbow LGBT flag in it encompassing a smaller circle with the colors of the asexual flag in its entirety. The cartoon character is leaning against the circle, making eye contact with the reader, and saying: "This is not up for debate."
Image 10: The title reads "Ace and Aro intersectionality". Two circles, one with the ace flag, the other with the aro flag, are intersecting and making the colors of the aroace flag appears. A text reads: "About 30% of aces identify with the label "Aromantic". It's the other side of the coin, a lack of romantic attraction". The cartoon is peeking above the circles and happily saying "I'm both!".
Image 11: The title reads "Ace and Autism intersectionality". Two characters, both wearing ace colors, are holding hands in solidarity. One is the same character as before, the other has the infinity symbol on them. The first one is saying: "A lot of autistics identify with the ace/aro spectrum.". In a smaller font, a note says "However, not all autistics are aces, and expecting them to be is rude". On the side is written "We often face the same kind of struggles: - Being treated like children - Being forcibly desexualised - Our identity is treated like an illness - etc."
Image 12: The title reads "Why does it matter?". The character answers with a serious and concerned look. "Because aces are often isolated, lacking the words to describe what they feel and experience. Many of us felt broken or anormal before finding the ace community. There's very little examples of ace people in popular media, and they're nonexistent in children media because despite being treated like children, we can't tell them about us."
Image 13: A text reads: "Asexual symbols!". Words are thrown haphazardly on the image, accompanied by relevant pictures. They read as follow: "The ace of spades", "Cake! (because why have sex when you can have cake)", "Space!", "The flags!", "The ace ring! (A black ring worn on the middle right finger)", "Dragons", "And more!"
Image 14: The character is in the center of the image, saying: "And that concludes my little presentation on Asexuality! It is not an exhaustive one. Feel free to ask for clarifications!"
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