Journal Club: The investment model in asexual relationships

This month, the ace journal club discussed

“A test of the investment model among asexual individuals: The moderating role of attachment orientation” by Brozowski et al. (2022).
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.912978/full (publicly accessible)

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: November 18th, 2022

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!

Writing

James Wenley reflected on asexuality, theatre, and art.

Rohitha Naraharisetty wrote about the queer revolution of asexuality.

Blue-Ice Tea reviewed The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Videos

The Random Encounters podcast discussed an article they recently published about asexual characters in RPGs.

James Somerton discussed with Nick Herrgott about the queer erasure of asexuality.

News & Outreach

Big Mouth season 6 has an asexual character.

Aro Community Activity

The Carnival of Aros had a roundup on the theme “Expression“.  The next carnival is looking for submissions on the theme “Sentimentality“.

Carnival of Aces: Tell a Story

The Carnival of Aces for October has been posted by Perfect Number.  The theme was “Tell a Story“.  Please take a look!

There currently isn’t any host for the next Carnival of Aces.  If you would like to volunteer, please see the masterpost for instructions.

Linkspam: October 28th, 2022

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!

Writing

Em reviewed Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt.

Caitlin Argyros examined ace characters in three RPGs.

Caroline Cull wrote about issues with the asexual dating app experience.

Community Activity

The 2020 Ace Community Survey Summary Report was published.

Journal Club: Asexuality and Microaggressions

This month, the ace journal club discussed

“Asexual People’s Experience with Microaggressions” by Tamara Deutsch (2018).
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1050&context=jj_etds (publicly accessible)

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.

The ace nerd

I have a PhD in physics, so I’ve been asked plenty of times if I’ve ever watched The Big Bang Theory. Well, it was an incredibly popular TV sitcom… from 2007-2019… about a bunch of physicists… starring an asexual character. I obviously hate it sight unseen. I cannot tolerate more than a few seconds of it. Never ask me about The Big Bang Theory, we do not talk about The Big Bang Theory here.

Buuuuuut, I admit that the cacophony of secondary commentary on the show intrigues me. Here are a few things I’ve heard: I’ve spoken to many scientists who believe the show is not for us, but rather making fun of us. Its idea of humor is showering us with geek cultural references, over a laugh track. Its characters are the embodiment of geek misogyny. The character Sheldon “has no deal”, according to an early quote that established him as asexual–but didn’t establish that the writers understood this. Asexual reception to Sheldon is generally negative, with early critique focusing on Sheldon as an example of the inhuman asexual archetype, and later critique focusing on how Sheldon’s relationships were handled.

Commentary on The Big Bang Theory is a microcosm, serving as a roadmap to the intersection of asexuality and nerddom.

Linkspam: October 25th, 2022

This is a special midweek edition of the linkspam for Ace Week.  The activity that comes to our attention is only a small slice of what’s going on, so please let us know if there’s anything else worth mentioning!

Writing

Rosiee Thor shared five YA SFF novels starring asexual characters.

Coyote made an infographic timeline of early anti-ace blogging, and wrote a retrospective on wearing an ace ring.

Redbeard found a classic ace video game in an alternate reality.

Sennkestra is sharing DIY projects for Ace Week.

LGBTQ Nation highlighted rightwing political opposition to “platonic marriages” in the US.

Book Riot listed 20 must-read asexual books.

Insights Magazine (a periodical for the Uniting Church in Australia) interviewed someone about being ace in the Uniting Church.

Videos

SBS’s The Feed interviewed Bonnie about what it’s like navigating being asexual.

Community Activity

Ace Week has a list of events going on this week.

Calls for Participants/Support

The Ace Community Survey is now open to responses.

AUREA is looking for new volunteers.

Linkspam: October 21st, 2022

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!

Writing

news.com.au posted a couple of interviews with asexual people about their discovery experiences.

Coyote shared a reading of Elementary as a nonromantic love story.

Scholarly Work

Dr. Ianna Hawkins Owen is presenting a lecture wednesday Oct 26 titled “‘To Be Free is Very Sweet’: Blackness, Asexuality, and Abolition”.  Register ahead of time.

Stonewall released a report on LGBTQ+ people in Great Britain.  Among other things, they found 5% of Gen Z people identified as ace.

Brian Fink investigated trauma in the 2020 Ace Community Survey in AZE.

Linkspam: October 7th, 2022

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!

Writing

Carmeli Argana talked about differentiating kinds of attraction, featuring an interview with Siggy.

Michelle Guan discussed experiences with sex in advertising and media.

Mason Hoyt shared how they came to identify as ace.

Sildarmillion speculated on the performative nature of romance.

Coyote reflected on interactions with TAAAP and their moderation practices.

Aro Community Activity

Aggressively Arospectacular, an event promoting original aro content, was announced for Nov 6-12 this year.

Carnival of Aces call for submissions: Tell a Story

The October Carnival of Aces is being hosted by Tell me why the world is weird, and the theme is “Tell a Story”  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.