Sex/uality Artifacts

For my artifact I used the television show Sirens which depicts an asexual character. I used the scene where they tell the audience that Voodoo identifies as asexual and her interaction with a man who has a crush on her. I decided to use this as my artifact because we were talking about identities in class and because asexuality is an identity that has often never been heard of or is ignored. This show did a pretty good job of explaining what asexuality is and it shows the difference between sexual attraction and romantic attraction. By having one of the characters do research on asexuality they described the orientation pretty well and addressed some of the common misconceptions.

Asexuality is defined as a lack of sexual attraction. That is the only requirement to belong to the Ace community. This means that someone who identifies as Ace will not look at a person and think “I want to have sex with them”. In one of our readings an “ex-gay” man was talking about having to suppress his attraction to men. An asexual would never feel this kind of attraction in the first place. Many people think that ace individuals do not ever want to have sex (as is the case with the character in the show) but that is not necessarily true. Many ace spectrum people will be in relationships with people who are allosexual (a person who feels sexual attraction) and will have sex while in this relationship. While many ace people will go without having sex not all do.

In Sirens the ace character, Voodoo, and another character, Brian, form a relationship. This brings up the concept we talked about in class where there is a separation between sexual and romantic attraction. Although Voodoo was asexual she was not aromantic and still felt romantic attraction toward Brian. They entered a relationship that was the same as many other couples on the show. They would go out together, they would cuddle on the couch and watch movies, they would do other romantic things, but they would not engage in sexual activities. At one point in the show Brian says “I like you. I think you’re funny, and different, and I never know what you’re gonna say, and obviously I think you’re beautiful, but if we never have sex that’s okay because I’m just happy being around you”. The television show show that the relationship is based on more than just sex and is still a valid relationship to be in.

This artifact fit in well with the class because we were talking about different orientations and identities. This showed an identity that is not often talked about and is not always recognized.

My artifact was a shirt that stated “Pansexual Pirate Likes All Kinds of Booty”. I chose this shirt because it related to the topic of sexual orientation, but also brought in the question of gender identity. I identify as pansexual, so to me it means to be attracted to all genders. I also see it as interchangeable with queer, since pansexual is an older term. Where this gets a little complicated is the concept of gender as a spectrum instead of a binary. As was explained in class, gender identity, expression, and sexual orientation are all different aspects of a person. So someone who is pansexual would be attracted to people of any gender, not just the social construct of a binary (man and woman). This includes all sorts of folks. I have found the easiest way to explain to others the idea of gender as a spectrum is to label the spectrum as agender/no gender to pangender/all gender. A pansexual person, like myself would find any person in that spectrum attractive.

Pansexuality is also considered a “middle sexuality”. This means that it would be in the area of a 3 on a Kinsey scale. One of the things that middle sexualities face would be erasure. There are people both in and out of the queer community that continue to think or say that bi-, pan-, and even ace/aro- identifying folks don’t exist. This comes from the idea that there is only homosexual or heterosexual; a person can’t like multiple genders because there are only those two options. An example would be if I were to be attracted to and with a straight, cisgendered man. Someone might say that because of that relationship, I am actually straight. Or if I were to be with a cisgendered woman, I would actually be gay. This binary way of thinking contributes to the erasure and invalidity of middle sexualities. Luckily, more folks are speaking out about it and having their voices heard.

I had mentioned in my presentation that I also identified as panromantic. For me, this means I am also romantically attracted to any gender. The separation between sexual and romantic attraction is important because not only does it make understanding one’s own identity, it also includes those who are aromantic as well. These would be folks who aren’t romantically attracted to anyone. I find this distinction in my identity to be important in explaining that we all have different parts of our identities.

A question that was raised during my presentation was if I think my sexuality is a choice, in relation to the articles read. I personally believe that it is a combination of nature and nurture. I might’ve been “born this way”, but my environment shaped who I am and who I like.

I cannot speak for all pansexual or middle sexuality folks, this is just my opinion based on my experiences and what I’ve learned from others.

LookHuman is known for stealing artwork, please be careful before purchasing their items.

Shirt from: http://www.lookhuman.com/design/66330-pansexual-pirate-likes-all-kinds-of-booty