jo-and-aro

[jo-and-aro]

Ya know when I was 11 I made a rule for myself that I wasn’t going to date until I was 15 and in retrospect, that really should have been a tip off that I was aro.

[jo-and-aro]

Romance favourable aro culture is your parents thinking you’re listening to romance songs because you have a crush when you’re actually thinking about your favourite ship and the song fits them perfectly

.

[jo-and-aro]

Aro culture is wanting to come out to people but being scared that you might fall in love later in life and they are going to be like "I knew you'd find the right person eventually, why didn't you believe me?"

.

[jo-and-aro]

Second to last day of Pride Month, and gearing up for Wrath Month (unofficial, for now), we are talking about white supremacy, colonialism, and how to keep that nonsense out of ace and aro spaces! These are just some points and some ideas on the topics - we really encourage everyone to reflect and support your local aspecs of color. And call that shit out when you see it. 

[ID: 5 images with white backgrounds, black borders, black text, and the TAAAP logo in the upper right corners. 

Image one reads “White Supremacy and Ace or Aro Identity. White supremacy and imperialism have strongly impacted most discourse around sexuality, orientation, and relationships. Here are some common sayings that have roots in racism, imperialism, and/or colonialism: “Aces and aros of color are hard to find.” - While some ace and aro spaces are definitely white dominated, this should NOT be treated as a natural thing. It should be questioned why a space has such little racial diversity and what barriers exist that keep POC out. Also, with online spaces, many people presume white and American as the default even when it is not necessarily reflective of the space.”

The second image reads “White Supremacy and Ace or Aro Identity. “Oh this person doesn’t look [ace or aro].” - Asexuality and aromanticism do not have a “look”. This is in general queerphobic, as it imagines that LGBTQIA+ people are easily identifiable by their looks, but is often specifically weaponized against POC. As an example. black people and women of color in particular are generally stereotyped as more sexual and “promiscuous” than their European counterparts. What someone “looks” like is heavily impacted by the bias behind the eyes seeing them. “

The third image reads “White Supremacy and Ace or Aro Identity. “We’re just like you/We’re not sick/We’re normal.” - Normalization discourses throw everyone that cannot be “normal” under the bus. As we live in a society shaped by imperialism, colonialism, misogyny, and capitalism, “normal” is decided by those ideas and the structures born from them. POC are never going to have a “normal” sexuality because their bodies are considered inherently “abnormal”. “Normal” is a weapon of the state, and queer activists would do better to not wield it.”

Image four reads “White Supremacy and Ace or Aro Identity, and how to keep that Sh!t out of our community. Question the standards and norms of the spaces you engage in, and consider what kind of community they have created for that space. Prioritize changing structures and norms rather than trying to fit into them or make them more “inclusive” - inclusion can only go so far, as structures and norms seek to privilege a certain way of living.”

Image 5 reads “White Supremacy and Ace or Aro Identity, and how to keep that Sh!t out of our community. Don’t leave people behind. Identity is intersectional and people should not be asked to prioritize one identity over another. We are stronger when we form coalitions.  Deplatform racists. Don’t deplatform POC when they ask racists to stop being racist. Don’t deplatform POC when they don’t ask nicely.” There is a black megaphone at the bottom of this image. End ID.]

[jo-and-aro]

Aro culture is sometimes having a hard time getting attached to female characters because you have the horrible paranoia that they'll be forced into a romantic relationship and stop being an interesting character

.

[jo-and-aro]

Aro culture is being annoyed when you see that Loveless by Alice Oseman has been categorised in the Romance genre by a bookshop website.

.

[jo-and-aro]

[jo-and-aro]

If you:

Are romance repulsed

Are romance favorable

Are romance neutral

Have fluctuating feelings on romance

Aren't sure how you feel about romance

Then you are more radiant than a full moon on a clear night, more breathtaking than any view, and your mere existence puts the stars in the sky to shame. These are facts.

[jo-and-aro]

You’re allowed to define your relationships and what they mean to you. Not every relationship fits neatly into friend, family, romantic partner.

[jo-and-aro]

May I offer you some frogs in this Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week?

