#couplesprivilege

Couples' Privilege is not being shamed for being "alone" or "single" on Valentine's Day.

Couple's privilege is feeling like you're missing out on part of a game because you choose to play your character as asexual and aromantic. 

I'm not playing Dragon Age: Inquisition because Bioware is deeply DEEPLY Singlist. If you try to pursue any character's quest in any of their games they hit on you. Most of the people define their "Shepard" as who they had them get in bed with. A big part of the ending changes if you happen to get in a romantic relationship with any characters. If I am playing a human male noble, it actually gives me the option to marry Anora. No, no, NO! Why is that option even there? It makes those of us singles feel extremely uncomfortable that you're even offering it! I know it's supposed to be a choice, but being aromantic and asexual is NOT a fucking choice, Bioware!

And this is assuming you're not playing a video game where your characters' relationships are all picked out for you. Do it like Tales of Vesperia - show people that you can put men and women in the same group as one another and they won't start falling in love with one another. Show us that people who work with others and don't pursue romance or sex is perfectly and entirely normal. Not like Tales of the Abyss where our characters start all falling in love with one another and there's all sorts of "ship teases" about Luke and Tear.

You people love to talk about how there aren't enough "PoC" in the media... or how there aren't enough women in the media. Viewing Tumblr, I see people bitch all the time about "There aren't enough fat people in the media, I feel like I don't belong because I don't see overweight people in the media" or "Where are all the trans people? They always get demonized! There are no characters that represent me!" But do you know who you never see in the media?

Single people.

Where are the role models for the future single people in the world? What about the Asexual people? What about the Aromantic people? Oh right... we DO have one!

...Sheldon Cooper.

Boy, did we get the shaft, huh? Sheldon Cooper teaches people that people not interested in sex or romance are absolute freaks and should be avoided. They're absolutely unsympathetic comedy protagonists who you're supposed to laugh at.

Remember As Told by Ginger? The TV show where, at the end, one of Ginger's friends didn't marry? Yep... it was Macie. The one who was portrayed as quirky, hypochondriac, with all sorts of weird habits, the one who would be considered "Gross" in real life...

...short of her infatuation with the older guy and Dodie's little brother.

Oh sure, we also get Sherlock Holmes... who is a drug user. Yeah, great message to send to the kiddies, good thing that little detail is often thrown out. "Sherlock Holmes is a great detective, just like Single People are! But he's also a drug user."

Because of our erasure through slapping sexualities and romantic preferences on people, of course a role model intended to be positive for us Singles like Sherlock Holmes will cause the wrong ideas. Do you know what happens? You display somebody who is supposed to represent this group - and that causes people to assume that they are all like that. Do you think people would grow up thinking black people are all criminals if you only showed them black criminals? Yes. They would.

Whenever you see someone on TV who is asexual, aromantic, or single? They're always portrayed as someone to be laughed at or someone you should be glad you're not. They're always seen as "Selfish". No. No. NO. NO