Televising Asexuality: Representations, Resonances, and Community Viewership.

无性恋--指的是几乎没有性吸引力的人--在英国是一种无形的性行为。无性恋者不受2010年《平等法》的保护，也没有在禁止皈依疗法的计划中得到承认(特拉斯，2021年)，所有同性恋身份的无性恋者通常最有可能过着不满意和可怕的生活(GEO，2018)。研究已经开始与此作斗争(Stonewall，2022)，但与此同时，72%的英国人对无性恋并不熟悉(Ipsos，2020)。从历史上看，电视在改善社会对其他同性恋身份的认识和态度方面发挥了至关重要的作用(Buckle，2015)，必须探索电视对无性恋理解的影响。然而，无性屏幕研究中的研究主要集中在美国媒体(Cerankowski，2014；Sinwell，2014)，或者将人物阅读为无性恋(Przybylo and Cooper，2014；Botts，2016；Osterwald，2017；Lamerichs，2018)。因此，我的师父的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中隐形和歪曲无性恋方面的作用。然而，在这项研究中，我注意到无性恋者关于我们的生活在屏幕上被(误)表现的声音没有被研究过。因此，研究这一差距是我研究的下一步，使无性筛选研究与其他LGBT+群体保持一致(例如，Lipton，2008；Cavalcante，2018)。因此，我通过探索性的混合方法研究(调查和半结构化访谈)，首次对无性受众关于无性表征的观点进行了实证研究。我将回答围绕以下问题：-无性恋者对英国电视上的无性表现有何反应？-无性恋者在多大程度上感觉到电视表现？-这些表现如何影响无性恋者社区？我的研究将包括两部分。《第一部分：表现》将包括三章，每一章都使用无性表现作为案例研究，以探索无性恋是如何在其中表现的：虚构的电视；非虚构的电视；以及非传统的广播服务(例如，Emmerdale，2016；我不想要性爱，2018；性教育，2019)。这些章节将概述屏幕上无性恋的表现以及整合的无性声音，讨论这些表现对英国无性恋社区的影响。第二部分：另类表现‘接下来将有三章要探讨：-1)无性群体对国际屏幕上无性表现的反应-2)未经确认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)。这些章节基于社区反应具有灵活性，因为我打算优先考虑无性恋者社区内的声音，而不仅仅是我自己的无性恋者观点。这项研究将是第一次探索无性恋者的表现如何影响无性恋者，我希望在我的论文中，利用这项研究来创建一个代表无性恋者的“最佳实践”指南。我希望不仅改善未来无性恋的表现，而且相信这个项目将通过提高无性恋者的能见度对无性恋者社区产生积极影响，从而提供机会，让社会更好地认识和接受无性恋者。

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.