A Twitter Post I’m Thinking Waaay To Hard About

Once again briefly resurfacing from my graduate studies because there was a Twitter post that I stumbled across that is occupying way to much of my mental bandwidth. I’m just going to try the earworm trick of passing it on so I can get on with my day.

So there is a LOT going on here.

The image is a screenshot of a quotetweet. [Quick caveat being that obviously this is just one small teeny tiny bit of information and to draw big sweeping conclusions from a single image is like assuming a single drop of water is an accurate representation of the composition of the ocean.] The center point of the image is a text box containing “LGB” followed by a scissors emoji and then “TQIA+”, implying that the latter letters and plus sign should be “cut” from “LGB”. The text box is covering a photograph. The photograph has a grayscales filter except for two articles of clothing, a red MAGA hat and a American flag sleeveless top, worn by the individual in the photo. The photo and the account belong to “Lady Maga USA”, a “drag artist” according to the account’s bio. The text of the tweet reads: Dear gays & lesbians (bisexuals are not mentioned) : walk away now (in all caps). Your
community (community is in quotations) no longer exist. Do you think children can consent to drugs and surgery because they’re different? Do you think minor attracted persons (with minor attracted persons in quotes) have anything to do with you? Wake up. Speak up. Now (now in all caps). Lastly there is a link to another twitter account that can be read as @ against groomers. The Tweet was posted on August 12, 2022. The screenshot was captured two days later. The OP is quoted by another account with the user name and handle redacted. The quote tweet says: I completely agree with this statement. LGB without (in all caps) the T and c(ompany) Because the nonsense has gone on long enough.

So, there is a LOT to unpack here. There are more layers in this screenshot than a renaissance painting and I am experiencing some complex feelings knowing that 1) this tweet exists and 2) this is a single slice of the here and now that future historians will likely never see nor have any knowledge of. It is by far the weirdest mashup I’ve seen thus far on Twitter. When today’s technology becomes obsolete and the majority of information is lost rather than archived the screenshot, the context, the original post, will all be gone. But for now…this is a thing!

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What’s it Like Running an Aphobe Hot-takes account?

Greetings! My internet is absolutely crap right now so I just wanted to do a quick post and the easiest topic I can throw together is about running @Aphobehottakes on Twitter. It’s actually not very exciting.

TW// aphobia because I will be showing some screenshots. yay. Fingers crossed that all of my screenshots still load after I hit “Publish”
(TW is short hand for trigger warning)

That One Medium Article Acephobes Love to Cite

There’s a Medium “article” that acephobes like to cite as “proof” that Aces aren’t inherently part of the LGBTQ community. Throwing the link into the Twitter search bar is an easy way to get a block list going.

Twitter Screenshot: “This article does a great job at explaining why asexuals are not inherently LGBT”

Twitter Screenshot: “worldpride madrid is wrong”

Twitter Screenshot “cishet aces in our spaces put us at risk.”

Today I’m going to put this article under the microscope. Who wrote it? What sources did they use? Is it accurate or is it just a hodgepodge of tumblr posts spliced together to look official?

It’s 2020 and Acephobes Can’t Get Over David Jay’s Forum Post From 2003

[Edited: I noticed there might be some tonal issues with the post in its original and have expanded in a few places]

I feel like it’s been an eternity since I’ve contributed to my blog, but I’m house-sitting for somebody with a desktop this weekend so hopefully I can crank out a couple of drafts to post later. For now I’m going to address the click-baity topic I’ve chosen for this post.

Some context: Every couple of months or so acephobes will dig up an AVEN forum post David Jay posted in 2003 with the f-slur in it and shove it in ace people’s faces like “IS THIS YOUR KING?”

So We Just Don’t Talk About It

The words are there. The Oxford English dictionary added Agender, Bi-gender, Cisgender, Cissexism, FTM, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Identity, Gender-fluid, Genderqueer, Misgender, MTF, Mx, Nonbinary,Transman, Transperson, Transphobia, and Transwoman to their online dictionary.

But my friends and I don’t talk about it. I came out to two of my friends who I’ve known, loved (platonically of course) and appreciated for seven years. Seven years is supposed to be a magic number. People say if you’re friends for seven years, you’ll be friends forever.

So, why does my friend say that when people use “they/them” as a singular pronoun it makes him uncomfortable and doesn’t “sound right” to him? Why when he’s trying to write a story with an aromantic character and they come off as heartless do I have to correct him and say we’re not like that? Why do my friends and family have to tell me my gender and sexuality isn’t real. I may not feel romance, but I can feel loyalty that would make Samwise Gamgee come off as flaky. Because of that I’m at an impasse.

