The Point to Which Their Striving Leads – The Journey of Aromanticism and Asexuality in Star Wars
One of the barriers to queer representation in Star Wars is that our terms for these identities are not canon. Aromantic, asexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, etc. These do not exist as terminology within the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Which is why a lot of these identities are expressed through relationships, pronouns, or a character’s musings, and then confirmed in the meta.
There’s always going to be a dance between identity and language when it comes to queer representation. And this is especially true when it comes to identities under the aro and ace spectrums. We don’t have the same easy queer shorthands of pronouns or a kiss shared between people of the same gender. A lack of overt interest will result in the default assumption of “not having met the right person”, and any intimate interest will result in the default assumption of romance and sex.
Genuine effort has to be made to show the queerness of an aro or ace character...
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The Point to Which Their Striving Leads – The Journey of Aromanticism and Asexuality in Star Wars
One of the barriers to queer representation in Star Wars is that our terms for these identities are not canon. Aromantic, asexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, etc. These do not exist as terminology within the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Which is why a lot of these identities are expressed through relationships, pronouns, or a character’s musings, and then confirmed in the meta.
There’s always going to be a dance between identity and language when it comes to queer representation. And this is especially true when it comes to identities under the aro and ace spectrums. We don’t have the same easy queer shorthands of pronouns or a kiss shared between people of the same gender. A lack of overt interest will result in the default assumption of “not having met the right person”, and any intimate interest will result in the default assumption of romance and sex.
Genuine effort has to be made to show the queerness of an aro or ace character...
Dexter Jettster's queerplatonic/demiromantic speech in The High Republic Adventures #5 might be the THESIS of the entire run???
The ongoing theme and struggle for all the characters in this comic is Rules™.
It's why Saya ran away to join the Dank Graks.
It's both how Alak and Raf bonded and the primary strain in their relationship.
It's the initial conflict that drives Alak to heroism.
It's the endless surveillance that Coromont has to live with.
It's the expectations that forces Therm into self-doubt.
And for our lead in Sav Malagán in particular, it's a strain on her very identity.
She's not a "real Jedi" because she doesn't follow Kaktorf's rules.
She's not a girl (according to Arkik) because she doesn't follow those gender rules.
He's not a boy (according to Saya) because he doesn't follow those gender rules.
She doesn't initially consider herself a real pirate because she doesn't know THOSE rules either! It's why she scampers off after Dex in issue #1!
Hell Arkik even makes up rules on the spot for Sav to prove she's a Dank Grak!
This comic is about people doubting their place in the galaxy because of the rules laid forth. How can they know who they are, if they can't conform to those rules?
No one is allowed to just be.
And Dex, in delivering this aromantic and queerplatonic-coded speech, says:
"What we are doesn't conform, but I still know it to be real, because it's who we are. Fuck the rules. They don't matter. What matters is us."
And to hear that, from an aromantic-coded character in an aromantic-coded moment as the thesis statement in an already queer-coded (and overtly queer) as FUCK comic...
Did We Get A Queerplatonic Relationship and Demiromanticism in Star Wars?
I mean, obviously I'm arguing "yes." So I want to take a moment to discuss the major queer milestone that The High Republic Adventures Issue #5 provided to the Star Wars franchise here.
One of the barriers to describing queerness in Star Wars is that our terms for these identities are not canon. Which is why a lot of these identities are confirmed through relationships, pronouns, or a character's musings, and then confirmed in the meta.
i.e. the Aphra team clarified that she was a lesbian specifically in an interview, and the Star Wars site used "asexual" in Leox's bio. The closest we got to an in-text use of our own words was "transcended gender" for the clone Sister.
So there's always going to be this dance of identity and language when it comes to representation in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
But there's something just really special about Dexter Jettster specifically calling that out when it comes to describing his relationship with Maz.
Daniel José Older writes Dex's line as: "I wish there was a simple word for what we are!"
This can be a nod to the dance of identity/language in the GFFA as mentioned above, but it's also EXACTLY how "queerplatonic" and associated terms came to be in our real world
Take "zucchini"! This word was an early adoption into the queerplatonic lexicon to describe a qp partner. And it started as an in-community joke to highlight how there are no simple words for describing intimate relationships that are not romantic/sexual.
"Queerplatonic" itself was coined because of this lack of language.
So Dex's first sentence in describing his relationship to Maz is reflective not only of queerplatonic relationships, but queerplatonic history.
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Now let's go to his second sentence: "It's a thing beyond any relationship I've ever had."
I've got three things to say about this. One looks at the sentiment of the whole sentence, one looks at a specific word choice, and one looks at certain implications...
