#gray ace
I’m at Ace Hardware, so I figured it was appropriate.
*NO REPOSTS/NO BIGOTS*
Here’s a story: I grew up wanting to get pregnant. Didn’t know how. Didn’t know it usually involved another person. Just knew, as young as 5, that I loved how pregnant people looked and the result was a baby. I love babies.
Problem 1: I learned as a teenager what sex actually was (and I’m talking LATE teens. I missed some classes in Sex Ed, and my mom didn’t tell me a damn thing about why I had my period every month). I didn’t start feeling arousal until maybe 19? “Late bloomer.”
Problem 2: I don’t like 95% of the kids roaming the earth. Even as a kid, I didn’t like many other kids, especially the ones on TV. Precocious twits.
Anyway, fast forward. My older sister has a baby, and after an endless night of her crying while babysitting, that was the first time I said, “I’M NEVER HAVING KIDS!”
I meant it, but I still wanted a baby. In fact, my cousin and I had a pact that in the future I would raise her baby and she could raise my toddler (that’s how much I don’t like children).
Fast forward again, and I go through high school and college with a few casual boyfriends, only one of which I even kissed, and that was enough for me ☂️(Pretend this is the ace version of a red flag).
Fast forward one more time to me hitting my 30s having missed my childhood goal to get married and have 3 kids before 30. It was in my 30s I discovered demisexuality and about 37 (the age I am now) when I resigned myself to never even finding anyone I want to have a child with. After chemotherapy, I don’t even know what my eggs are looking like.
But last week, I spoke with a doctor about getting fibroids removed, and though one of the options was getting a hysterectomy, I realized…I want my uterus. I never know who I can meet in the next few years.
So to wrap this up, I surprised myself that a part of me still wants to try to have a child I might like.
we need 2 normalize characters who dgaf about romance
sorry im literally so tired of everyone being shipped with someone can a guy not just chill
i want 2 say this isnt just about aro characters. im aro i love aro characters i love ace characters but this also is about allo characters. its normal and healthy and fine for alloromantic people to not be in romantic relationships and i wish media reflected that
Stop treating a disinterest in marriage, romance, or relationships like a character flaw that needs to be fixed.
That’s the one!
My cousin walked up to me at our other cousin’s party and said, “Do something for me.”
We’re a week apart, and I also have zero issues with inhibition, so I said, okay.
She held out her arms and asked me to put my hands through her bell sleeves. I did, and then she said, “Now, I have an ace up my sleeve .”
Absolutely love her.
HappyInternational Asexuality Day to all my established, newfound, umbrella, and questioning aces out there. You are loved, and you are VALID!
But anyway, weed and sex.
cw: mentions of smex and stuff
Had a sexologist come to our auditorium yesterday and, as a sex-repulsed ace, I thought I was going to hate every second of it.
Oddly enough, I didn’t?? I actually had a blast and learned a lot of things. That woman changed my whole perception on so much. And I have to say this.
Allos and all you non-repulsed aces: don’t be ashamed of your sexual nature. Talk about it, be gross and “not proper”, fight against the shaming, demand your sexual rights because did you know there was a World Congress of Sexology held in Hong Kong, 1999 that established the Declaration of Sexual Rights? If you want to know more, here.
ALSO!! Aces who still m@ stürb@ te and have sexual fantasies: YOU’RE SO VALID! Don’t hide it thinking that you’re “betraying” the asexual community like I did. I promise that you’re not. The community is here for you and there’s little (regarding your sexuality) that you can do to harm it in any way.
OTP Prompt 368
“Some people wake up with ‘morning wood’. I wake up with ‘morning would rather have fifteen more minutes of sleep’ to be honest. So no, I wouldn’t like to get in a quicky.”
on this fine pride month, reblog if you’re also kinda ace, very panromantic, and want pretty people to consensually beat you up.
I drew this very specific ace artist meme with Mothman because I wanted to feel some happiness specific to me.
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Happy trans day of visibility to graysexual and/or otherwise a-spec trans people!
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There’s no one way to identify as gray-asexual! These are some of the many reasons a person might identify with the term.
[ID: A purple square with grey text that reads: “I am gray-asexual. Sexual attraction doesn’t make sense to me. I experience sexual attraction, but only mildly. I only feel sexual attraction under certain circumstances. I experience sexual attraction, but I don’t have a desire to have sex. I experience sexual attraction, but it fades over time. Sometimes I experience sexual attraction, sometimes I don’t. I have a desire to have sex, but I don’t experience sexual attraction. I only feel sexual attraction rarely. I relate to the word ‘asexual’, but that doesn’t capture my whole experience.” End ID.]
