Silent_Song’s answer to “Has anyone actually noticed that the girl is actually asexual? I seriously feel like everyone has o…” > Likes and Comments
12 likes · Like
Hello there! My original post is a bit old but I'll do my best to reply as accurately as I can!
I never meant to imply survivors don't shut down as a result of abuse, just that it frustrates me that people "use" the fact that she has been abused as a child as absolute proof that she can't be asexual. Asexuals can experience abuse and still be asexual.
The term was around in the 1820-30 as I stated and while its meaning differs from the more modern interpretation, it absolutely could have been used to describe an asexual person.
As examples go,I do remember inventor Nikola Tesla expressing no interest for relationships of any kind in his letters and writer Kenji Miyazawa also.
Regarding the time period of On Chesil Beach, artist Edward Gorey (born in 1925) identified as asexual during his life and writer Keri Hulme (born in 1946) did too.
Just because the term was not known to the general public does not mean asexuals were not asexuals.
Finally, I am quite aware Ian McEwan had no idea of the possibility of Florence being ace, because he rewrote the ending of the film to deny that possibility. You will notice I did mention the concept of "Death of the Author" up there because ultimately what matters the most to me is my personal interpretation of the story. Not only myself, but many asexual people relate deeply to Florence's experiences and we like to consider the ending of her story as a happy one, with her being able to live her life without having to bow down to the sexual/romantic conventions that society AND the man she loves want to impose on her.
For more on "Death of the Author", I find this video explains the concept extremely well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkQsR...
Silent, I so agree: of course asexuality exist within (or outside of) the sexual spectrum!
back to top
date
newest »
newest »
Hello there! My original post is a bit old but I'll do my best to reply as accurately as I can!I never meant to imply survivors don't shut down as a result of abuse, just that it frustrates me that people "use" the fact that she has been abused as a child as absolute proof that she can't be asexual. Asexuals can experience abuse and still be asexual.
The term was around in the 1820-30 as I stated and while its meaning differs from the more modern interpretation, it absolutely could have been used to describe an asexual person.
As examples go,I do remember inventor Nikola Tesla expressing no interest for relationships of any kind in his letters and writer Kenji Miyazawa also.
Regarding the time period of On Chesil Beach, artist Edward Gorey (born in 1925) identified as asexual during his life and writer Keri Hulme (born in 1946) did too.
Just because the term was not known to the general public does not mean asexuals were not asexuals.
Finally, I am quite aware Ian McEwan had no idea of the possibility of Florence being ace, because he rewrote the ending of the film to deny that possibility. You will notice I did mention the concept of "Death of the Author" up there because ultimately what matters the most to me is my personal interpretation of the story. Not only myself, but many asexual people relate deeply to Florence's experiences and we like to consider the ending of her story as a happy one, with her being able to live her life without having to bow down to the sexual/romantic conventions that society AND the man she loves want to impose on her.
For more on "Death of the Author", I find this video explains the concept extremely well:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkQsR...
Silent, I so agree: of course asexuality exist within (or outside of) the sexual spectrum!
Also, she has sexual feelings when he touches her.
The term "asexual" as it currently exists in common parlance is quite new. It may have appeared in medical literature earlier but it wasn't known to the general public and was not considered to be a sexual orientation until quite recently. I seriously doubt that McEwan was thinking about asexuality when writing this, at least in the sense that we talk about it now.