The entire sentiment... well... let me explain it through a personal experience of mine.
Back when I thought I was a straight cis woman, I went through two long-term relationships. And it sucked. Both were good men, but the romantic and (eventual) sexual obligations that we were operating under actively tore away the joy I once had in our friendship.
I had to fake emotions I didn't have, put on a show for the various spectators who demanded coos and swoons and romantic expressions.
When The Last Boyfriend I Would Ever Have noticed how miserable I was, he asked what I wanted from the relationship. I said I wanted to be friends.
I didn't know how to express it at the time, but I missed when we were allowed to be friends. When people had mistaken us for a couple because we planned and hosted hangouts for our community together. When we were who the other could count on to show up.
I missed…
I miss
…when we were each other's person.
But that wasn’t recognized as a relationship. Because we weren’t girlfriend boyfriend. When we did start dating, that’s when the pressures of rules, obligations, expectations closed in like a maw. From those immediately around us and from lessons instilled since we were children.
That little time, those months when there was no word for us, was a relationship wholly unlike either of the romantic relationships I had. And yet romance was how these things were “supposed” to work. Romance was the the ultimate form of intimacy.
-
Which brings us to the word choice of Dex's sentence: "It's a thing BEYOND any relationship I've ever had."
"...unlike any relationship..." would also have been an accurate and respectful way for Older to have written it. But the choice of 'beyond' counters a specific narrative.
If you mention or describe a queerplatonic relationship, especially in an online space, there's a high chance your notifs will have something like "someone just discovered friendship" or "someone is afraid of commitment."
Not only is romance considered the ultimate form of intimacy (see also the entire “friendzone” nonsense), the first response many people have when introduced to queerplatonic relationships is to devalue them in direct contrast to romance.
Therefore, describing a queerplatonic relationship as being “beyond” the other relationships Dex has had, AND having Alak respect it enough to ask Dex for advice on Alak’s romantic relationship, Older makes it clear that a queerplatonic relationship has just as much worth.
Furthermore, like Leox’s speech about his asexuality, “beyond” frames the queerplatonic not as something lacking – e.g. “a committed relationship that isn’t romantic or sexual” – but as something whole unto itself.
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And then, finally, there’s certain implications of the line “It's a thing beyond any relationship I've ever had.”
Dex has had other relationships. Keep that in mind as we head to the next portion of his little speech: “When I'm with Maz, she makes me smile on the inside. It's that simple. No one else makes me feel like that.”
First, what a beautiful way to describe attraction: "she makes me smile on the inside." But the kicker is that last line.
"No one else makes me feel like that.”
Dex has been in other relationships, but the only one that sparked attraction was Maz.
Dex did not experience attraction until he connected with Maz.
We don't know their full history of how the relationship started or grew. But just with the clues we have, Dexter Jettster basically described textbook demiromanticism.
Demiromantic is an identity under the aromantic umbrella. Aromantic means experiencing little to no romantic attraction, and demiromanticism is not experiencing romantic attraction until a bond is formed.
Now demiromanticism (and its cousin, demisexuality) both are widely misunderstood, because people tend to equate identity with actions. And many people – unfortunately queer and straight folks alike – don’t want to listen to demi folks when they describe their experiences.
A common attack on demiromantic/sexual people says that they are “just picky” when it comes to partners, and “everyone waits to date/have sex until there’s an emotional connection.”
But that’s describing outward actions, not a person’s internal experiences.
scretladyspider does an excellent breakdown of the demisexual experience specifically, and I highly recommend their work in general.
Ultimately demiromanticism/demisexuality are not descriptors of how a person acts, but of how a person feels on the inside.
Waiting to enter into a relationship with someone you are attracted to is not the same as not feeling the attraction to begin with.
Older writing Dex as having other relationships but ONLY experiencing attraction in the one he currently has with Maz, makes that distinction clear. His actions (being in a relationship) are not one-to-one with his internal emotions (attraction to another person).
In short, the way Dexter Jettster describes himself perfectly mirrors the most-widely accepted definition of demiromantic.
It’s also an incredibly relatable experience to my aromantic self. Like I said before, I’ve entered romantic relationships because that was the expectation, but I never actually felt the romantic attraction. And the relationship that DID make me come alive was in this space between.
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Again, this is a situation where we have to perform that GFFA dance between identity and language, since neither “queerplatonic” nor “demiromantic” exist as terminology within the canon of Star Wars.
But what we have here is a character describing both a relationship and an experience of attraction that echoes how we understand those identities in the real world, and describes them as something joyful.
