I noticed near the end of season 3, when characters were openly revealing personal things about their sex lives, that one of the recurring characters (Steve, Aimee's boyfriend) holds up a sign that says "I think I might be demisexual". Aimee's a main character so her relationship with Steve will often come up, especially with some of the events she deals with, but Steve himself is always peripheral and used mainly as the butt of jokes. I really hope that Steve gets taken seriously in season 4 and we have a chance to explore his ace-allo relationship and more aspec stuff in general! (Although I HIGHLY doubt it)
The only reason I have *heard* of Sex Ed was when people were talking about Florence, and I was wondering whether or not to give the show a shot. But now that I hear that Florence only appeared for a season, I think I'll just stick to my animated fantasy shows for now.
I will say that Ace Representation is hard to write. Like- I have Ace Characters in most of my stories (duh) but it’s almost always “This Character is Ace! Enjoy :)” instead of any serious exploration. I just don’t like writing about sexuality in general. But In media where exploring Sexuality is the whole point, it really does feel like a betrayal for an ace character to get about as much exploration of asexuality as I give the protagonist in my fantasy books.
As an ace writer I have made a point to make my animated web series that I'm working on have multiple ace characters (including the main character, who is aro ace and in a queerplatonic relationship with another main character). What the media won't do for us, we do ourselves
it feels weird cause I even like got emotional over the scene where she learns about asexuality but to treat it like its just another box in their list to be checked and then never explore and expand feels betraying
It felt wrong to have Florence be in the show if just gonna sprinkle her in it just for representation and no storyline really with her. Then she is gone. Might as well not have her in the show
I've only watched seasons one and two and found it extremely disappointing - for a show about sexuality Aceness was a glaring omission. I found Florence in season two to be very tokenistic - practically a check box - ticked this one off and don't need to go there anymore or explore any depth. Let's just move on and pretend Asexuality never existed kind of thing. I refuse to watch any more of it because I'm sick of having hopes up and then their being dashed because asexuality is not something considered to be acceptable - if you can get people to agree it even exists. Love Yasmin Benoit's constant promotion of Asexuality - she pushes so many boundaries and throws people's misconceptions about Aceness into plain sight. Have you seen her vids about the hate mail she receives? I'm tired of people commenting about Asexuality being something that is cis only or that people are not harmed for being Ace. They are and have been - perhaps not as visibly as other sexualities, but considering how invisible Asexuality is that's probably not really that surprising. Loved your vid, BTW
Thank you for this video. I watched sex education only to see the ace representation and what did I get? A person who is told that her portrayal of Julia in a school play is unrealistic because she hasn't had sex and then this one famous scene with a therapist. And that's it. I felt tricked into watching the show
In "Everything's Gonna Be Ok", there is a canonical, reoccurring character (Drea) who is "homoromantic ace" and there is some exploration into her romantic relationship as well as head nods to the split attraction model. This is primarily explored in the second season, but the character debuts in the first. I would love to hear your thoughts on her characterization. (I am streaming it via Hulu.) It also has gay and autistic representation so this show is pretty forward thinking.
My favorite aro-ace representation recently has been Caduceus Clay from campaign 2 of Critical Role. What I really like about him is that the aro-ace aspect of his story is just one part of his overall character and he has a lot of close relationships, with both family and friends. He’s also pretty understanding of his friends when they have their relationship issues and seems genuinely okay with people talking about sex stuff around him, though he’s admitted that it’s just not something he’s into.
What I love about Caduceus is that, far from being a cold, loveless robot, he is empathetic, wise, has a lot of love in his life, and is the one who coined what could be the tagline for the whole campaign, maybe even the whole show: "Pain doesn't make people. It's love that makes people. The pain is inconsequential. It's love that saves them." It's just very important to me and very significant that the aro-ace character was the one who said this.
Someone else said this already, but the show Everything Gonna Be Okay had really well-done, nuanced, respectful and most importantly *prominent* ace representation. The final episode of season 2 even sees a marriage between the asexual homoromantic character Drea and one of the headliners of the show Matilda, who is hypersexual. Now, the show can be quite sexual so that’s an unfortunate barrier, but I still felt very, very seen by it (and was unbelievably pissed off when it was cancelled after season 2.) You should definitely check it out. As for missed opportunities, I’d name Chloe Decker from Lucifer. That could’ve been exceptional.
Yeah, I was quite bothered by the fact that they didn't give this girl a character, she was just shoehorned in there so that the writers could say to the audience "by the way, we know our show is all about sex, but it's fine not to want it". It's still nice that they even bothered to include the message, but I was quite disappointed when the character didn't make an appearance again, and turned out not to be a character but just a way to say a quick disclaimer about asexuality. There would've been so much to explore about asexuality even in a sex-centered series. I was happy when I saw her at first, but just making her have that scene where she recognizes that she's asexual and then leaving it at that is not representation. If you represented a gay guy by making him have one scene where he realizes that he's attracted to men and someone tells him that's ok, and then you'd never show him again, people would understandably be disappointed. Most of the internal conflict and nuance regarding sexuality that needs to be represented in order for people to see themselves in it comes after the realization.
