Asexuality studies builds on the work of queer theory, disability studies, and critical race theory to examine the origins and impacts of social norms and cultural beliefs about sex, taking asexuality seriously as a sexual orientation, while also undertaking critical and structural analyses not just of asexual individuals or subjects, but also of forces of non-consensual hypersexualization and desexualization as those operate in our society, and as they differently impact different bodies and populations. Aromanticism studies examines what Elizabeth Brake calls “amatonormativity”: “the assumptions that a central, exclusive, amorous relationship is normal for humans, in that it is a universally shared goal, and that such a relationship is normative, in that it should be aimed at in preference to other relationship types.” Ace and Aro studies provide critical tools to analyze the normative expectations that structure our society. To request to join the group, email the group lead linked in the list.
Lead
- Liza Blake, UTM English & Drama
- Theo Northcraft, PhD Student, English/Sexual Diversity Studies
Faculty Members, University of Toronto
- Caylen Ferguson Heckel, UTM Visual Studies
- Signy Lynch, UTM English & Drama
Faculty Members, Outside University of Toronto
- Lee Emrich, VIC Renaissance Studies
Graduate Students, University of Toronto
- Marissa Herzig, English
- Anastasia Zabalueva, Classics
Undergraduate Students, University of Toronto
- Lila Varga, English/Sexual Diversity Studies