[jo-and-aro]

Crystal Aromantic Flag (Revised). Feel free to use

Aromantic (identity): A term used to describe a person who does not experience romantic attraction.

Aromantic (spectrum): A term used to describe a person who does not experience romantic attraction, or only experiences romantic attraction rarely and/or when specific requirements are met.

[jo-and-aro]

toothless pride icons! the edges are transparent ;)

please like/rb if you use them!

[jo-and-aro]

[jo-and-aro]

If you’re old enough to use the internet unsupervised, then you’re old enough to learn how to avoid content that upsets you.

Adult fans and content creators are NOT your babysitters.

[jo-and-aro]

straight people: do you have a boyfriend yet?

me:

[jo-and-aro]

INTERSEX

What is intersex?

At its most basic level intersex is any aspect of bimodal sex development that is different from expected perisex development. (Perisex refers to people who are not intersex)

CW: I'm going to use a lot of clinical language so that hopefully perisex people and people who are wondering if they themselves might be intersex will be better able to follow.

.

What do we mean by "sex"?

Sex is made up of a range of different factors. Factors like chromosomes, sex hormones, your bodies response or lack of response to certain hormones, genes and epigenetics. All of these factors come together to make your sex.

.

What makes somebody intersex?

Put simply, any notable divergence from perisex development is intersex.

-Chromosomes/Karyotype

In highscool you probably learned that XX chromosomes make a "female" and XY makes a "male". It's more complicated than that.

But there are all sorts of combinations you could have. There is XX, XY, XXX, XXY, XYY, XO.

You might even have a fragmentary autosome in your karyotype like me. Sometimes when a lot of data is missing the negative space will be filled by duplicating data from the intact autosome. Depending on what is missing and what is duplicated, sexual development can be significantly varied.

-Hormones

A difference in the production of sex hormones can make you intersex.

PCOS is intersex because high naturally occurring levels of androgens are not expected of a 46XX genotype. The elevated levels of these sex hormones cause the individual to develop associated seconday sex characteristics such as facial hair. More info in this link.

This is also true for people who's bodies do not produce sex hormones at effective levels. Pituitary hypo-productivity might be responsible, it might not, but if you couldn't start puberty without medical assistance then you're intersex.

Maybe you don't respond to some sex hormones. If you are 46XY with the associated expected hormone levels but are androgen insensitive, your development will not include the effects of those masculinising hormones. That makes you intersex.

There are too many examples to list, but this should give you the idea.

-Genetics/Epigenetics

Genes and importantly how/if they are expressed is a factor too.

You might have a Karyotype of 46XX and have an expressed SRY gene/protein. This results in "masculine" fetal development and external genitalia, and is sometimes referred to as "XX male"

The inverse is also true, 46XY with an absent or suppressed SRY gene/protein results in "feminine" fetal development and external genitalia.

Again, this is a topic that could go on forever, but genetic elements that have caused sexual development that is different to the perisex expectation of sexual development makes you intersex.

.

Does being intersex make you transgender?

No. There are a lot of ways that intersex experiences intersect with trans experiences. And intersex people are absolutely justified in identifying with the trans label for any number of personal reasons. You can be intersex and trans.

.

Can I call myself intersex?

Nobody can decide to become intersex, it's one of those things that just is or isn't. But your doctor probably won't use the term intersex, it's not specific enough so they'll say Klinefelters or hypo- androgen or a thousand other things. So if you read this post and you go "hey, that's me" then go ahead and say "I'm intersex".

.

Mhacha loves you all

💛💜💛

Perisex people are encouraged to share.

And a brief message to people who feel entitled to attack others for questioning their assumed perisex status. DON'T. You're not helping us, you're hurting us.

If somebody is saying "I think I might be intersex, I'm not sure" then they definitely have reasons for that. And you have no right to ask them, a person who is trying to make sense of their body, to defend themself when they have only just begun to understand it themself.

This especially goes for transmeds and TERFs. It's not your job to police this.

[jo-and-aro]

It takes time to unlearn internalized aphobia. It’s OK if you’re not there yet.