I can’t change my friends’ minds by just talking to them. If I try to correct them they get defensive and will try that much harder to prove me wrong. The platitude “those who mind don’t matter and those who matter won’t mind” is adorable and I guiltily confess to pining it to my pinterest board three times, but I can’t just dump all my friends and start over. I feel bound by loyalty, bound by the duty of friendship to understand them as human beings and love them despite their faults. I will be a true friend even when they aren’t.

So, we just don’t talk about it. I don’t wave my pride flags in their faces and demand they love me. Instead I talk about how comfortable my unisex clothes make me feel. I talk about how purple and green are my favorite colors. I talk about what a pain in the ass makeup is and that no matter how many pinterest tutorials I find it never makes any sense. I talk about how I don’t like going to loud dance clubs, but will get up and do a group dance at the Folk Life festival. I talk about how I love writing more than anything. I talk about my favorite characters. I talk about what books I’m reading (with asexual and trans characters, of course, but I leave that part out). I talk about my coworkers who are so confused because I’m so weird. I talk about everything me, but “it”.

I let “it” speak for itself.

You’re Not Helping Anyone: Examples of Acephobic Sex Positivity

blvkandasexual:

How is this above picture acephobic?:

Obviously, it states that those who don’t enjoy sex are weird or unnatural. Though we all agree that slut shaming needs to end, this isn’t the way to do so. This post is an example of why asexuals will say that we feel ‘broken’.

This entire episode of Glee (x)

How is it acephobic?:

Throughout the Glee episode, it is enforced that sex is required for intimacy, those who do not show interest or abstain from sex are ‘naive and possibly frigid’ (direct quote), those who abstain from sex are just uneducated, and that everyone experiences sexual feelings once they fall in love. Though the premise is good, as it poked fun at those who were against sex education and want abstinence to be taught in schools, the episode is just…. yikes.

[tw for acephobia and ableist language] (x)

This was sent to an asexual who had wrote so in their okcupid bio. Picture reads as follows:

“Just to give you a quick idea here, I have zero interest in you at all, I just thought your answers to some of the questions were interesting.

Because many women on this site think that not sleeping with your partner before marrying them or marrying someone who is “asexual” or not attracted to anyone/thing is more of a problem than you think.

First of all, sex plays a huge part in any healthy romantic relationship, be that relationship ending in some kind of union or not. Human beings, like any other animal on this blue rock, have a single, solitary purpose in this life, procreation.

Now, I am the farthest person to say that couples should be required to marry and have children, knowing that I am reluctant on the idea of marriage and and not at all okay with the idea of having kids, but I do know that as a healthy, sane human, I am given the urge to, like all animals, procreate.

And therein lies the whole reason of my message.

Any adult human being that does not take sex seriously is obviously either far too immature to be considered an adult or is not mentally sane; see “sociopath”.

Anyway, going to leave you with those facts, I apologize if you found them offensive, but don’t bother telling me if they were, because I really don’t care. This was just somehing I wrote whitlist waiting for my….

Peace.“

How is this acephobic?:

Frankly, this is your everyday acephobe who attempts to back their “opinion” up with “science”. Though this person is hesitant themselves to marry or have children, how dare an asexual due the same! Also, people who feel the need to be downright insulting while ending it with, “I don’t really care how you respond… I just wanted to say this!” are the epitome of immature and childish. How ironic.

For those of you who do not know: Ruth Westheimer is a famous sex therapist who was very popular in the 1980s for her blunt ways of speaking about sex! She touched on many sexual topics from gynecology to the best sex positions for couples.

Tweets read as follows:

Dr. Ruth: “Studies say that 1% of the pop. (population) is asexual. To me that’s 1% too much but sexuality is a spectrum so good that it’s so low and not 10%.”

Asexual Pride: “The insinuation that we’re a waste of space is offensive. Learn about our community before making blind, ignorant assumptions.”

Rachel J. Morris: @Dr.Ruth boo. I’m happy with my asexuality, asexuality isn’t something that ought to not exist, or have too many of us.

How is this acephobic?:

You go, Rachel! What Dr. Ruth has said translates into most asexual’s minds as, “Ya’ll are a waste of space because you don’t procreate or pleasure someone else.”. What she’s said is an example of why a good percent of the asexual community are hesitant to join or feel uncomfortable in sex positive spaces.