things have changed

Robin3350

And nowhere in any of those resources—my friends, my education, literally the entire Teen Fiction Reading Room at my local library—did I come across one single other person who understood the way I felt about sexuality. Nothing, nowhere. In fact, it wasn’t until I read a Tumblr post during my senior year of college—that was defending the inclusion of asexuals as part of the LGBTQ+ community, (told you we’re controversial)—that I ever even heard of asexuality.


I was 22 when I learned that I wasn’t broken, other people felt the same way I did, I just Argentina Email List. hadn’t met them yet. I can’t imagine how different my life would have been if I’d understood that sooner. Truly can’t comprehend it. Just like bagged milk. Obviously,. Now, in 2021, we have all those incredible resources and networks, and more. Teenagers today have so much more access to information, literally in their back pockets, and that’s amazing. But it’s still important—maybe even more important—that we provide visual representation in media.




Because it’s one thing to have an abstract understanding that a thing like bagged milk exists. It’s another thing entirely to put yourself into the shoes of a person cutting open that bag and pouring the milk into a pitcher and thinking, “Oh, now this makes sense to me.” And maybe, just maybe, even “this makes a lot of sense, actually. Maybe even more sense than our boxed milk. I might look into using this bagged stuff myself.” This metaphor is getting away from me, but I hope the point stands. It’s important to see all sorts of characters in literature. Important for readers to be exposed to a person or identity that they’re unfamiliar with. Important for people to consider perspectives other than their own.