The Power of Asexual Visibility On-Screen
- queerkey
- Mar 10, 2020
- 2 min read
We all have a loose knowledge of what the term "asexuality" means. To some, it is the feeling of sexlessness, or the lack of desire. To some they are probably waiting for the right one, while to some, they're yet to bloom. To most, however, they are just plain weird.
Individuals belonging to the queer community have almost most certainly lacked the exposure of fame, and there were instances when straight artists lost jobs for playing a queer role.
In this age of advanced technologies, where people are finally being vocal about issues pertaining to the misrepresentation or underrepresentation of members of a community, a certain sect of a community has had been shoved into the darkness.
Asexuals.
"So they just don't have sex. that's it, right?", the curiosity asks.
That is all the general public knows about this spectrum.
Then came Netflix's Bojack Horseman and Sex Education, and they might just be the slither of light at the end of a tunnel. Both the shows hosted and flourished in the fields of entertainment, however, they wove their characters into life and gave them sexual identities and enough representation and screen time.
Although Bojack Horseman is primarily an animated cartoon series, it sparks a sense of inclusiveness when they identify characters clinging on to unspoken conventions. The show breaks apart the notion of Asexuality and poses an educational feat with every passing episode. In one of the episodes, there is a mention of an Asexual dating app - one, which has never seen light of day till then.
Sex Education - regardless of the name is more of a fun-filled educational series which seeps into the cracks of one's sexuality. The show has successfully featured characters belonging to almost half of the spectrum with the utmost sense of respect
In their 2020 season of the show, we are finally introduced to an Ace. This is where it gets tricky.
Asexuality has nothing but only something to do with withholding sex voluntarily. It does not mean that people born under this sub-umbrella are sexually detached or stunted or have no romantic feelings whatsoever.
Being an asexual is never something to do with not wanting to create a connection. How many of us knew that?
And that is why we need shows like Bojack Horseman and Sex Education to speak up and verbalize an existing problem pattern. Asexual visibility on-screen is just as crucial as it is to the representation of other sexual orientations.
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