Equinox Gym Released A Video For Pride And People Are Not Happy With It
So a gym made a video celebrating the LGBTQIA alphabet for pride month, which is great. Except they created a spectrum that manages to include straight people at several points (ally, 'heteroflexible', kink and S&M, not to mention 'exhibitionist'), while ignoring asexual/aromantic/agender existence at all.
I know I shouldn't expect too much from corporate inclusivity-as-advertising, but one has to wonder if the widespread idea that the A stands for 'ally' (to the exclusion of the non-straight identities it also represents) isn't denying us representation just so straight friends and allies can feel part of the team.
I've lost count of the times I've had to gently remind people that asexuals exist, even on this amazingly inclusive forum. Are we too happy to stay invisible? Should we be demanding more recognition in general? When you see things like the canon asexuality of a character being erased in its television adaptation (Riverdale), or a show's creator declaring that an obviously asexual character can't actually be asexual because that would be boring (Sherlock), when I hear over and over that a character needs a love life to be realistic or relatable (thanks for the implication that my own life is poorly written), I wonder if it's time to get a bit rude about it, TBH.
How can allies be made to feel included, without risking pushing out some of the more marginal sexual identities? Is it enough to be valued as an ally without being considered part of the LGBT+ community or having a place within it? Do we just need several A's to make sure everyone's covered?
So a gym made a video celebrating the LGBTQIA alphabet for pride month, which is great. Except they created a spectrum that manages to include straight people at several points (ally, 'heteroflexible', kink and S&M, not to mention 'exhibitionist'), while ignoring asexual/aromantic/agender existence at all.
I know I shouldn't expect too much from corporate inclusivity-as-advertising, but one has to wonder if the widespread idea that the A stands for 'ally' (to the exclusion of the non-straight identities it also represents) isn't denying us representation just so straight friends and allies can feel part of the team.
I've lost count of the times I've had to gently remind people that asexuals exist, even on this amazingly inclusive forum. Are we too happy to stay invisible? Should we be demanding more recognition in general? When you see things like the canon asexuality of a character being erased in its television adaptation (Riverdale), or a show's creator declaring that an obviously asexual character can't actually be asexual because that would be boring (Sherlock), when I hear over and over that a character needs a love life to be realistic or relatable (thanks for the implication that my own life is poorly written), I wonder if it's time to get a bit rude about it, TBH.
How can allies be made to feel included, without risking pushing out some of the more marginal sexual identities? Is it enough to be valued as an ally without being considered part of the LGBT+ community or having a place within it? Do we just need several A's to make sure everyone's covered?