Undoing the Absence of Asexuality in the Classroom

Authors

Canton Winer, Northern Illinois UniversityFollow

Abstract

Asexuality exists at the margins of sexuality, often invisible to and misunderstood outside—and even within—the LGBTQIA+ community. As an identity that generally refers to those who experience low/no sexual attraction, asexuality challenges the broadly held notion that everyone experiences sexual attraction. Given the centrality of sexuality to a great deal of feminist scholarship, the absence of asexuality in many feminist classrooms is striking. Moreover, decades of feminist and queer research and pedagogy have demonstrated the vast, liberatory potential of centering the margins as we seek to understand the social world. With that lineage in mind, asexuality presents a rich, relatively neglected realm for highlighting marginalized standpoints and encouraging critical inquiry. In this article, I will discuss the potential consequences of the general exclusion of asexuality from course materials. I will also highlight how undoing the absence of asexuality in feminist curricula allows students and instructors to challenge mainstream paradigms of gender and sexuality—and to better examine the intersections of sexuality, gender, dis/ability, race, and various other vectors of power.

Recommended Citation

Winer, Canton (2023) "Undoing the Absence of Asexuality in the Classroom," Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol4/iss1/9