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Asexual Education - A Persuasive Paper


NotToddChavez

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NotToddChavez

      (Hello and welcome! If you are coming here from Twitter or know me personally this is just a small intro, if not you can skip to the paper haha. So I wrote this after receiving a HUGE out pour of love from the community a few months ago on Twitter with the help of the Aven Twitter community and my own ace friends. I heard LITERALLY 100's of inspiring stories. I'm so proud to be a member of this community. Seriously you guys rock big time. Especially those of you who wrote literal pages worth of replies to help me out writing this. It is long! So be warned! But I really gave it my all and I got a perfect score on it and my teacher was very proud, and she was so excited to hear about all of you guys helping me. Sorry it took me so long to make this public. I have super bad anxiety and this month has been legitimately one of the most stressful of my life. I hope you enjoy and I was able to do this topic some justice. I love you all.)

 

Hunter/@howls11 (on like every other platform) || F/17/PanRomantic Asexual

 

Hunter Panoch 

English 3A

13 February 2020

 

Asexual Education Is Needed Inside And Outside The LGBTQ+ Community 

 

          Whether you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ+ community, the asexual community (ace) itself, or a heterosexual cisgender ally, the term ‘asexual’ is one commonly taught in a biology class. In reality, the term has two very different meanings and should be addressed in Sex Education. The term ‘asexual’ is an umbrella term for the sexuality spectrum, identifying anyone who falls below the “normal” allosexual definition (one who experiences normal sexual attraction). An asexual person doesn’t experience the same or any sexual attractions or desires of that of an allosexual person. Other labels in the asexual spectrum include: demisexual, gray-asexual, repulsed asexual, and various other identifying terms. The aromantic (someone who does not experience romantic attraction) community is often intertwined with the asexual community, but they both remain independent of each other. So much so that the term “Aspec” is often used to refer to both groups together. One of the most important distinctions that the Aspec community wishes people would know is that being an asexual or aromantic person is not the same as being heterosexual. A Heteroromantic Asexual is still a valid queer identity.  The Ace community has faced decades of discrimination and went unnoticed and undefined for centuries, from the unfamiliarity of the terms’ existence, gatekeeping from the LGBTQ+ community, and lack of representation in media. All of these stem from the same common issue; a lack of asexual education and awareness has hindered a community thought to make up as much as 1% of the world’s population. 

 

          When I began writing this paper, there was something I wanted to do from the very start, and that was reaching out to the community itself and getting the opinions of others. What I received was one of the most genuine outpourings of support, and more stories than I could have ever possibly imagined. I was sent literally hundreds of pages worth of answers and stories to the questions I posed, and over 250 responses to my polling questions. A common theme throughout them all was the sheer lack of understanding and available information. 68% of the people polled said that before they researched their identity they had never even heard of the term’s (asexual) existence. If this number is so high within the community, think of how much higher it would be outside of the community. Since becoming a vocal advocate, I have had 5+ kids in the last year alone approach me asking for information on the topic because they simply didn’t know a term, a community, existed for them and they have had to live their life feeling like something was wrong with them. This, coming from a small-town school in rural Wisconsin, is especially impactful for me. Knowing such a small demographic is having these issues to such an extent shines a light on the bigger topic. A heartwrenching 82% of responders saying asexuality impacts their self-esteem in at least some way when it comes to approaching relationships, and another 78% saying that their sexuality has made them feel broken. The combined reports of the Human Rights Campaign foundation reported that “Because of stigma and discrimination, LGBTQ+ youth are more likely than non LGBTQ+ youth to struggle with their mental health … LGBTQ+ young people are more than twice as likely to feel suicidal, and over four times as likely to attempt suicide, compared to heterosexual youth.” (suicideproventionlifeline.org).

 

          This leads to my next topic of discussion, which is the representation of this community, or rather the lack thereof. Only a handful of asexual characters exist throughout the entirety of mainstream media. Someone unfamiliar with this topic may think this fact is exaggerated, but the reality of the topic is that the arguably most accurately portrayed and fleshed out asexual individual in television is Todd Chavez, a cartoon character from Bojack Horseman, a show that already tackles heavily political and mental health topics. There is literally only a handful of openly ‘out’ ace characters across all of mainstream media. Reports done by GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), an American non-governmental media monitoring organization, found that as of 2018 Todd was, in fact the only ‘out’ character across all streaming platforms. Shannon Liao, of The Verge writing, “Netflix is still the best streaming platform for diverse representation of LGBTQ+ characters ... In particular, Netflix’s animated dark comedy Bojack Horseman features the only asexual character GLAAD’s study found (across all) streaming platforms: Todd Chavez.” Without representation, the amount of understanding and widespread comprehension plummets. 85% of self-identifying asexuals polled ranked accurate representation in media between an 8 to 10 in affecting the way the overall community is viewed. It is clear representation is important, it is seen throughout the whole of the entertainment industry. A cast of characters all with the same characteristics, interests, flaws, quirks, and growth stories doesn’t make for an interesting story. Diverse characters allow audiences to connect and form emotional relationships with individual characters, or learn and grow from the characters they don’t connect with. Whether it’s watching tv, movies, reading a book, or playing a video game, everyone gravitates towards certain types of characters that align with their interests and bias’. Now imagine living in a highly sexualized world where ‘sex sells’ and is deemed the cultural norm. Where no one is representing this huge community of people, who ultimately are left feeling like outsiders. Representation shows minority groups that they are not alone, and the general populous that there are people out there who are just as valid but have a different way of experiencing things. 77% of the people that were polled ranked this sort of media recognition between an 8-10 in importance to them.

