#ace and aro identities are complex. dont forget that

[cosmicredcadet]

I think the reason I'm willing to give so much leeway to shows describing asexual as "a lack of attraction" without specifically saying sexual attraction is because

1. Most of society doesn't follow the split attraction model so when used in a non-sam way that definition can work

2. That's how I used to identify and how many others used to and still do identify. Hearing asexual described like that made it easier to find resources which lead to me finding I'm aromantic.

Yes, I know a non-sam allo audience and writers aren't looking at the asexual identity from the complex lense of there being non-sam aces and sam aces. I'm not saying that they are or can't be criticized.

What I am saying is that saying "asexual never means no romantic attraction" as an answer to the lack of aro rep is... Not always the case and is ignoring the wider issue of the split attraction model not being a widely used model outside of the aspec community.

I think it's important to realize that for some people, asexual does mean lack of sexual and romantic attraction. Similar to how for some people aro means lack of both as well. It depends on if the person sees their romantic and sexual attraction as the same thing or not. It depends on what label they are most comfortable with.

Yes we need more aro characters in media! Yes we need more ace characters who use definitions of asexual as "lack of sexual attraction" because we need more rep and we need writers who understand the identities they are writing for. But I don't hold it against anyone for describing ace as a lack of both attractions, because for some people that is how it is for them. I don't think we should get rid of that rep fully, but we should work on getting more informed representation in media to really show the spectrum of aro and ace identities.

I still think the representation we have right now is fine, even if you think the definition is "wrong". I think we can still do better and demand better representation without possibly hurting people who do identify with this "wrong" definition.