#but even then. patience runs real fucking thin and they're getting unfollowed no matter what.

[knifearo]

hey just wanted to ask if polls that go around like the one right now that says “are asexuals part of the community” are bait posts bc i just don’t see the point in ASKING when it’s supposed to be a given. like you can’t see WHO votes no, it’s not like this poll is going to help block aphobes- is it not just trying to incite more “discourse”?

wanna start this answer by saying that you've given like three very good reasons why these polls are bait-y and fucking stupid already in ur ask, and i think that you're completely right about them :) simple answer though. yeah. lmao.

the current wave of things (specifically the arophobia of the last few weeks of 2023) started with a post mentioning cishet aro men and then really kicked off with a "are cishet aro men queer" poll. just like you said, there is no positive impact of these polls; if you took the VERY best interpretation of it that you could, the person who made the poll would be Really Fucking Stupid in the moment that they were making it. if they think that they're facilitating a conversation, they're... wrong. and they should stop. but! if you're not willing to be the kindest, most generous person on earth, i think we can safely assume that the people making these polls are of the opinion that aspec queerness is a question (and that their answer for it is no). exclusionism still isn't like. stigmatized. really. and so people are really fucking confident waltzing out onto the mainstage to do things that are blatantly exclusionist/aphobic with a very thin veneer of innocence because they know that nobody will call them out on it. these things are absolutely meant to incite more discourse and again. the bitches spreading it around as if it's even a question are being stupid at Best.

what we can do for the moment is keep talking about how these stupid ass posts are bait and not spreading them around ourselves <3 repeat it ad nauseum and people will have to get it through their heads eventually... but yeah. block unfollow ignore. remind people that engaging with that shit is Cringe Idiot behavior. bitches never stopped being exclusionist assholes, they just got quieter about it for a while, and like hell are we gonna let them just go back to business as usual. recognize it + call it out + go engage in positive community spaces :) <3

#genuinely i offer SO much benefit of the doubt to some people that they might just Not Know. #but even then. patience runs real fucking thin and they're getting unfollowed no matter what. #even if you don't intend harm! there's a certain level of obliviousness that makes you like. NOT a viable option for me. #anyway. i think you already said everything that needed to be said in your ask. #aspec people i love you remember to keep our community strong <3 #ask #aromantic #aromanticism #arospec #aroace #aspec #asexual #ace discourse #ace exclusion #ace #talking