The Invisible Orientation
Asexaulity is a relatively new term, but people did not suddenly start identifying with the feelings, or lack thereof. Asexual, as a sexual orientation, means minimal to no sexual attraction to any gender. One could say it is the opposite of pansexual. As accepting the idea that someone can not have sexual attraction to any gender is relatively new, there is not much representation in the media and therefore can lead to misinterpretations or lack of information available to unknowing asexual people. Not only is it important to rid society of misinterpretations, but asexual representation in the media can help those young and old realize they are not alone in how they feel. As Julie Sondra Decker said in their book, The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality, “Asexuality needs to be in the common consciousness so asexual people across the board know their feelings have a name - and can stop thinking they’re broken if they don’t conform.” (Decker, 2015).
Someone may grow up in the sexualized society and be an outcast just due to their lack of sexual attraction. They are deemed strange and that there must be something wrong with them. If the media spread were to the word more on asexuality, less people would need to go through this. It isn’t just young people either, many older people don’t know that the reason for their lack of sexual attraction is just that they are asexual. Many people only discovered asexuality through the website of Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, or AVEN for short, which was created in the early 2000s. The online community has helped many people discover asexuality for themselves and provide the assurance one needs.
Someone may grow up in the sexualized society and be an outcast just due to their lack of sexual attraction. They are deemed strange and that there must be something wrong with them. If the media spread were to the word more on asexuality, less people would need to go through this. It isn’t just young people either, many older people don’t know that the reason for their lack of sexual attraction is just that they are asexual. Many people only discovered asexuality through the website of Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, or AVEN for short, which was created in the early 2000s. The online community has helped many people discover asexuality for themselves and provide the assurance one needs.
A big controversy brought into the asexual community was when the show Riverdale first aired and the character Jughead was not going to be asexual, as he is in a spinoff Jughead comic series. The author of the spinoff Jughead series, Chip Zdarsky, said, “...I think something like asexuality is underrepresented, and since we have a character who was asexual before people had the word for it, I'm continuing to write him that way." This sparked a Twitter hashtag of “Jughead aroace or bust” marking the asexual community to refuse to support the show. Making the character Jughead on the asexual spectrum would be a huge bit of representation to the asexual community considering how widely popular Riverdale has become and the wide demographic of audience it has. There are few some asexual characters in books and shows, but many times those are aimed more towards adults or are not in the mainstream media highlights. An example would be Todd from Bojack Horseman who explicitly stated himself to be asexual. Not having representation gives an unfairness. The majority of the population gets to see characters they can relate to on all levels, while there will always be that difference of sexual attraction for asexual people.
People, in and out of the LGBTQ+ community, argue that asexuality doesn’t exist, however a study conducted on British citizens in 2004 gave results that at least 1% of the population is asexual. (Bogaert, 2006). Assuming this 1% is the same throughout the world, if not more, that is at least 7 million people. Refusing to accept the fact that not every human being on the planet is sexually attracted to one or more genders is denying the existence of at least 7 million people, which is more than the population of British Columbia.
People, in and out of the LGBTQ+ community, argue that asexuality doesn’t exist, however a study conducted on British citizens in 2004 gave results that at least 1% of the population is asexual. (Bogaert, 2006). Assuming this 1% is the same throughout the world, if not more, that is at least 7 million people. Refusing to accept the fact that not every human being on the planet is sexually attracted to one or more genders is denying the existence of at least 7 million people, which is more than the population of British Columbia.
In order for asexual people to be accepted into society, media representation needs to change and give more positive exposure to asexuality and the struggles someone identifying as asexual may face.
Sources:
Bogaert, A. F. (2006). Toward a conceptual understanding of asexuality. Review of General Psychology, 10(3), 241-250. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.10.3.241
Canadian Provinces Population 2019. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://worldpopulationreview.com/canadian-provinces/
Decker, J. S. (2015). The invisible orientation: An introduction to asexuality. New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing.
Jughead Jones out of the closet! Archie Comics brands him asexual. (2016, February 9). Retrieved from http://www.catchnews.com/lite/archie-comics-comes-out-of-the-closet-establishes-jughead-is-asexual-in-new-comic-1454999462.html