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Which leads to the last section of Dex’s description: “And so what we call each other, what our rules are... it doesn't matter much. We're honest with each other. That's what matters.”
This joins in with the word choice of “beyond,” as discussed further up in this post.
I said that “beyond” avoids the description of a queerplatonic relationship as something lesser or lacking: e.g. “a committed relationship that ISN’T romantic or sexual.” But there’s another way queerplatonic relationships are framed that address that “lack” as a positive.
A queerplatonic relationship is FREE from the expectations of romance/sex. There might be some partners who do include romance or sex within their queerplatonic relationships, but it’s not a requirement for the relationship’s existence.
The rules don’t matter much. The labels of girlfriend boyfriend don’t matter much. What matters is honesty between the people in the partnership.
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Close read aside of this comic aside, I want to take a moment to really hammer home how big this is. Within Star Wars, we have had multiple confirmed aromantic characters before (Vi Moradi, Leox Gyasi, Vernestra Rwoh are the most major)
Obi-Wan himself seems to be on either the aro or ace spectrums, if not both. And if so, a queerplatonic analysis is open there with Satine Kryze, but has thus far avoided any in-universe interpretation as such.
However, even with our confirmed aros, they were first confirmed through their asexuality, with their aromanticism assumed to be part of a package deal. These are a package deal for ME, being aroace, but they aren’t always.
And aro identities themselves – be it solely aromantic or the aro-specific side of being aroace – often get downplayed, ignored, or even painted as wicked and unfeeling towards others. If we cannot feel “love,” then what cruelties are we capable of?
In Star Wars, one of the first hints we had towards aromanticism was in the Phasma novel. This novel specifically used the titular character’s lack of romantic relationships to highlight how much more violent she was than the rest of her tribe. Aromantic was specifically used as shorthand for selfish and cruel.
In the real world, “asexual people still want romance” can be and has been used as an advocacy tool to showcase the wide range of people under the ace umbrella, but it also has been used as a way to downplay aromanticism to make asexuality more “palatable.”
So Dex’s description putting this potential aromanticism at the forefront of his experience, not tacked onto an asexual revelation, is a level of respect that aromanticism has not yet had in Star Wars and rarely gets…. in general.
Furthermore, queerplatonic relationships themselves are very rare in all fiction, even within aro and ace media. Having a description that matches one here, as something whole and beautiful unto itself, is helping fill a major gap in queer rep.
See this post from aroaessidhe for a list of books that do include queeplatonic relationships.
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For aro/ace identities and queerplatonic relationships, you don’t have the same easy queer shorthands of pronouns or a kiss between the same gender.
A lack of overt interest will result in the default assumption of “not having met the right person,” and any intimate interest will result in the default assumption of romance/sex.
See, for another High Republic example, the characters of Axel and Gella, who have a close emotional bond that is never described as romantic within the text, but fandom doesn’t seem to have any other interpretation of it.
If there’s no easy way for a character to say “I’m aromantic/demi” (e.g. the recent Gwenpool) or “our relationship is queerplatonic,” because the language isn’t there (as with Star Wars), then genuine work has to be put in to SHOW that a character is aro/demi, a relationship is queerplatonic.
So while these three panels from Older (and artists Harvey Tolibao, Michel Atiyeh, and letterers Tyler Smith, Jimmy Betancourt) aren’t some aromantic/demi/queerplatonic manifesto, they do help to highlight a part of the queer community that’s frequently overlooked.
And they highlight this part of the queer community not by showing the struggles and the suffering of these identities, but by showing the joy and the wholeness of it. As something aspirational.
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A moment that keeps sticking in my mind from The High Republic Adventures is Coromont Vizzle kicking out the comms to cover for Sav. It's a little moment, but I think it's worth examining.
Issue #2 of The High Republic Adventures was about Sav learning her heroes aren't entirely all what she expected them to be. They're not untouchable legends, they're very real and flawed.
And Coromont was one of the biggest indicators of that. All his badass ballads? Wrote them himself. And "the law is always on his back" stops being the boast of a man always on the run, always busting out of prison, to a guy with a probation officer literally in his backpack.
Thus Coromont Vizzle, one of the legendary pirates with these legendary deeds that Sav idolized, becomes Just A Guy. And in becoming Just A Guy, we get to see how important the simple deeds of Coromont Vizzle are.
In Issue #3, there is a focus on the virtue of disobedience, centering Alak's childhood defiance in particular. In my essay on the theme, I make a comparison to Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio... and then completely fail to make the obvious parallel between Coromont's probation officer and the cricket.
A little guy who is assigned to yell at a fella every time he disobeys?? How did I miss that???
