CharCharChar Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Alice Oseman shared an excerpt from her upcoming novel of a character having no aesthetic attraction and called it the most asexual thing and found it funny. I love that Rooney wonders if aesthetic attraction is weird when Georgia expresses a lack of it, because it's a flip of the assumption that a lack of any of the types of attraction is weird/wrong. It bothers me that she calls this asexual though. I don't know the percentage of aces who lack aesthetic attraction, but whether it's 20% or 80%, I don't love that no aesthetic attraction and no/little sexual attraction are being conflated by her framing this excerpt as very ace. I don't think this quote would bother me in the full context of the book where Georgia is an ace character with no aesthetic attraction. It bothers me that the author highlights this as asexuality - and that her followers will consider her an expert. Does this bother anyone else? Link to post Share on other sites
everywhere and nowhere Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Perhaps it's because of an abdominal "six-pack" being perceived as a very sexualised part of the male body? (And, often, although not exclusively, an inappropriate part of the female body.) I can understand it, particularly since I find very masculine men strongly off-putting. And I'm capable of esthetic attraction, even of - something some people here can't seem to understand - of very sexualised esthetic attraction, when I perceive someone as explicitly sexy, and yet it leaves me still vehemently not wanting to have sex with anyone... So, altogether, I feel like I should agree: perception of esthetic attractiveness is a very unreliable "measure" of asexuality. But definitely some asexuals just don't get why are some characteristics considered sexy, even in case of their own bodies - such as a fair number of mostly cisgender AFAB asexuals (including myself) who dislike their boobs... Link to post Share on other sites
A.L. Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 I think the character is expressing the lack of sexual attraction to abs, not the lack of aesthetic attraction. The line "You really just . . . look at abs and that does it for you?" implies a sexual context to me. Link to post Share on other sites
Astrea Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 I guess it depends on your definition of 'attraction'. I don't find the excerpt very convincing either, though. Her character talks more about an alien just having landed on earth or a child than an asexual to me. I mean, abs do nothing for me on a sexual level but I've always understood that it was considered an attractive body part, which kind of abs attracted more positive attention and which were more appreciated by a 'fringe' (like the superbodybuilder type). I can tell the Magic Mike guy or Jessica Alba are sexually attractive and I can explain why. Considering we all live in a society which constantly tells us so much about sex and desirable bodies I have trouble believing anyone having gone to school and having a tv / Internet could be completely oblivious to the concept. Thinking people exaggerate the effect it has on them (maybe unconsciously), influenced by the representations society puts in their head that is the kind of doubt I have had while hearing other people talk about it. But it would have never crossed my mind to go 'uh, you find breasts / abs attractive?! Seriously?' talking to a sexual person even when I was a young teenager. Maybe that's just me, though. 😊 Link to post Share on other sites
CharCharChar Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 @A.L. Good point. I was focusing on the "lumpy stomach" line because that's the reason she gives for not being turned on, but you're right that the broader context of the scene is that abs don't make her want sex, which is an example asexuality. @Astrea (1) I think you might have hit the nail on the head for why this excerpt bothers me. She's made Georgia highly oblvious for the sake of humor. Yes there are degrees of aces not being aware of things allosexuals would be aware of, but Georgia is an extreme example, and it feels like she's framing this extreme as typical asexuality. (Which is why I love when there's at least 2 ace characters in a book so it's clearer we're not all the same) In Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox and Perfect Rhythm by Jae there are scenes where a sexual character points out that the asexual character is unknowingly making pleasurable sexy sounds while eating delicious food. I found this slightly questionable, but overall I bought it, and it was used as a discussion starter for the ace and sexual romantic pairing - not just humor. (2) Oh dear now I'm wondering if I really experience aesthetic attraction or if I'm just aware of what is sexy. I occasionally (less than five times in my life) catch myself blankly staring at a very fit man or a woman with a low cut shirt - but maybe it's just my brain glitching out at their sex-appeal. @Nowhere Girl I think that's the tricky part of representing asexuality. There are some asexuals who are emotionally cold. There are some asexuals who are oblivious. The tricky part is that these are negative stereotypes applied to all aces because of the assumption that the absence of asexuality must be caused by brokenness/immaturity/confusion. So when an author represents an ace trait that is true for some, but negatively assumed to be true for all, I feel conflicted. Link to post Share on other sites
Ennis Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 I can kind of relate. Even though I know that sex exists I get these weird moments sometimes when I realise that sex is a real part of the lives of other people. Sometimes I just forget. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 I'm confused all around because as a sexual person, abs do nothing for me. Many of us aren't shallow enough to base our aesthetic attraction solely on how many hours a guy wastes in the gym every day. Link to post Share on other sites
Blaiddmelyn Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 19 hours ago, CharCharChar said: In Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox and Perfect Rhythm by Jae there are scenes where a sexual character points out that the asexual character is unknowingly making pleasurable sexy sounds while eating delicious food. I found this slightly questionable, but overall I bought it, and it was used as a discussion starter for the ace and sexual romantic pairing - not just humor. As someone who's read nearly all of Jae's novels, can confirm they actually use the sound thing in every book, regardless of presence of ace characters - I think they like using it as a way to signify attraction. So it's less jarring if you read their other books, weirdly. Link to post Share on other sites
Diana DeLuna Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Hungry for any and all canon ace rep in literature, so yay! But what the heck...? I'm having trouble locating this book for preorder. It's not available to preorder in any form on Amazon, nor any of the book wholesalers I deal with at my job. I wanted to make sure our head youth librarian orders this book, but I can't email her without more information. https://www.amazon.com/Untitled-Alice-Oseman-1/dp/000824412X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=VTAM83SIGAJC&dchild=1&keywords=loveless+by+alice+oseman&qid=1593618167&sprefix=loveless+by+alic%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-3 Does anyone know what's up with that? Link to post Share on other sites
Diana DeLuna Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 2 hours ago, OptimisticPessimist said: @Diana DeLuna It’s available on UK Amazon, I’m not sure why it’s not available in the US yet despite being on the site. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Loveless-Alice-Oseman/dp/000824412X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=alice+oseman&qid=1593618877&sprefix=alice+ose&sr=8-1 Aww, damn! This stinks. Our library has Alice Oseman's other titles, so maybe the U.S. release is set for later. It's weird not to see any info. about it anywhere. At my job I can usually find publication dates nearly a year out. Makes me paranoid, as if some U.S. publisher thinks asexuality won't garner enough interest to sell books here.... I'll stay optimistic. Link to post Share on other sites
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