Ace and Aro Inclusion in the Classroom

[K. Derrick]

Hello all,

 

For those who know me, you are well aware that I work in academia.  I have been fine-tuning my curriculum to be more inclusive to the Pride Community but not overly so.  For example, when I talk about how to cite a film in MLA format I use The Matrix and point out how to avoid dead-naming the Wachowski Sisters.  It isn't a lecture on sexuality, but simply by including my gender pronouns on my syllabus, I feel that it lets my students know that I am accepting and understanding without calling them out in class and saying "Hey.  I know your (gay/trans/etc.) and I get it."  That kind of visibility I think the community can do without.

 

In that vein, I have been trying to increase my inclusion of Ace and Aro representation in my class.  So far, this has been limited to "Happy Ace Awareness Week" and "Happy Aro Awareness Week" slides at the end of class.  I usually do these for holidays like Halloween and is more of an aside than anything else.  I'm curious what ideas others have on inclusions in the classroom.

 

Please note, this is not a thread JUST for educators.  I WANT to know what everyone thinks about this.  Nor am I only interested in things germane to my subject matter.  I really want to hear all manner of ideas on how to raise awareness of Asexuality and Aromanticism in a classroom setting.  This could be a really fun discussion that can do a lot of good.  I can't wait to hear what others have to say.

 

Best,

Keith

[Ennis]

How about not making fun of Edward Heath for moving into Nr. 10 with his piano (and not with a partner)? Too much time of that session was wasted with participants of the seminar - including the lecturer - talking about how he was strange for not being married or interested in people and how this explained why he wasn't a good PM.

I'm aware that we can't know if Ted was asexual but I would still appreciate it if people didn't make fun of him for not being interested. Vent over.

[K. Derrick]

@Ennis, I'm guessing this was an event from a class you took?  I agree that speculating about real people's sexuality is a dangerous game.  It is particularly problematic when dealing with Ace and Aro people because there is such low visibility.  It is absolutely shocking that lecturer would claim that someone's inferred sexuality was responsible for the skills at politics.  I remember being laughed at in a class, on sexuality, when I brought up asexuality.  I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

[- Saph -]

Litterature/theater/movies not based on romance should be presented too. I remember enjoying the year when we had to read detective stories just for that reason. Also I liked reading books about people who lived alone and who were happy about it (but I can't remember any right now).

 

Representation is always nice but when it is not possible commenting the original work is also good. Like saying that Romeo likes Juliet but he could have fallen in love with someone named Julian in another reality. For asexuality and aromanticism, commenting hypersexualized/hyperomanticized works can help both allo and ace/aro: not everyone feels romantic/aroused all the time. This can help allos not feeling guilty about their 'performance' in a relationship. Some people also never feel that way and it is ok.

 

I think that in general the sex ed or biology classes are not considering the people not having sex but still having questions from periods and wet dreams to masturbation.