I am not entirely surprised Florence appeared for one episode in season two and suddenly disappeared throughout the series. Though the film production does represent the ace community in a meaningful way. Florence does not receive much of a story arc like the other characters in season two as she is not represented as a real person. The moment Florence comes to terms with her asexuality and may not wish to pursue romantic relationships with someone, this follows from the belief Florence does not express other qualities that identify her as a realistic expectation in the ace community. If in a hypothetical situation, Florence becomes one of the main, or at least recurring, characters in the show, then the film director would have to spend much time learning more about asexuality. To learn about asexuality implies understanding what makes a person without sexual desire or attraction. For instance, the show could have brought the concept of having an ace is in a platonic relationship with someone is roughly equal to that of a romantic relationship. Other than that, I have nothing more to say.
You’re in Scotland now, yeah? I’m not good with accents, but I think yours might be changing. 😛 To stay on topic, I’ve never seen the series, but have heard good things. Hearing this makes me not wanna watch it at all. :/ P.S. You have a really beautiful smile! (no romo)
I agree that they definetly should've explored Florence's character further,it would've been interesting to see her in a romantic relationship with another aspec person or someone who was allo and how that would work,also Steve being demisexual I would've liked to see him understand more about his identity too It's a shame that they worded the explanation of being asexual and aromantic so beautifully but then didn't dive further into the ace characters . Hopefully in season 4 we will get some more asexual rep
Still waiting to see if Natalia from Sexify on Netflix is gonna be canonically asexual-- on one hand she comes off as averse to not just sex but also people in general and like... fun? (the woman is confused at the idea of doing stuff that isn't school or work) which isn't the ace representation I want, but on the other hand, she's the main character and that would be really cool. She's gonna be given a lot of room to grow and figure herself out
I noticed near the end of season 3, when characters were openly revealing personal things about their sex lives, that one of the recurring characters (Steve, Aimee's boyfriend) holds up a sign that says "I think I might be demisexual". Aimee's a main character so her relationship with Steve will often come up, especially with some of the events she deals with, but Steve himself is always peripheral and used mainly as the butt of jokes.
I really hope that Steve gets taken seriously in season 4 and we have a chance to explore his ace-allo relationship and more aspec stuff in general! (Although I HIGHLY doubt it)
The only reason I have *heard* of Sex Ed was when people were talking about Florence, and I was wondering whether or not to give the show a shot. But now that I hear that Florence only appeared for a season, I think I'll just stick to my animated fantasy shows for now.
I've gotten over the Florence thing now. Now im just praying to the Marvel gods that they keep Yelena Aroace.
I will say that Ace Representation is hard to write. Like- I have Ace Characters in most of my stories (duh) but it’s almost always “This Character is Ace! Enjoy :)” instead of any serious exploration. I just don’t like writing about sexuality in general. But In media where exploring Sexuality is the whole point, it really does feel like a betrayal for an ace character to get about as much exploration of asexuality as I give the protagonist in my fantasy books.
it's kinda of sad that ace characters appear for a moment and they just never come back,that if there's a ace characters
As an ace writer I have made a point to make my animated web series that I'm working on have multiple ace characters (including the main character, who is aro ace and in a queerplatonic relationship with another main character). What the media won't do for us, we do ourselves
it feels weird cause I even like got emotional over the scene where she learns about asexuality but to treat it like its just another box in their list to be checked and then never explore and expand feels betraying
I feel exactly the same
What I FELT AND SAID IT IN OTHER WORDS
It felt wrong to have Florence be in the show if just gonna sprinkle her in it just for representation and no storyline really with her. Then she is gone. Might as well not have her in the show
Todd from Bojack Horseman is great ace rep
I've only watched seasons one and two and found it extremely disappointing - for a show about sexuality Aceness was a glaring omission. I found Florence in season two to be very tokenistic - practically a check box - ticked this one off and don't need to go there anymore or explore any depth. Let's just move on and pretend Asexuality never existed kind of thing. I refuse to watch any more of it because I'm sick of having hopes up and then their being dashed because asexuality is not something considered to be acceptable - if you can get people to agree it even exists. Love Yasmin Benoit's constant promotion of Asexuality - she pushes so many boundaries and throws people's misconceptions about Aceness into plain sight. Have you seen her vids about the hate mail she receives? I'm tired of people commenting about Asexuality being something that is cis only or that people are not harmed for being Ace. They are and have been - perhaps not as visibly as other sexualities, but considering how invisible Asexuality is that's probably not really that surprising. Loved your vid, BTW
Thank you for this video. I watched sex education only to see the ace representation and what did I get? A person who is told that her portrayal of Julia in a school play is unrealistic because she hasn't had sex and then this one famous scene with a therapist. And that's it. I felt tricked into watching the show
In "Everything's Gonna Be Ok", there is a canonical, reoccurring character (Drea) who is "homoromantic ace" and there is some exploration into her romantic relationship as well as head nods to the split attraction model. This is primarily explored in the second season, but the character debuts in the first. I would love to hear your thoughts on her characterization. (I am streaming it via Hulu.) It also has gay and autistic representation so this show is pretty forward thinking.