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hey just a fucking psa because apparently i still need to say this in the year of our lord 2021
being aspec, whether you are arospec, acespec, or both, is NOT A BAD THING. being aspec is NOT A BAD ORIENTATION. you are a whole person who is FULLY capable of living a fulfilling life HOWEVER YOU WANT and if anyone says anything that tries to negate that then theyre not worth your fucking time
you dont “seem” aspec to other people? i dont give a shit!! “aspec” is not a set personality trait and no one has the right to tell you who you are
you “cant give as much” as allo people can? thats BULLSHIT you are SO capable and you can give as much or as little as youre comfortable with in ANY given situation
its “a shame” that you identify this way? there is NOTHING shameful about being and identifying as aspec
your identity is “too complicated”? tough shit!! they can do some research on their own! you are not nor ever will be obligated to have to teach willfully ignorant people anything about yourself or your experiences
your headcanons “dont make sense”? ANYONE can be aspec. anyone can be ANY orientation fictional or real and whoever says otherwise can take it and stick it. we deserve diverse rep, and we deserve rep PERIOD.
you are not broken. you are not a mistake. you are not a waste of space. you are not a burden. and you are not evil or bad for being aspec. you are beautiful you are loved and you deserve to be celebrated. and anyone who tries to take that away from you can fuck off.
Allosexuality is the real spectrum here. There are many ways to experience sexual attraction. There’s only one way to experience no sexual attraction.
please let this become common knowledge. I’m so tired of demisexuals, greysexuals, etc. saying they’re ace. No you’re not. If you experience sexual attraction even once, you’re allo.
Normalize low libido
Normalize all levels of sexual attraction and that there are many ways to experience allosexuality. Low and high libidos are still allosexual. No libido is asexual.
Exactly, in America it’s set up that if you’re not fucking twice a week then there is something wrong with you, that there is a special term for you. No, the sex crazed have just taken over now they have been released. Just let them do their thing bro
OMFG we really need to talk about how weird Murricans definition of asexuality is:
Like this post right here has a checklist to see if you’re ace and more than half of them are just normal traits! Not even traits of introverts! Just normal traits! Worst of all this is culture-specific so by this logic - every Asian and Jewish person is ace!
The most egregious is “you can’t understand why people would cheat.” Being faithful to your partner makes you ace?!? Murricans?! Are you okay?!
Same with aromantacism, there’s no “spectrum”, either you feel romantic attraction or you don’t.
^^ yup! Typically when I discuss topics involving asexuality I also mean the same with aromanticisn.
Pride Month Pride Chats!
As it is Pride Month, we have our Pride Chats Discord Server every weekend.
Each weekend has a different theme:
- Weekend 1 (June 4-6) – Pride
- Weekend 2 (June 11-13) – Intersections with other identities
- Weekend 3 (June 18-20) – Community Building
- Weekend 4 (June 25-27) – Activism
This month’s chats will be open from 10:00 am Eastern Saturdays to 11:59 pm Eastern Mondays. (That’s 2 PM GMT Saturdays through 3:59 AM GMT Tuesdays).
You can join our Discord server here: https://taaap.org/pride-chat-registration/
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Today, on International Sex Workers Day, we are posting about the experiences of ace and aro sex workers. Thank you to all who shared their experiences!
The graphics below feature some quotes from our article, but there’s much more: https://taaap.org/2022/06/02/aspec-sex-workers/
[ID: Aspec Sex Workers. “Just because I’m asexual doesn’t mean that sex work was traumatizing for me. Sex work was a revelation for me. Doing my ideal work, I had a lot of control over who I saw, how much I wanted to be paid, and what my expectations were. I was able to have boundaries, clear, firm boundaries, in a way I didn’t feel safe in my personal relationships having boundaries.” - Kitty Stryker. “It can be a struggle to assert my own needs when they conflict with clients’ desires. It also makes it harder to find people who’ll pay for my services since I’m much more narrow in what I’m willing to do compared to many other sex workers.” - Alice.
Aspec Sex Workers. “There are many different types of sex work and different people have different needs, wants and limitations.” - Destiny. “Aspec communities could better support me by continuing to remind themselves that sex and sexual attraction are two different things. As are kink and sex or sex work and sex. We just need to keep differentiating between things that society keeps trying to group together.” - Amber. “The main way I would like to see aspec communities better support me is to invite us to speak. Normalize us (and not just the slender, cis and white among us, but all of us)!” - Kitty Stryker. End ID.]
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For Pride Month, we’d like to feature voices of aspec people too often left out of this month and our celebrations! So if you’re ace or aro and are straight, loveless, or don’t identify as queer, please get in touch!
You can DM us here or email us at [email protected] and let us know which article you’d be interested in contributing to.
[ID: Call for Aspec Voices. We are looking for any ace-spectrum or aro-spectrum person who identifies with any of the following: Aspecs who don’t identify as queer –This includes aspecs who don’t identify with or feel included in the queer community for any reason. Loveless aspecs –This includes aspecs who reject, don’t identify with, or don’t experience the word love or the concept of it. Straight aspecs–This includes heterosexual and/or heteromantic ace-spectrum or aro-spectrum people, as well as aspecs who identify as hetero on any axis of attraction. We will be posting three separate articles to show that Pride Month is for all aspecs!
