i’d like to read about non-white aro experiences (as well as experiences of aro people from outside the US and UK). i don’t think there are enough explicitly non-white conversations about aromanticism. i remember seeing a demographic poll a long time ago, with a majority of aromantic tumblr identifying as white, but non-white aros exist!
i want to hear from people who can’t/won’t come out because of cultural expectations or language barriers. people who use different words to describe their aromanticism. people who experience isolation from the aro community because they aren’t white (enough). i want to hear about aromanticism from new angles!
of course, no one is ever obligated to reveal their ethnicity or race online. but if anyone has seen writing on diverse aro experiences or if they want to share their own experiences, i’d like to read about other perspectives! (pls send stuff my way)
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today, my coworkers’ refusal to see me as a man put one of our patients in a position where they felt unsafe for the third time. i’ve been at this job for less than two months total. i don’t even care about getting misgendered anymore, i just want the people we’re supposed to be taking care of to feel comfortable around me.
i work at a hospital where we have to supervise our patients in a lot of vulnerable situations. there are safeguarding rules in place for certain things that male employees aren’t allowed to be present for when it comes to female patients. and yet, the people training me and telling me what to do have repeatedly put me in situations where i’ve been forced to do things that the female patients aren’t comfortable with me doing. and because they have repeatedly failed to teach me the rules for doing my job as a man, i have no way of knowing when i’m crossing one of those lines unless one of the patients tells me.
i’ve had to watch a victim of SA stare at me in abject terror as my coworkers asked her to strip naked with me still in the room. it took several minutes for her to even be able to speak enough to ask if i could leave the room. i found out after that she broke down crying the moment i walked out. my biggest regret is that i didn’t realize what was happening fast enough to leave before she ever had to say something, because she shouldn’t have had to say it. i never should’ve been allowed in the room in the first place, because that’s not something male employees are supposed to be present for. but i didn’t know that yet, because i was training and i thought surely, they wouldn’t train me to do something that directly violated their own safeguarding rules. that moment was the first time, and it’s haunted me ever since, but it wasn’t the last time. not only did it happen for the third time today — it almost happened for the fourth, and would have if someone hadn’t spoken up to say they should pick someone else. i care for these people so deeply, it’s why i took this job, and i’m so tired of hearing the fear in their voices when they have to ask me not to do something i never should’ve been told to do.
i’m very used to the personal discomfort of being misgendered. i willingly deal with it a lot at work as well as in other situations, not because i’m in the closet (at this point in my medical transition that would be impossible), but because it’s such a frequent occurrence with my coworkers that we would never get anything done if i took the time to correct them every time. but to see it get to the point of causing such visceral discomfort in other people? people i’m supposed to be taking care of and keeping safe? that’s something else entirely, and i’m fucking exhausted.
and after all of that, some of them still look at me like i have two heads when they tell me what to do and i say “i can’t do that, only female employees can” because i’m learning now. clearly i’m already seen as a man by our patients, but my coworkers would still rather put them in an unsafe situation than just train me as a man.
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Cute and silly drabble about Levi trying to convince you to quit your job and let him take care of you ♥️
“You’re not happy.” He states as he picks up his cup of tea by its circular top.
You chew on your bottom lip for a moment. “I know.” You reply softly.
“So quit.” He shrugs as he brings the cup to his lips.
You roll your eyes. “I can’t just quit, Levi.”
“Sure you can. I’ll even write the resignation letter for you.” He smirks before taking a sip of tea, his eyes meets yours as he drinks.
You chuckle at that. “I wish…”
“It doesn’t have to be a wish, Y/N…”
“I don’t have another job lined up.” You remind him.
“So?” He places his cup back down on the table.
You look at him incredulously. “What do you mean, ‘so?’ How am I supposed to make money, Levi?”
“I would give it to you.” He states simply, as if the answer was obvious.
Your eyes narrow at him. “And what would you get in return, Mr. Ackerman?”
He shrugs. “Nothing I don’t get already. This isn’t an arrangement-“
“So I wouldn’t be your sugar baby?” You ask jokingly.
Levi looks disgusted. “Absolutely not.”
You pretend pout. “You don’t want me to be your sugar baby?”
“Y/N.”
“Okay, I’ll stop.” You giggle.
“I’m serious. If you need to quit-“
“Levi, I couldn’t possibly do that. What if we break up?” You ask, your mind jumping to the worse possible conclusion. “What if we break up, then I would be without a partner and without a job.”
“Why would you assume we would break up?”
“I’m just thinking of possible scenarios!”
Levi pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a breath. “Look, I know it would be a big deal. I’m not saying it isn’t. I’m just stating the option is there.”
