Televising Asexuality: Representations, Resonances, and Community Viewership.

在英国，无性恋是一种无形的性行为，指的是那些几乎没有性吸引力的人。无性恋不受2010年《平等法案》的保护，也没有在禁止转化治疗的计划中得到承认（Truss， 2021年），在所有酷儿身份中，无性恋者通常最有可能过着不满意和恐惧的生活（GEO， 2018年）。研究开始对抗这种情况（Stonewall, 2022），但与此同时，72%的英国人不熟悉无性恋（Ipsos, 2020）。从历史上看，电视在提高社会对其他酷儿身份的认识和态度方面发挥了至关重要的作用（Buckle, 2015），电视对理解无性恋的影响必须加以探讨。然而，无性恋屏幕研究的研究主要集中在美国媒体（Cerankowski, 2014; Sinwell, 2014），或者将角色视为无性恋（Przybylo和Cooper, 2014; Botts, 2016; Osterwald, 2017; Lamerichs, 2018）。因此，我的硕士研究转向了英国电视，通过追溯英国电视上被遗忘的无性恋历史，从理论上揭示了英国电视在社会上对无性恋的忽视和歪曲中所起的作用。然而，在这项研究中，我注意到无性恋者关于我们的生活如何在屏幕上被（错误地）呈现的声音还没有被研究过。因此，研究这一差距是我研究的下一步，使无性恋筛查研究与其他LGBT+群体保持一致（例如，Lipton, 2008; Cavalcante, 2018）。因此，我提出通过探索性混合方法研究（调查和半结构化访谈）首次对无性观众对无性表现的看法进行实证研究。我将回答以下问题：-无性恋者如何回应英国电视上的无性表现？-无性恋者在多大程度上觉得电视代表了他们？-这些表现如何影响无性恋群体？我的研究将由两部分组成。“第一部分：表现”将包括三章，每一章都使用无性恋表现作为案例研究，探讨无性恋如何在以下方面得到表现：虚构的电视；非小说电视;以及非传统广播服务（例如，Emmerdale， 2016年；《我不想要性》，2018年；《性教育》，2019年）。这些章节将概述银幕上无性恋的表现，同时讨论这些表现对英国无性恋群体的影响。第二部分：然后，“另类表现”将有另外三章进行探索：1)无性社区对国际屏幕上无性表现的反应；2)未经证实但无性共鸣的角色如何提供有意义的表现（例如，好兆头，2019）；3)存在哪些另类的无性表现模式（例如，播客，YouTube上的无性创作者和同人小说）。这些章节根据社区的反应具有灵活性，因为我打算优先考虑无性恋社区的声音，而不仅仅是我自己的无性恋观点。这项研究将是第一个探索无性恋表现如何影响无性恋者的研究，我希望利用这项研究为我的论文创造一个无性恋表现的“最佳实践”指南。我不仅希望改善未来无性恋的表现，而且相信这个项目将通过增加无性恋的可见度对无性恋群体产生积极影响，从而为社会提供更多认识和接受无性恋的机会。

Asexuality - referring to people who experience little-to-no sexual attraction - is an invisible sexuality in Britain. Asexuality is not protected by the Equality Act 2010, nor is it recognised in the plans to ban conversion therapy (Truss, 2021), and asexuals, of all queer identities, are typically the most likely to live unsatisfying and fearful lives (GEO, 2018). Research is beginning to combat this (Stonewall, 2022), but in the meantime, asexuality is unfamiliar to 72% of Britons (Ipsos, 2020).Historically, television has played a vital role in improving societal awareness and attitudes towards other queer identities (Buckle, 2015), and television's influence on understandings of asexuality must be explored. However, research within asexual screen studies has focused on American media (Cerankowski, 2014; Sinwell, 2014), or reading characters as asexual (Przybylo and Cooper, 2014; Botts, 2016; Osterwald, 2017; Lamerichs, 2018). My Master's research, therefore, turned to British TV, theoretically uncovering British television's role in the invisibility and misrepresentation of asexuality in society through retracing a forgotten history of asexuality on British TV. However, during this research, I noticed that asexuals' voices regarding how our lives have been (mis)represented on screen had not been studied. As such, studying this gap is the next step in my research, bringing asexual screen studies in line with other LGBT+ groups (e.g., Lipton, 2008; Cavalcante, 2018). Therefore, I propose the first empirical study of asexual audience perspectives regarding asexual representations through exploratory mixed methods research (a survey and semi-structured interviews). I will answer questions surrounding:- How do asexuals respond to asexual representations on British TV?- To what extent do asexuals feel represented by TV representations?- How do these representations impact asexual communities?My research will comprise of two parts. 'Part One: Representations' will include three chapters, each using an asexual representation as a case study to explore how asexuality has been represented within: fictional television; non-fictional television; and non-traditional broadcast services (e.g., Emmerdale, 2016; 'I Don't Want Sex', 2018; Sex Education, 2019). These chapters will offer an overview of representations of asexuality on screen alongside integrated asexual voices discussing the impacts these representations have had on British asexual communities'Part Two: Alternative Representations' will then have a further three chapters to explore:- 1) asexual community reactions to asexual representations on international screens- 2) how non-confirmed but asexually resonant characters offer meaningful representations (e.g., Good Omens, 2019)- 3) what alternative modes of asexual representation exist (e.g., podcasts, asexual creators on YouTube and fanfiction).These chapters have flexibility based on community responses, as I intend to prioritise voices within asexual communities and not just my own asexual opinion.This research will be the first to explore how asexual representations impact asexuals, and I hope to use this research to create a 'best practice' guide for representing asexuality, alongside my thesis. I hope to not only improve future representations of asexuality but believe this project will positively impact asexual communities by increasing asexual visibility, thereby offering opportunities for greater awareness and acceptance of asexuality in society.