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Asexuality Is Not Just for White People, Says a New Book
Angela Chen’s ‘Ace’ is a new and fresh addition to literature
Through her essays in publications like Catapult, author and science journalist Angela Chen has been asking readers to question what we know about sex, sexuality, and interpersonal relationships. Chen identifies as asexual and frequently writes about that identity in her work, showing us that there is no right or wrong way to be asexual. In her debut book, Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex, Chen tells us, “There is no one asexual (or ace) story and no book can capture all of ace experience.” Nevertheless, Chen embarks on a journey to teach the world about asexuality and show the wide scope of identities that fall under the ace umbrella.
Chen shares her own personal story, talking about the ways she arrived at asexuality, even while being in relationships that did involve sex. She also interviews a wide range of people with varying experiences and identities. Chen’s book is one of the first on asexuality, and so in many ways, it covers just about everything, from race, to disability, to consent, and more. Most importantly, Chen provides us with a fluid, working definition of what it means to be asexual (as opposed to allosexual, meaning someone who does not identify as ace) and…