Anyway, it's important that the act of kicking out the comms doesn't come from Coromont Vizzle the Legend, but Coromont Vizzle the Guy.
The badass threat of Coromont having the law always on his back becomes less like a daring action flick. It becomes something more immediate and inescapable. Having to live under constant surveillance and criticism, your every move judged.
And Coromont is watching Sav buckle under exactly that as her Jedi Master Kaktorf berates her endlessly.
The badass half-truth of Coromont "getting away" after every arrest becomes less victorious. It becomes hurtful, because even though Coromont was released, he didn't actually escape. The law is still there, every moment, telling him he did something wrong.
So Coromont disobeys his assigned-conscience-by-law to follow his actual conscience, and does what he can to spare a kid from the same fate.
An exploration of literary, American, and queer history.
An personal examination of gender by way of Star Wars.
[ID: Image 1: the following quote atop the asexual flag: “I didn’t have any words to describe what it meant to be trans. “Tomboy” was the only language I had that could describe my gender experience. It even defined my experience with attraction. Little girls were supposed to be obsessed with romance, dreaming about their wedding day. Teenage girls were supposed to be clocking which boys were hot. Which ones they wanted to kiss and have sex with. Those were gender roles that I – aromantic and asexual – was constantly failing.“ /END ID]
Obi-Wan considered that Dex would have made a really good teacher for a Padawan. Star Wars: Brotherhood by Mike Chen The 2002 space pirate film Treasure Planet makes an exceptional effort to compa…
Remember how Treasure Planet made a very deliberate choice to match Silver and Jim’s outfits, and how that showcased their character growth???
REMEMBER HOW SAV MALAGÁN DRESSED LIKE DEXTER JETTSTER???
Anyway, I’m sure there’s no relation between these space pirates and the teenager they accidentally acquired...
[ID: Promotional Image for Treasure Planet, showcasing Jim and Silver with matching black jackets, ear piercings, and tan undershirts. /END ID]
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Long John Silver is my blorbo from my classic literature, and I cannot stop thinking of this one article about him…
“Treasure Island and the Economy of Hegemonic Resistance,” by M. Hoorvash and S. Rezvanjoo in the Journal of Language Horizons.
They interpreted Silver as a commentary on the class structure of the Stevenson’s day. To quote my own article:
Whether Robert Louis Stevenson was supportive or critical of the class structure of his time – academics have made both arguments – Treasure Island functions as an exploration of the dichotomy between the wealthy gentry and impoverished lower class, with the poorer characters demonstrating foolish and boorish natures.
However, Long John Silver’s duality between deferential cook and dangerous pirate is meant to blur that line. The heroes discard warnings that clearly describe Silver – “the sea faring man with one leg” – because his act as a domestic cook undercuts what they expect from the vicious, lower-class pirates.
Even the clever magistrate, Dr. Livesey, is swayed into trusting Silver by his good manners. Long John Silver “defies the stereotypical image of the pirate. He is clean, clever, cunning, and instead of being gullible, he is capable of deceiving the gentry.”
Long John Silver deliberately plays into the wealthy’s class expectations, their assumption of their own inherent superiority in manners and intelligence, to set them off their guard. Silver’s friendly act hides the internal cunning beneath, allowing scrutiny to slide off of him until it’s almost too late.
There is this inherent expectation that the lower class is inherently unworthy of the treasure, but Squire Trewlany and Dr. Livesey and Captain Smollett even Jim - members or allies of the gentry - are the rightful keepers of it.
I love the variety of retellings we have of Treasure Island, with different characteristics of Silver brought to the forefront, but I really really really want to read the retelling that brings commentary on class dynamics and expectations/stereotypes to the forefront.
#theres also a moment in the book where jim judges his mom for wanting taking bones' gold (i think??) which is SO funny because he then #proceeds to go on a disastrous adventure to take someone elses treasure but that doesn't count because he's on the side of the law so it's #rightfully theirs #im probably vastly reducing what happened in the book but still!! very funny via @thegreatblondebalrogslayer
You’re RIGHT on the money with the authors of the Language Horizons article!! Hoorvash and Rezvanjoo made that exact point with the how Jim - despite being lower class - is still considered among the heroes because he is helping the gentry, the wealthy, retrieve the gold!
And another article that I cite in my essay (L. Honaker, “‘One Man to Rely On’: Long John Silver and the Shifting Character of Victorian Boys’ Fiction,” Journal of Narrative Theory) directly discusses how Silver also blurs the line between masculinity and femininity with his act as a domestic cook clashes with the adventurous pirate. And like the lower class, other domestic/feminine characters like Jim’s mom (her treatment of Bones’ gold is a specific example), are portrayed in this weird judgemental way in contrast to the masculine/adventurous likes of Jim, Smollett, Livesey, etc.
