Considering the impacts of media representations of asexuality

Did you know there have only been eight explicitly asexual characters on British television (including streaming) since 2014? Asexuality is a sexual orientation within the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, yet despite the recent increase in queer and trans media, asexuality still remains largely invisible on TV and in the wider media.

For those who don’t know, asexuality is commonly defined as a sexual orientation wherein people don’t experience sexual attraction or only experience sexual attraction rarely or after developing a close bond with another person. Representations of asexuality, therefore, are very important in giving visibility to this identity. Especially as, historically, asexuality and ideas linked to asexuality (such a having a disinterest or no desire for sex) have been pathologised and medicalised, which is sadly something which continues today.

Furthermore, because experiencing sexual attraction and a desire for sex is still considered the norm, it can be very difficult for asexual people to come out, to talk about their experiences, or realise they are asexual in the first place. Indeed, it’s sadly common for asexual people to feel ‘wrong’ or ‘broken’ before learning about asexuality and that asexuality is a valid sexual orientation they can have.

The lack of media representations of asexuality doesn’t help this experience, but as asexual activist and writer Julie Sondra Decker wrote back in 2014 in The Invisible Orientation, ‘Representation matters a lot to asexual people because there is so little of it” (p.n. 84). Thankfully, in the years since Decker wrote this, asexual representation has increased – somewhat. However, an increase in representations doesn’t mean that these representations are accurate or are ‘good’ representations, and all too often these representations can be misrepresentative, stereotypical, and potentially even harmful. Yet the impacts these representations can have on asexual audiences and communities haven’t really been explored – especially in a British context.

My research aims to change this; by speaking to asexuals living in the UK and Ireland about their experiences and exploring the ways the media impacts us as individuals, and as a community. Through discussions around what ‘counts’ as asexual representation, what makes asexual representation good or bad, and reflecting on different asexual representations, my research has started to uncover several issues within asexual representation, which are impacting asexual people themselves.

For example, asexuality is repeatedly being represented through white cisgender teenaged characters (e.g. Heartstopper, Emmerdale), meaning many asexuals do not see their own diverse and intersectional experiences portrayed. Simultaneously, asexuality is represented almost exclusively through side-characters who often only get a handful of minutes of screen time and then aren’t seen again (e.g., Heartstopper, Sex Education), which doesn’t allow for more than superficial explorations of asexuality to be shown. This all comes together to suggest that only certain experiences ‘count’ as being asexual (or perhaps ‘asexual enough’) and even when asexuality is shown, it’s not worthy or important enough to gain more than a few minutes of screen time.

Perhaps, it can be said this is still a starting point for asexual representations but given that asexuality has been depicted on television for over twenty years (if we include non-fictional discussions of asexuality, as well), this isn’t good enough. The invisibility and misrepresentation of asexuality in the media can harm asexual people, which is why having more (and better) representations of asexuality in the media is seen as a necessity, and why I think doing this research matters so much.

However, as we celebrate Ace Week, it’s important to note that asexuality is not protected under the Equality Act 2010, and that asexuality needs greater representation in all its forms (from the media to healthcare, and education to law) going forward.

To hear more about Rebecca’s research and some of the key ways asexuality has been represented on television, listen to the B Film Queer Pod episode, ‘Asexuality on Screen’