Over and over, I return to an aphorism coined by the Polish philosopher Alfred Korzbski: the map is not the territory. The saying contains both tension and promise. A map is a simplified representation of what is actually there and the landscape is always richer than the markings captured on the page. Yet maps and simplification can still be helpful—after all, all models are wrong, but some are useful. All representations are limited, but better ones can still broaden the gaze. It is time for new and more detailed maps. Asexuality offers these more precise maps, but we must remember that a map
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