That show is so, so fucking good and it made me feel so seen ❤️
Slice of Ace if you see this please, please cover this.
My favorite aro-ace representation recently has been Caduceus Clay from campaign 2 of Critical Role. What I really like about him is that the aro-ace aspect of his story is just one part of his overall character and he has a lot of close relationships, with both family and friends. He’s also pretty understanding of his friends when they have their relationship issues and seems genuinely okay with people talking about sex stuff around him, though he’s admitted that it’s just not something he’s into.
What I love about Caduceus is that, far from being a cold, loveless robot, he is empathetic, wise, has a lot of love in his life, and is the one who coined what could be the tagline for the whole campaign, maybe even the whole show: "Pain doesn't make people. It's love that makes people. The pain is inconsequential. It's love that saves them." It's just very important to me and very significant that the aro-ace character was the one who said this.
Someone else said this already, but the show Everything Gonna Be Okay had really well-done, nuanced, respectful and most importantly *prominent* ace representation. The final episode of season 2 even sees a marriage between the asexual homoromantic character Drea and one of the headliners of the show Matilda, who is hypersexual. Now, the show can be quite sexual so that’s an unfortunate barrier, but I still felt very, very seen by it (and was unbelievably pissed off when it was cancelled after season 2.) You should definitely check it out.
As for missed opportunities, I’d name Chloe Decker from Lucifer. That could’ve been exceptional.
if you want a aro/ace main character saiki kusuo is a funny anime
Yeah, I was quite bothered by the fact that they didn't give this girl a character, she was just shoehorned in there so that the writers could say to the audience "by the way, we know our show is all about sex, but it's fine not to want it". It's still nice that they even bothered to include the message, but I was quite disappointed when the character didn't make an appearance again, and turned out not to be a character but just a way to say a quick disclaimer about asexuality. There would've been so much to explore about asexuality even in a sex-centered series. I was happy when I saw her at first, but just making her have that scene where she recognizes that she's asexual and then leaving it at that is not representation. If you represented a gay guy by making him have one scene where he realizes that he's attracted to men and someone tells him that's ok, and then you'd never show him again, people would understandably be disappointed. Most of the internal conflict and nuance regarding sexuality that needs to be represented in order for people to see themselves in it comes after the realization.
I am not entirely surprised Florence appeared for one episode in season two and suddenly disappeared throughout the series. Though the film production does represent the ace community in a meaningful way. Florence does not receive much of a story arc like the other characters in season two as she is not represented as a real person. The moment Florence comes to terms with her asexuality and may not wish to pursue romantic relationships with someone, this follows from the belief Florence does not express other qualities that identify her as a realistic expectation in the ace community. If in a hypothetical situation, Florence becomes one of the main, or at least recurring, characters in the show, then the film director would have to spend much time learning more about asexuality. To learn about asexuality implies understanding what makes a person without sexual desire or attraction. For instance, the show could have brought the concept of having an ace is in a platonic relationship with someone is roughly equal to that of a romantic relationship. Other than that, I have nothing more to say.
You’re in Scotland now, yeah? I’m not good with accents, but I think yours might be changing. 😛
To stay on topic, I’ve never seen the series, but have heard good things. Hearing this makes me not wanna watch it at all. :/
P.S. You have a really beautiful smile! (no romo)
I agree that they definetly should've explored Florence's character further,it would've been interesting to see her in a romantic relationship with another aspec person or someone who was allo and how that would work,also Steve being demisexual I would've liked to see him understand more about his identity too
It's a shame that they worded the explanation of being asexual and aromantic so beautifully but then didn't dive further into the ace characters . Hopefully in season 4 we will get some more asexual rep
At least we can find good rep in books
Please watch the new season. They actually have a well-rounded, developed Ace character.
jughead in the 2015 comic, senkuu from doctor stone and saiki k are great rep.
How I felt about the lack of ace representation: disappointed but not surprised
Still waiting to see if Natalia from Sexify on Netflix is gonna be canonically asexual-- on one hand she comes off as averse to not just sex but also people in general and like... fun? (the woman is confused at the idea of doing stuff that isn't school or work) which isn't the ace representation I want, but on the other hand, she's the main character and that would be really cool. She's gonna be given a lot of room to grow and figure herself out