Call for Aspec Voices. Pride Month Aspec Voices! What: Contribute to an article by writing answers to our questions. Why: To showcase the variety of aspec experiences. How: DM or email us at [email protected]↵↵When: - Reach out by June 13 - Responses due by June 23 - Articles will be posted the last week of June. End ID.]
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The last of our series on this topic! Read the full article here: https://taaap.org/2022/05/30/masturbation-libido-part-three/
Thanks again to all who contributed!
[ID: Aspec Voices - Masturbation and Libido Part III. “Make space to have these discussions, and don’t be part of the group of people that automatically question an ace identity when there is a relationship with libido and masturbation.” - Ignazio. “Just because I have an itch I chose to scratch doesn’t make me less ace, or have less in common with other aspecs.” - Alphena. “It would be nice if this side of asexuality was more celebrated. Whether we have a libido, are sex-averse, or apthetic to it, we’re all still aspec.” - Dez.
Aspec Voices - Masturbation and Libido Part III. “Having a libido and masturbating doesn’t always mean we want to do or consent to a partnered sex. Don’t think or say the “real” sex is better, because sexual pleasure can be achieved differently for different people, and if they decide not to have sex with someone else, just let them be.” - Cyrus. “Sometimes, I also just masturbate because it can help relieve stress and is enjoyable as a physical process.” - Eva. “Because of this lack of conversations around asexual libido, it took me so much longer to claim asexuality for myself.” - Noah. End ID,]
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June 2nd is International SWers Day, and we would like to post an article with the perspective of aspec SWers! You can reach out by emailing us at [email protected] or by DM’ing us either here or one of our other social media platforms.
(Note - I’m abbreviating the word for the caption and altering it for the image description to get around any censor/filter nonsense. If you have a better method for doing this that is more screen-reader friendly, please let me know!)
[ID: “Call for Aspec Voices. Who: Any aro-spectrum and/or ace-spectrum person who ever has or currently engages in seggs work. We include any kind of k!nk, f3tish, or domination work, bornography, sensual massage, webcam seggs work, phone seggs, erotic performance, seggsual surrogacy, full-service seggs work, or any other kind of seggsual services performed for money. What: Contribute to an article by writing answers to our questions. Why: To showcase the variety of aspec experiences. When: Reach out by May 16. Responses due by May 24. Article will be posted June 2 (International Seggs Workers Day).”
“Call for Aspec Voices. How: DM or email us at [email protected]. Our privacy protection measures: TAAAP uses ProtonMail, so all emails in our mailbox are stored with zero-access encryption, and all emails sent from other ProtonMail users are automatically end-to-end encrypted. If you do not use ProtonMail and you want your responses to be encrypted (from your email provider), you can ask us to send you an email encrypted with a password of your choice. For more info, see https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/encrypt-for-outside-users/. We will not store your responses in any unsecured or unencrypted cloud storage like Google Drive, and you can choose for your responses to be anonymous in the article (or use a pseudonym, initial, etc.).“ End ID.]
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Its Autism Acceptance Month - many people in the aro and ace communities are neurodivergent in some way, and specifically autistic. Here’s our article on some of the ways these identities intersect: https://taaap.org/2022/04/23/autism-and-aspec-identities/
[ID: The first infographic reads “Autism and Aspec Identities. Research suggests that autistic individuals are over twice as likely to identify as non-heterosexual than allistic individuals. 36.5 % of respondents to the 2020 Aro Census identified as neurodiverse. 17.5% of respondents to the 2019 Ace Community Survey identified as autistic.” There are pictures of a pair of headphones with rainbows and an infinity sign on them, and a blue jacket with a rainbow on the back as well as an infinity sign.
The second infographic reads “Autism and Aspec Identities. Autistic people may find that their orientations are influenced by touch sensitivities and aversions, social aversions, and/or not internalizing social norms. Allistic people often stereotype autistic people as cold, unfeeling, and/or as child-like. This leaves autistic aspecs in a double bind in which their lack of romantic and/or sexual attraction gets wrapped up in this stereotype rather than being seen as a valid identity.“ There are pictures of a sneaker with a rainbow and infinity sign on it, a baseball cap with a rainbow infinity sign, and a pair of rainbow earrings with infinity signs on them. End ID.]
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[ID: A 4 panel meme. Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh, labelled “aphobes,” holds up a card that says “if you don’t experience romantic or sexual attraction then you must be a robot.” Yuugi, labelled “me,” smirks and holds up a card, then turns it to reveal it says “robots are awesome.” In the last panel, Kaiba is blown away, screaming. End ID.]
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