#asexual issues

I remember watching it for the first time like “????wtf????” because what the fuck. Why are you trying to invalidate ace people. Asexuality is not something that can be cured, bozo. It’s just part of us.

I get the need for House to be right all the time, but he’s been wrong before. Why can’t he be wrong again? Even from a medical standpoint. He almost chopped a patient’s arm off, and Chase had to call him out on it. Now, I acknowledge that SOME people may consider themselves to be ace because of medical issues they don’t realize are there. It’s not impossible. However, in a time where being asexual was still highly stigmatized and not as widely recognized, creating an episode that “cures” asexuality is incredibly disingenuous and just leads to more people brushing it aside as invalid. Thinking you’re ace due to medical unknown conditions can certainly happen, BUT IT IS NOT THE MAJORITY OF ASEXUAL PEOPLE!! People are going to take it like the asexual community as a whole can be “cured”. But hey, the show is obviously a product of its time so I’m not too surprised.

House openly says that people who don’t want sex are either “sick, dead, or lying.” Well, I’m not lying as far as I’m aware, and I’m not dead, so…I’m sick? Multiple interpretations, obviously, but given how the episode plays out I’m gonna say it’s not too much of a stretch to take it to mean “sick in the head.” To implicitly say that there is something fundamentally wrong with asexual people is appalling and hurtful. Also, asexuality is not about the act of having sex itself, it’s experiencing little to no sexual attraction. There are asexual people who like sex, asexual people who are repulsed by it, and asexual people who fall somewhere in the middle. There are also people who aren’t asexual who choose not to have sex.

Wilson at least did his research but even he was like “It’s a valid sexual orientation…according to this article at least.” Which still rubs me the wrong way.

Unattractive or otherwise undesirable for romance or sex in either the eyes of the creators or the audience

Aloof, cold, detached, if not outright villainous in terms of personality

Some form of intellectual who only cares about their work

An asshole to at least some degree beyond most if not all the other characters

Implied if not outright stated to have something wrong with them, such as being traumatized about sex or romance or having some sort of disorder that prevents them from interacting with people in a “normal” way. Asexuality and aromanticism are not symptoms of trauma or having bad mental health any more than any other form of queerness. I am not broken, this is who I am. 

Disabled. I can go on and on about how the sexualities and romantic desires of disabled people are denied and stigmatized, but I’m not going to do that full rant here. Yes disabled asexual and aromantic people exist, but it really feels like a lot of writers (and headcanoning fans) find the thought of disabled people being in love or having sex disgusting, so they just make any disabled characters ace and/or aro so they don’t have to confront that reality.

Literally inhuman. I hate the tropes of using inhuman things to represent minorities, it just makes minorities feel dehumanized and any message you might have about treating minorities with respect will absolutely be ignored by bigots. I’m not an alien, robot, fey or something else. I am human, start treating me like one.