Friday 10 June 2016

Dear American Apparel,

                Every year around this time, a most magical and wonderful thing happens: the erasure of Asexuality hits full swing! The month of June, pride month, is a time for gays to celebrate being gay, and for allies to celebrate being decent straight people! No one else is important during this time of pride and celebration. Could you imagine what would happen if all the sexualities and genders got to celebrate pride month? The pandemonium it would create in the general public if they had to admit that there was more than just gay and straight? Heaven forbid!
                As a proud _______, I love this time of year! My sexuality, already forgotten about and misunderstood most of the time anyways, is thrown to the curb (more accurately: directly into on-coming traffic), to make way for the ALLIES. That’s what the A stands for anyways, not _______ as some people wrongly state. I can honestly say, those valiant allies deserve a month to celebrate the fact they’re straight and accepted by society! It must be so hard for them the rest of the year! God bless them, those selfless bastards.
                This is all in light of a most thoughtful line of products that American Apparel has released for Pride month. On one particularly cute bag they list: Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender/Queer/Ally. Ah, ally. The most important of all sexualities: the straight ally. If it weren’t for those straight people, none of this would be happening (take however you want)! As an _______, I’m glad ally got put on the bag. They deserve the recognition. And when American Apparel said that they honour the sacrifices and dedication of the brave allies, my heart melted a little. Me too American Apparel, me too. ________ face erasure everyday of their lives, why should/would Pride month be any different! It shouldn’t! Pride should be about celebrating two groups: gay people, and their straight allies. After all, they are the important ones!
                For those you can’t read sarcasm, everything before this was incredible satirical and sarcastic. As an asexual, I am beyond mere frustration and anger when it comes to stuff like this. Most of society doesn’t recognize asexuality, let alone understand it! And then Pride month comes along, and shit like this happens. The month started with a jackass saying everyone should just be called gay, because that made it easier for him, a gay man. Asexual people have been fighting for recognition and respect for as long as the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community! Studies have shown that asexual people get treated worse than other sexualities, and Pride month is always a shining example of that! GLAAD ran a program last year to promote allies and they went as far as saying “A is for Ally!” in their slogan! They at least apologized. American Apparel released a short statement as an apology that basically said this: “Hey, I get your upset. It’s totally cool, I would be too. But allies are just more important than other queer people. Sorry bro.” Ya know what? I’ve said my sarcastic piece. I’ve said this. I only have one more thing to say: Fuck you American Apparel, you’re trash, and your trash (their products) is terrible.

                I lied. I have one more thing: The A stands for Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, not allies. Please accept us, and let us be seen. To my family within the community, I love each and every one of you. You are so valid, and so real! My heart breaks at times like these. Stay strong. 

2 comments:

  1. This is such a big overreaction.

    If American Apparel put Agender would you still write this post? Because agender is different than asexual and your point here is that they forgot to include asexuality? The entire LGBTQA+ is confusing enough as it is, I really don't think that this was a company trying to demean your sexual orientation. They likely put Ally due to the confusing nature of the "A" in LGBTQA (A = Agender/Asexual/Aromantic), as well as the need for a single term to work with the design schematics of the bag itself. At least they're putting out product that vocally states the support for the spectrum. Maybe they should've just put "QUEER" on the bag as a catchall, to thirst your need for validation.

    Asexuals make up an incredibly, incredibly small percentage of the gay population, and it's unfortunate that the term was left out from this one product - but that's exactly what is is --- a single product. Save your breath for the bigger battles. Also, you come across as a whiny bitch, which does not help your argument at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, I'm sorry my thoughts disagreed with yours. As for saving my breath for the bigger battles, maybe look at some of the others posts I've written that are on, what you may consider to be, bigger battles. Also, ending your comment with calling me a whiny bitch negates everything else you said.

      Delete