Books for Change discussion

Share your thoughts on asexual rep and asexuality!

I don’t see ace rep around much but lately I have been into Alice Oseman’s books and she has great ace representation even in her book ‘Loveless’ which is one of my favourite books has a really nice Aromatic asexual rep. I hope books can have more platonic relationships and more representation which comes naturally and not forced!

Ayyy I'm asexual so this is def my topic! I find that there are very few books with ace rep and those that have ace rep aren't often advertised as having ace rep. As Ray pointed out, Alice Oseman's Loveless has ace rep and though I haven't read it yet I've heard mostly good things about the rep. Some other books that have ace rep are Human Enough, Found in Night, and Darling. The Sound of Stars has demi rep which is sometimes considered part of the asexual spectrum. I think books and media in general need more asexual rep. Sex ed in school teach students that sexual attraction is a necessary part of relationships and love. They seriously drill it into you that you're going to feel sexual attraction. It left me sitting in class feeling weird about myself and hating myself for not feeling it. I'd fake having sexual attraction when I'd talk to my friends because I felt like something was wrong with me. It wasn't until I read about asexuality in a book that I began to understand and accept myself. Asexual rep is also important in order to teach others to be accepting of ace people. There's still so much aphobia, even from people who claim to accept the LGBTQ+ community, so it's important to try to defeat aphobia by including more ace rep and by also making it clear that romantic attraction is not the same thing as sexual attraction. :)

So grateful to read these posts, expanding my mind/comprehension. What a fascinating Group!