A Reflection on Representation

I recently revisited one of my particular identities and how it is represented after learning about a cool panel which will happen at C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo) this year. (More info Here https://www.facebook.com/events/892319884221750/).

I am always super happy when Asexuality is included in any conference or panel so I sent the creator Lauren Jankowski a "Sorry I won't be there because of work but THANK YOU for doing this" message. Within the message I also said:

We need more asexual narratives, and we really need more characters who are explicitly asexual or aromantic in cannon (So that wonderful ace characters are not erased when producers/writers/actors find out about them from fans/fan theories/fan cannon and all of a sudden are bound and determined to prove the fans wrong and therefore destroying the ace characters identity).

Thinking about this further I recognize that ambiguity in characters can be a wonderful thing and creates a fertile ground for fans to take characters in a million different directions. Anything you can imagine, and even those things you can't imagine, can be found in some Fanfiction story out there. And this is amazing. But there is also real power when characters are written with explicit identities.

Ambiguity can lead to cases where a character is interpreted as being on the Asexual Spectrum by fans but the creators/actors etc say that fans are wrong and make statements which simply show a lack of understanding of the concepts involved. I love interpretation but when a character's identity is written explicitly as Fill in the blank with any identity you hold dear, there are subtle differences in how the character is portrayed which make a big difference to me as a Fan.

But this is not the only issue when discussing representation. Lauren Jankowski's response made made me consider a different facet of representation. (Check out her page https://asexualartists.wordpress.com/ I have only started to explore her page but it looks amazing)

I started Asexual Artists because I wanted to highlight all the amazing asexual creators out there. Whenever someone spoke about "good ace representation" they would always suggest something that wasn't created by an ace creator. We need more explicitly ace and aro characters and we also need even more ace and aro creators grin emoticonheart emotic

Now I will admit this was one of the aspects I had not thought about much. I was so focused on wanting more Ace characters I did not think about the need for Ace creators and the need to celebrate these creators. I have written stories, novellas, and poems where being Ace was important or even the focus but I really only though of these as things for me to consume and enjoy and maybe a few close family and friends. And honestly I don't think it crossed my mind that there might be other Ace Spectrum creators out there. Now I am planning to post a few of these odds and ends on this blog so that they are available for a wider audience. I was reminded by Lauren of the old truth that each of our voices matter and it is important to share those voices with others.

Question to discuss:

What examples of representation have positively touched you and what examples have shown a need for better representation in some capacity?