“I don’t know, Levi…”
“I know it’s scary, you would have to rely on me-“
You cut him off again, trying to explain yourself. “It’s not that I don’t trust you-“
“I know. I know, Y/N.” He says with a chuckle. “I know how your brain works. Just think about it.” He shrugs.
You pause, digesting his words. “Would I get an allowance?”
This makes Levi chuckle again. “Would you want one?”
You shrug. “I don’t know, man, you tell me.”
Levi playfully rolls his eyes. “C’mere.” He gestures for you to sit on his lap. You follow his command, now you’re snug against him. “Whatever you want, you’ll get.”
You nod.
“I love you, and I just want you to be happy.” He murmurs against your skin.
“I know, I appreciate you. I love you too.” You think about how lucky you are to have someone like Levi. “I don’t deserve you.” You mumble.
“Tch, don’t say that. I’d argue it’s the other way around.
“Absolutely not.”
“I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.” He places a small trail of kisses on your skin.
“I guess so.” You giggle.
Maybe you would take him up on the offer.
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I couldn’t stop thinking about this and Barbie Steve so:
Steve is a special edition Ken, with his polo shirt and sunglasses he’s supposed to be Cool Party Ken, always ready to party and nothing more.
Steve hates it. Not the polo, he actually loves his outfit, but the idea he will be nothing more than the Cool Party Ken. A Ken.
He watches Nancy, who is supposed to be “his Barbie”, being Journalist Barbie and Good student Barbie and he wishes he could do that too. Journalist Barbie comes with a flowery long skirt he can’t stop thinking about.
But he can’t wear it because he’s a Ken.
And he knows he should be okay with what he is because he’s very lucky to be a special edition Ken and all the other Ken are jealous of him, so he tries to endure it for a while.
Until he can’t anymore.
He starts off with something he always dreamed of: he takes a pair of scissors and hairspray and becomes an hairstylist. Everyone is shocked to see and Hairstylist Ken but they welcome the change anyways, not knowing that Steve actually refers to himself as Hairstylist Barbie.
Robin, a Student/Worker Barbie, is the first person he tells.
She comes to him asking for a short haircut which is considered a crazy thing to want, since almost all Barbies have long hair.
“I don’t care! I hate my long hair, if people get upset that’s their problem. I will be a Rebel Barbie if I have to.”
“But why me?” Steve can’t help but ask. Usually people get haircuts from Hairstylist Barbies, not him.
“Because no Hairstylist Barbie wants to cut my hair” she admits, looking down “they think it’s weird. But I thought you would… understand.”
And Steve does understand, so he cuts her hair with no more objections. At the end, Robin is admiring her new shorter hair in the mirror when Steve says “well, one Hairstylist Barbie did say yes to you, in the end.”
And Robin understands.
—
The first person to call him Barbie, however, is Eddie.
Eddie is a standard Ken and he’s okay with it, most of the time. He firmly believes that any special edition Ken is just a snuck out snob, so he lives his life trying to prove that average Ken like him are just as fine.
“If we were just like the Special Kens like Steve” Jonathan objects “we would have found a Barbie to be with, don’t you think?”
Eddie would love to go on a rant about how Steve the Cool Party Ken is nothing special, but his eyes are caught by two Sailor Barbies walking across the street.
Eddie has never seen a Sailor Barbie but they have the same outfit, similar short hair and matching hats, so he imagines it must be a new type.
Despite looking so similar, one of them catches his eye.
He gives Jonathan a knowing look of “watch as I get a Barbie for myself”, which Jonathan replies with a look of “can’t wait to see you make a fool of yourself”, and then he’s off crossing the street.
He watches as one of them enters a ice cream parlor, and the other, the one who has caught his interest, stays back, staring at the door as if they needed to take some courage.
Eddie takes it as a sign to shoot his shot “Hey Barbiegirl!”
Nameless Sailor Barbie goes rigid but doesn’t turn around, so Eddie catches up to them.
“You know that old saying, every Barbie needs a Ken so…”
Sailor Barbie finally turns around, and Eddie is shocked to be faced with Steve the Pool Party Ken. Or maybe not a Ken. He’s confused.
Steve is looking at him expectingly, red in the cheeks.
He wets his lips before talking, making them glossier “so…?”
He doesn’t correct Eddie, he doesn’t say “I’m not a Barbie, you idiot”, he doesn’t reject him. He wants him to finish with his cheesy and overused pick up line.
Eddie wonders if he has been a special edition Lucky Ken without realizing it before.
“So, would you be my Barbie?”
Steve giggles, kisses him in the cheek and says “take me to dinner first, then we’ll see” and then, without another word, he’s gone inside the parlor.
Eddie stands there, staring at the door, too shocked to turn around and give Jonathan a “I told you so”.
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