Cake is Better than Sex: Pride and Prejudice in the Folklore of and about Asexuality

Abstract

Abstract: In the past decades, great strides have been made in the increased visibility and official legitimacy for people across the spectrum of LGBTTQQIAAP identities in the United States. Within this groundswell of increased recognition, asexual people have struggled to gain acceptance because their identity exists outside the compulsory sexuality that largely defines identity in relationship to sexual desire and behavior. This essay explores how people across the asexual spectrum capitalize on folklore forms to create spaces, explore and come to understand their sexuality, express their emotions, and establish a means for esoteric and exoteric communication. Their use of folklore for gaining acceptance and for empowerment exists dialogically with the prejudicial folklore within mainstream and queer spaces that contributes to their marginalization and erasure.