Journal Club: The Labour of Love

This month, the ace journal club discussed

“Heterosexuality and ‘the Labour of Love’: A Contribution to Recent Debates on Female Sexual Dysfunction” by Thea Cacchioni (2007). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363460707078320 (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: January 20th, 2023

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

Dr. Chris Mowat finds asexual myths in the ancient Greek myth, Hippolytus.

Sherronda J. Brown wrote about an emerging transphobic acephobic conspiracy theory.

Tanya wrote about coming out as aro.

Sildarmillion found Hotel Transylvania surprisingly amatonormative.

Coyote asserts that queerplatonic ambiguity is a feature, not a bug.

News & Outreach

There is a Lithuanian film titled “Slow” about an ace/allo relationship debuting in Sundance soon.

“That Stinking Feeling”: An Ace Analysis

The process of experiencing sexual attraction is more than just a feeling. You start with a feeling, yes, but then there’s the matter of matching your feelings to the words based on cultural knowledge, cobbled together from a variety of (not entirely consistent) sources. This analysis will explore one such source, in the form of an episode in the children’s television show, Recess.

Recess was an animated show produced by Disney, which aired from 1997 to 2001. It centered on an ensemble of fourth graders, who spanned a variety of archetypes from the new kid to sporty kid to nerd to charismatic leader. I was a bit older than the characters, but in my recollection it was one of the best kids’ shows on public television, and it might still hold up today.

“That Stinking Feeling” was episode that aired in 1999, which centered on a crush experienced by Spinelli. I will summarize the plot, but the ten minute episode may be easily found online, and I do recommend watching it if you would like to form an independent opinion.

Linkspam: January 6th, 2023

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

Ace Admiral highlighted a narrative choice in the novelization of Koisenu Futari.

Perfect Number described multiple gaps between fantasy and reality in sex and attraction.

Blue Ice-Tea reviewed Queen & Slim.

News & Outreach

Mainichi reported on a Japanese ace community survey conducted by As Loop.  The source report is only available in Japanese.

Aro Community Activity

The roundup for the Carnival of Aros has been posted, on the theme “Getting Old“.

Carnival of Aces call for submissions: The Advice You Wish You’d Had

The January Carnival of Aces is being hosted by Tell me why the world is weird, and the theme is “The Advice You Wish You’d Had”  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.

Linkspam: December 9th, 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

Rohitha Naraharisetty discussed how asexual representation might correct for the sexualization of media.

Allie Daisy King wrote about how asexuality impacts her fashion.

Ben Brandley and Loretta LeMaster talk about their work studying asexual Latter-day Saints.

Perfect Number reviewed Come as You Are.

Blue-Ice Tea reviewed Casablanca.

Community Activity

AZE released Vol 5 Issue 3 on family, starting here.

News & Outreach

The Guardian interviewed Alice Oseman.

Aro Community Activity

The Carnival of Aros had its roundup for November on the theme of “Sentimentality“.  The December carnival is looking for submissions on the theme “Getting Old“.

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.