The search for an Asian ace masculinity

CN: This includes some discussion of sex roles and penises–from a Freudian context.

I’d like to highlight an article in the latest issue of AZE that I particularly liked: “Racial Castration and Demiboy Joy“, by Daniel Yo-Ling. It discusses how Asian American men are seen as unmasculine and sexless, and how the common response is to reassert masculinity through heterosexuality.

Now, the unfortunate part is that the discussion is primarily sourced from psychoanalytic theory, so that this whole process is described as an unending loop “between racial castration and rephallicization”. This raises some distracting questions, like, what is even up with psychoanalytic theory, and what about boys who absorb ideas about masculinity well before learning about genitalia, and where do trans men fit into this. But I’ll discuss this aspect of the essay no further, and take the terminology for granted.

Journal Club: Relationship Diversity

This month, the ace journal club discussed

“Queer Intimacies: A New Paradigm for the Study of Relationship Diversity” by Phillip L. Hammack, David M. Frost, & Sam D. Hughes (2019). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2018.1531281 (Requires journal access)

The journal club meets once a month on Discord, using text or voice as club members prefer. We discuss a variety of academic works in ace studies, ranging from gender studies to psychology. Don’t worry about journal access, we can provide access. If you’re interested, please e-mail me at asexualagenda@gmail.com for an invite.

Our discussion notes are below the fold.

Linkspam: September 17th, 2021

On Fridays, we will share links to news, blogs, and anything else we find interesting.  We can’t catch everything, so you are invited to self-promote in the comments!

Ace Blogging

Coyote wrote about nonhuman characters through a reading of “When She Loved Me”, from Toy Story 2.

AZE Vol. 4, Issue 4 on asexual masculinity is out.  AZE is currently accepting submissions on disability and art.

Community Activity

TAAAP is holding its pride chats on September 25-26, on being aspec in the workplace and choosing where to be out.

Virtual Book Clubs

October 16 – Stepping Off the Relationship Escalator: Uncommon Love and Life (also see interview with author) – Asexuals and Aromantics of the Mid-Atlantic: Washington DC

Linkspam: September 10th, 2021

On Fridays, we will share links to news, blogs, and anything else we find interesting.  We can’t catch everything, so you are invited to self-promote in the comments!

Community Activity

There was a dialogue between Angela Chen and Sherronda J. Brown on asexual possibilities (video).

The Ace Community Survey Team is looking for volunteers.

Aro Blogging

The August Carnival of Aros roundup, on “Well-being and Amatonormativity” was published. The next one is looking for submissions, on the theme “Language“.

Carnival of Aces: Second Chance at Any Past Topic

The Carnival of Aces for August has been posted by From Fandom to Family.  The theme was “Second Chance at Any Past Topic“.  Please take a look!

The next Carnival of Aces is being hosted by Ace Film Reviews.  The theme for September is “The ‘We’ of Me”.  Get your submissions in before the end of the month!

The Carnival of Aces is hosted by volunteers each month.  If you would like to volunteer, please see the masterpost for instructions.  We currently do not have a volunteer next month.

Linkspam: August 20th, 2021

On Fridays, we will share links to news, blogs, and anything else we find interesting.  We can’t catch everything, so you are invited to self-promote in the comments!

Ace Blogging

sildarmillion broke down many different kinds of love and attraction.

Coyote did a deep dive on Friday the 13th and the spectre of the anti-sex killer.

Coyote compiled examples of how gray-asexuality is discussed in asexuality studies.

Blue Ice-Tea has a queer reading of A Member of the Wedding (1952).

Community Activity

There is a new discord server for International Ace + Aro Writing Group.

TAAAP is holding pride chats on August 28-29, on how ace and aro identities intersect with other LGBTQIA+ identities.

Virtual Book Clubs

The Ace Space‘s pick for September and October is Beyond the Black Door by A. M. Strickland

News & Outreach

Star Wars confirmed another asexual and aromantic character.

Aro Blogging

The Carnival of Aros roundup for July was published, on the theme “Education“.

UnYoung wrote about finding home as an immigrant.

aro-and-tired summarized results from a survey about loveless aros.

Journal Club: Mammy and Black Asexual Possibility

This month, the ace journal club discussed

“Still, Nothing: Mammy and Black Asexual Possibility” by Ianna Hawkins Owen (2018). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1057/s41305-018-0140-9 (Requires journal access)

The journal club meets once a month on Discord, using text or voice as club members prefer. We discuss a variety of academic works in ace studies, ranging from gender studies to psychology. Don’t worry about journal access, we can provide access. If you’re interested, please e-mail me at asexualagenda@gmail.com for an invite.

Our discussion notes are below the fold.

Soulmates and uncertainty in “Cupido”

Long-time readers may remember a time when I talked about a lot of webcomics, and occasionally made recommendations. While I haven’t searched for new webcomics lately, I still keep up with old webcomics for years on end, as long as they continue to engage me. In that category, I’d like to recommend Cupido.

Cupido’s premise is that the protagonist Alec can see “marks” on people, that apparently match when two people are soulmates. That is, many couples seem to share the same mark, and when Alec introduces people who have matching marks to each other, they tend to hit it off really well and pair up. Everybody seems to have a mark… that is, except Alec and his friend Victor.

On (my own) excessive PDA

This is a submission to the Carnival of Aces, whose theme is “Second Chance at any Past Topic“. This may be considered a response to “Touch, Sensuality, and Non-sexual Intimacy” or “Kissing, Handholding, Bed-sharing, etc.“.

I have a confession: I am one of those folks who shows public displays of affection (PDA) all the time. My husband and I regularly hold hands in public, stand well within each other’s personal space, put hands on each others’ shoulders, backs, and legs. And occasionally hold each other or kiss. And while this wouldn’t stand out among couples of a certain age, we’re getting to an age that we’re clear outliers.

We don’t do it for show. In fact we’re more aggressive about it in the more private corners of public spaces. (Most private of public spaces: in an elevator. Most public of public spaces: in an elevator with one other person.) But there is an undeniable social dimension to it.

Linkspam: August 6th, 2021

On Fridays, we will share links to news, blogs, and anything else we find interesting.  We can’t catch everything, so you are invited to self-promote in the comments!

Ace Blogging

David Bradley spoke about asexuals and sex (video).

News & Outreach

The Chicago Tribune interviewed four local aces.

CauseImEd shares live reaction of discovering ace character in The Outer Worlds.  They were also interviewed in a Pink News article.

Aro Blogging

The August Carnival of Aros theme is “Well Being and Amatonormativity.”