So Silver is dancing the line between those dichotomies as well!!
Long John Silver is my blorbo from my classic literature, and I cannot stop thinking of this one article about him...
“Treasure Island and the Economy of Hegemonic Resistance,” by M. Hoorvash and S. Rezvanjoo in the Journal of Language Horizons.
They interpreted Silver as a commentary on the class structure of the Stevenson’s day. To quote my own article:
Whether Robert Louis Stevenson was supportive or critical of the class structure of his time – academics have made both arguments – Treasure Island functions as an exploration of the dichotomy between the wealthy gentry and impoverished lower class, with the poorer characters demonstrating foolish and boorish natures.
However, Long John Silver’s duality between deferential cook and dangerous pirate is meant to blur that line. The heroes discard warnings that clearly describe Silver – “the sea faring man with one leg” – because his act as a domestic cook undercuts what they expect from the vicious, lower-class pirates.
Even the clever magistrate, Dr. Livesey, is swayed into trusting Silver by his good manners. Long John Silver “defies the stereotypical image of the pirate. He is clean, clever, cunning, and instead of being gullible, he is capable of deceiving the gentry.”
Long John Silver deliberately plays into the wealthy’s class expectations, their assumption of their own inherent superiority in manners and intelligence, to set them off their guard. Silver’s friendly act hides the internal cunning beneath, allowing scrutiny to slide off of him until it’s almost too late.
There is this inherent expectation that the lower class is inherently unworthy of the treasure, but Squire Trewlany and Dr. Livesey and Captain Smollett even Jim - members or allies of the gentry - are the rightful keepers of it.
I love the variety of retellings we have of Treasure Island, with different characteristics of Silver brought to the forefront, but I really really really want to read the retelling that brings commentary on class dynamics and expectations/stereotypes to the forefront.
Bro I cannot figure out what you trying to say in your last post but uhhhhh it sounded very eugenicists
Hmmm, that's certainly not the context of the larger essay that the quote was pulled from.
The point being made is that white supremacists are obsessed with getting that white birth rate up, to prevent "replacement." And therefore white supremacy's fear and conspiracy theory of white people "being replaced" by nonwhite people is expressed through transphobia and aphobia alike.
We cannot be fully free of transphobia or aphobia unless white supremacy is dismantled.
I had hoped that I made it clear with the fact that I used loaded, negative language around white supremacy's obsession with white birth rates...
And as long as white supremacy exists, as long as it has control of our culture, the dominant narrative will always tell us to hate ourselves.
...and with the statement I had added the following after the quote:
"There is no queer liberation without Black liberation.
There is no queer liberation without eradicating antisemitism.
Our liberation must be intersectional with Black people, Jewish people, Indigenous people, immigrants and refugees, fat people, disabled people, or it does not exist."
[ID: Dexter Jettster and Sav Malagán sneaking through a jungle together. Overlaid text: "A Tomboy Lens on The High Republic Adventures" /END ID]
In attempting to discuss how important Issue #1 of The High Republic Adventures was to me, I ended up finding myself in a tangle of American and queer history.
The result is a personal essay at the strange intersection of Star Wars, children’s literature, and white supremacy.
The best stories are the ones that encourage exploration. And exploration is never neat and clean. What follows is a messy – even outright ugly – tangle of literary and American history…
Part 2 of examining The High Republic Adventures (2022) through the lens of a tomboy.
Here we continue to unravel the tangle of literary and American history; how it has shaped queerness; and the strange, personal intersection between a Star Wars character and purity culture.
Part 1 is released. Part 3 will be out within the week.
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The best stories are the ones that encourage exploration. And exploration is never neat and clean. It’s messy. Whether it’s struggling with a new technique of sewing a cosplay, poking a…
When I cried over the first issue of The High Republic Adventures (2022), I thought I understood why. It seemed clear to me from the start. A neat, tidy answer. Until I pulled at the thread.
What follows is a messy – even outright ugly – tangle of literary and American history, the way it shaped me, my queerness, and the place The High Republic Adventures found me.
The best stories are the ones that encourage exploration. And exploration is never neat and clean. It’s messy. Whether it’s struggling with a new technique of sewing a cosplay, poking a…
When I cried over the first issue of The High Republic Adventures (2022), I thought I understood why. It seemed clear to me from the start. A neat, tidy answer. Until I pulled at the thread.
What follows is a messy – even outright ugly – tangle of literary and American history, the way it shaped me, my queerness, and the place The High Republic Adventures found me.