Plan for the Week

TO DO THIS WEEK:

• Watch Watchmen
• Write up TV themes and focus group key points in draft
• Edit a-spec characters database and graphs - find way to visualise data about orientation and genre more clearly
• Look at different LGBT/A-spec surveys
• Start reading Ending the Pursuit by Michael Paramo

Reading of the week

Started reading Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity by Michael Paramo, editor of AZE journal

• About experience as editor of AZE journal - "I changed the journal’s name from The Asexual to AZE to expand its focus and include ace (asexual), aro (aromantic), and agender writers and artists. The name reflected what I began to loosely frame as azeness, or the experiences of ‘absence’ that are shared by asexual, aromantic, and agender people amidst the norms and expectations of colonial cisheteropatriarchy." (p.16)
• "This was an issue within queer discourses, where I found that colonialism was rarely discussed. This silence has been identified as a larger issue within the academic field of queer studies, where there have been calls to not just acknowledge Indigenous peoples, but to develop “a consciousness about the ongoing colonial reality in which all of us living in settler colonial states are entrenched.” This is something I also hope to contribute with this book by demonstrating how many of the dominant ideas we may have about sex, romance, attraction, and gender are informed by colonial narratives." (p.18)
• "Some people may initially look at a book reflecting on asexuality, aromanticism, and agenderness and ask What does this have to do with decolonization? or Why is colonialism relevant to this discussion? This is because these subjects are interconnected and inform one another, despite often not being put in conversation – they cannot be separated without missing what is to be gained from seeing them simultaneously." (p.19)
• Possibly relevant? Describes 'coming out' as "a recognized social ritual, where the ‘queer’ who had been, in many cases, first outcasted from the circle of humanity by colonial cisheteropatriarchy was now tasked with the pursuit of acceptance or at least social toleration for their own safety, health, and wellbeing." (p.21)
• "For asexual, aromantic, or agender people, coming out is less likely to produce reactions of outright approval or disapproval than it is to provoke confusion or disbelief at the mere existence of such an identity. This is because each of these concepts challenge fundamental ideas related to cisheteropatriarchy: (1) the naturalized belief that all human beings experience sexual attraction and desire, (2) that all human beings experience romantic desire and should form coupled relationships built on ‘romantic love,’ (3) that all human beings inherently have a gender within the binary of man or woman. Asexual, aromantic, and agender people are tasked with justifying ourselves because, in one sense or another, we are viewed as impossible" (p.21)
• Discusses their experience of how "the people who we reveal our identities to often embark on a pursuit to find a ‘real’ reason for our identities rather than to accept the uncomfortable possibilities that asexuality, aromanticism, and agenderness create. This pursuit to find an explanation that satisfies them may involve observation, interrogation, and other measures. Ending the pursuit here would mean admitting that asexuality, aromanticism, and agender identity are possible, which would in turn challenge how sexuality, romance, gender, and attraction are commonly understood. This would expand our beliefs about what it means to be human and to open up how we see the world." (p.21)
• "in many cases, people have internalized certain narratives and beliefs as truths that have gone without critique until moments of confrontation. Coming out is one such confrontation, where the person on the receiving end may believe the asexual, aromantic, or agender person to be impossible, unnatural, or in need of correction." (p.22)
• Talks about different ways asexuality and aromanticism are delegitimised - "Perhaps the most basic way in which asexual, aromantic, and agender identities are made conditional next to flat-out denial is to frame them as attention seeking, or as a joke not worthy of further consideration" (p.23), "a larger trend of asexuality and aromanticism being framed as by-products of shyness and social awkwardness" (p.25), "Rather than accept that asexual or aromantic identity may be legitimate, a person might advise or insist that one should try sex or romance first before they identify as asexual or aromantic." (p.26), "the assumption that coming out as aromantic is not only ‘impossible,’ but an admission of a failure to fulfill the normalized pursuit of romantic relationship formation." (p.29), "For asexual and aromantic people, the immaturity narrative is rooted in the belief that forming a sexual and romantic relationship is an essential part of growing up. This infantilizes asexual and aromantic people, with the presumption being that they are a ‘late bloomer’ who will eventually mature out of identifying as asexual or aromantic." (p.31), "The idea that asexuality and aromanticism are by-products of sexual assault or other traumatic events is a relatively common assumption that can be imposed onto asexual and aromantic people even if they have never been sexually assaulted" (p.32), "That asexual, aromantic, and agender identities are by-products of a disability is one of the most pervasive narratives rooted in the way disabled people are perceived under cisheteropatriarchy" (p.35)
• "My asexual identity transformed me into an object of pity in their eyes, rather than as someone to connect with on equal terms." (p.27)

Other events of the week!

• Handed in my draft!!! Yippeeee!!!!!!!!!
• Guys I can't lie that's it that's all I did this week. I needed a break after Tuesday <3

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