Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Senses Working Overtime

Here are two more things that I don’t understand in this world:


1) Why are laundromats so dirty?

2) Why are there so few active AVEN members in San Francisco?


The second is actually relevant to the topic at hand here, so I’ll continue to express my wonderment: Isn’t San Francisco, historically at least, the queerest city in the country? Aren’t we the most computer-savvy people in the world? And isn’t San Francisco the founding site of AVEN? (Yes, it is.) Maybe we’re just over-sexualized here. Or maybe there are too many "affinity groups" competing for attention. I’ll probably never know. What I do know is that we obviously need to do more visibility work here. But aside from disseminating pamphlets or doing “asexuals were here” graffiti (more on that later), what is there to do? I’ve thought about sending press releases, because we definitely have a newsworthy thing going on. But I don’t think all publicity is good publicity, and I don’t know who I would trust to tell our story well. I also don’t want to have to talk in front of groups of people. Or any stony-faced, unbelieving people, really. (More on that later.)


So, what are some cheap, easy, relatively enjoyable things to do for visibility? Preferably that we can do at a meetup while drinking FREE BEER? (That’s right. Meetup on July 12th, and there will be FREE BEER. Yes, I’ve gone there.)
I'm aware that not everyone wants to come out to the whole world. And even if people are out, most are probably averse to broadcasting their sexuality. Since these people probably represent the majority of asexuals, it's crucial to figure out visibility activities that they can feel comfortable doing. The person who comes up with a good answer to this question will gain a name forever honored by the blog gods. And I don't know what happened to my font and size. I should probably ask the blog gods for guidance. Durr...

9 comments:

Kim said...

I just finished reading through this entire blog. To be perfectly honest, I only found AVEN a few days ago, but it was like waking up. And I think what you are doing is great. If I lived in San Fransisco, I'd totally go to your meetings; unfortunately, I'm on the other side of the country. I'm not sure if I'll have any luck trying to build a community over here, but I have the summer to think about it and a new list of books I have to read :D

Ily said...

Hey Kim, thanks so much! I'm glad you found AVEN, and I hope you get the chance to meet some folks where you are...(and I'm happy you like the books :-)

Anonymous said...

I guess I'm technically an "ally" at this point (since I've gone and decided to f*ck with my labels again), but I'm still thinking on this. It seems to me like visibility requires specific people who are willing to be visible, but maybe within certain perameters or for a certain reason, some asexuals who are less interested in shouting about it from the rooftops would disclose. But as far as determining what those perameters or that cause (other than just the ever-so-specific "increased visibility" would be) or finding a way to increase visibility without people having to self-identify, I'm stumped. Which is not to say I've given up pondering... just that I haven't come up with any brilliant notions yet.

The random thing in my head as I finish this is something playing off the ever-popular McCain-or-Bush tests they're doing on sidewalks these days. As in, "was this statement made by someone who identifies as sexual or asexual?" It could underline the gray of things, mention asexuality, potentially peak curiosity, and allow people to remain anonymous about which statements *they* would make. Potentially.

I'll ramble later if I come up with anything else. I'm a geek when it comes to a good mental challenge. :)

Ily said...

Thanks for pondering, WD! So what you're saying is that we'd take statements like "I enjoy sex" (or whatever) and ask people (who?) if it was an asexual or sexual who said that? That would be a cool activity if we ever had a booth somewhere...

Sh@ney said...

Hey just dropping by to say G'day!
You cover some great topics!
cheers!

Ily said...

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary Maxfield said...

Yeah, things like "I enjoy sex" or "I find people attractive" or... who knows? I know they've been doing the Bush/Mccain challenges on random sidewalk corners, but people would probably feel less accosted if it were at an actual event with a booth and whatnot. :)

Coleslaw said...

Free beer? No wonder all the Vancouver AVENites couldn't make it! They were headed your way!

I wish I was home and doing meet-ups with you guys! The Apples to Apples night was still probably one of the most fun times I've had at a meet-up! I'm glad the restaurant was packed... Jack was glad to be made fun of (We're not offended anymore, promise.) and the general gaming times were all around awesome. If you could do THAT, you can do anything.

Go graffiti. I fully endorse it and will take the blame for you.

Ily said...

Haha, where the free beer will actually BE remains to be seen...
I wish you were here, too--
Vancouver is lucky to have you!