 

          Inclusion and being welcomed by others is something that I think all people desire to have. For many who identify within the LGBTQ+ spectrum, they look for that welcoming, understanding, and assurance from within the LGBTQ+ community. The solace provided by a large group of people who share similar morals, stories, and beliefs is a powerful one. Asexual and aromantic individuals often face push back and resistance from queer safe spaces from lack of a full understanding and education about what it means to be an aspec person. Many people simply writing off hetero-asexuals as not queer enough for the community. When these debates are fueled, retorts often revolve around the thought that asexual individuals don’t experience discrimination on the same level as that of other members of the LGBTQ+. A landslide 96% of aces agree that asexuals experience discrimination and injustice. This gatekeeping of course does not make up the opinions of the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. However, it doesn’t just seem to be a vocalized minority, but rather a largely divided debate within the community. With only 15% of asexuals saying they feel welcomed by the LGBTQ+ community. I am in no way trying to lead you to believe that a member of the ace community will face the same or even similar struggles to that a person of trans or gay/lesbian identification. But, aspec communities do face their own unique battles and confrontations with their daily lives: feeling broken, coming out, rejection from loved ones, mockery, sexualize culture, and pressured sex (rape). In my mind at least, as a Panromantic individual myself, the act of barring the ace community is a tired one. The thought of weighing and comparing two different groups’ hardships to decide essentially who struggles worse is a hollow task with no real answer. The saying, “Just because someone has had it worse, doesn’t invalidate your own struggles,” comes to mind. In the end, most aspec individuals just want to call the community their safe place as well. To share the same loving community, support, and allies in the same battle for equal rights and proper education for all.

 

         It’s been made clear that knowledge is power. Not including asexual prospectives, or other sexual identities, into school sex education classes throws a wrench into the learning environment. Suddenly, a big percentage of the student population in these health classes miss out on valuable information and representation that they need. The exclusion of queer education plays a huge role in society. Kids growing up in conservative homes may never be exposed to these identities. Some may even be taught to mock others who are outside of the cisgender heterosexual norm or hate themselves. Most asexuals believe they are broken because they go their whole lives being told, “just wait until you find the right person” or “sounds like a chemical imbalance,” never being told that for some people it’s just who they are, certainly not broken. An amazing 99% of participants polled agree asexuality should be included in sex education. All in all, I strongly believe that health classes need to be reinvented. They should be modified to better prepare and teach young teens about the real world. I thoroughly think these changes would enact a ripple effect throughout our society's youth, to be more open and accepting of others and provide valuable information to those who seek it. Education to spread the name of the aspec community and save it from staying as the unknown not fully understood community that it is today, education to help to the LGBTQ+ community build a firmer trust and friendship with Aspec individuals, and proper representation in media to drive home the message that queer individuals are just normal humans. If you know someone who sounds like they could be somewhere on this spectrum, but they just don’t know the words to describe it, it may just be because they’ve never heard the term “ace” before. One of the biggest takeaways I always find from speaking with friends and members of the aspec community, and the message I want to end on is this, no matter what, you’re not alone.

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dandeliongirl

I think this is an incredibly well done paper. Congrats on your score - it is clearly well-deserved - and thanks for sharing with us to read!❤️❤️

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Janus the Fox

Moved to Visibility and Education Projects

 

Janus Dark Fox, Questions About Asexuality and Open Mic Moderator

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AceMissBehaving

I still firmly disagree with the word asexual being used as a collective term for all aspec identities, but beyond that I think it’s great 👍 

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NotToddChavez

"Other labels in the asexual spectrum include: demisexual, gray-asexual, repulsed asexual, and various other identifying terms. The aromantic (someone who does not experience romantic attraction) community is often intertwined with the asexual community, but they both remain independent of each other. So much so that the term “Aspec” is often used to refer to both groups together." (from the first paragraph)

 

I agree with you! Sorry if it came off weird in the writing, everyone deserves the right to there own labels and label uses ❤️ 

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