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The Rise of the Walking, Talking Amoebas: An Article on Asexuality


Artemis Fox

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Biblioromantic

I like it. It's not comprehensive, by any means, but it does a good job with description and with painting us in a positive light. I tried to find a link to comment, but alas! Not one that I could find.

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I don't like the use of the term "amoeba" in their title and opening paragraph. Why do they do that, and then at the end of the article have the following in their list of terms?

Amoeba: a single-celled organism; an increasingly outdated term to describe asexuals.

 

Aces are people. :P 

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Artemis Fox
21 minutes ago, Biblioromantic said:

I tried to find a link to comment, but alas! Not one that I could find.

The website's weird like that. I've noticed. The option to comment appears on articles as you scroll down on your phone or at the bottom of the left share bar on laptops. It's a tricky format I had to get used to eventually.

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Artemis Fox
3 minutes ago, daveb said:

I don't like the use of the term "amoeba" in their title and opening paragraph. Why do they do that, and then at the end of the article have the following in their list of terms?

Amoeba: a single-celled organism; an increasingly outdated term to describe asexuals.

 

Aces are people. :P 

I looked it up. Apparently, it is a slang term that was used to describe asexual people. Maybe it was to be witty, I guess. It grabs attention and is technically correct in both definitions. They do admit to it being an outdated term at least.

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Just now, Jessentially Welsh said:

I looked it up. Apparently, it is a slang term that was used to describe asexual people. Maybe it was to be witty, I guess. It grabs attention and is technically correct in both definitions. They do admit to it being an outdated term at least.

Used by who? Not by me. Yeah, I get they probably meant to be humorous and eye-catching,

 

1 minute ago, Wish Bear 🌠 said:

I also find the mention of amoebas unnecessary. If they wanted to do us a favor, they just wouldn't mention them at all.

but this.

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Circa 2000, it was more common for asexuals to refer to themselves as amoebas. The first major online asexual community was actually called Haven for the Human Amoeba. The usage probably originated with the 1997 article "My Life as an Amoeba" by Zoe O'Reilly published in StarNet Dispatches. 
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/havenforthehumanamoeba/info
http://web.archive.org/web/20030210212218/http://dispatches.azstarnet.com/zoe/amoeba.htm

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It might have been something asexuals referred to themselves as in the past; but now when I see posts where people talk about being compared to an amoeba, they aren't happy with the comparison. It's not a good term to associate asexuals with because amoebas are not human. Which fits with society's thoughts about people who are not sexually and/or romantically attracted to other people lacking humanity.

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Oh well, at least I'm not The Blob.

 

I'm still a bit confused by all the terminology. The author states demisexuals need to have romantic feelings before they develop a sexual attraction to someone. I thought the core definition of asexuality was a lack of sexual attraction. Are demisexuals asexuals until they develop romantic feelings? The article stated sexuality can change over time. Is it being implied asexuality also depends on a particular set of environmental factors? The discussion of libidos was easy enough to understand because it describes my situation. However I'm left a little bemused when it comes to how fluid or not fluid asexuality is. I think its because I've never experienced any sort of sexual attraction despite the fact I have to define myself in terms of it. How do I know what it is or more importantly not is? Of course I realize not everybody is like me so to others these concepts may be easier to grasp. Despite the confusion I'm really much more curious than concerned. One other thing. I don't find being called an amoeba entirely flattering either. OK, maybe this was how asexuals were referred to once upon a time but blacks in my country were once casually referred to using a word that is highly inappropriate today. 

 

Say, I think I remember an old 1950's science fiction movie where people were being attacked by giant amoebas. Some scientist discovered a way to fight back - bricks of pure potassium metal.

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14 minutes ago, Yeast said:

Say, I think I remember an old 1950's science fiction movie where people were being attacked by giant amoebas. Some scientist discovered a way to fight back - bricks of pure potassium metal.

Damn. I hope no one watches that and figures out our weakness.

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26 minutes ago, Wish Bear 🌠 said:

Damn. I hope no one watches that and figures out our weakness.

Spoiler

It's okay as long as they don't use cakes (or pizza, apparently)

 

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Ace of Mind
25 minutes ago, Wish Bear 🌠 said:
41 minutes ago, Yeast said:

Say, I think I remember an old 1950's science fiction movie where people were being attacked by giant amoebas. Some scientist discovered a way to fight back - bricks of pure potassium metal.

Damn. I hope no one watches that and figures out our weakness.

To be fair, bricks of pure potassium metal are probably the weakness of a lot of things. Like, probably they are a weakness of anything without a high tolerance for being burned to a crisp, exploded, and poisoned. So... that's reassuring?

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I disliked the title, but I found the article quite nice. Simple, but informative for those who don't know about the subject.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Ps: To be honest, even this site uses the term amoeba more than it should. And the article's author at least points that it's "an increasingly outdated term to describe asexuals."

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