Erin from Girls With Slingshots Is Not Officially Asexual Yet
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- Category: Entertainment
- Published on Saturday, 31 March 2012 13:05
- Written by Lara Landis
- Hits: 948
Asexuals are quick to latch on to any character that shows any hint of not being interested in sex and proclaim that character’s Asexuality. The March 30 Girls with Slingshots web comic contained the line “Erin is completely Asexual. It's official”. Members of the Asexual community were quick to confirm this as a declaration of the character’s Asexuality.
The problem with this declaration is that it is premature. This author, who does not read the strip, could easily tell that Erin was not present during the scene. The context of the strip suggests someone who is talking to a friend about a problem in her sex life. Unless the characters have an extremely strange relationship, they would not discuss the use of relationship aids while sitting in a bar.
Popular forms of media desperately need more Asexual characters, but Aces need to exercise restraint and not latch on to any use of the word Asexual as an official confirmation of a character’s orientation, especially when the confirmation does not come from the characters whose sexual orientation has only ben hinted at or suggested.
Fans of GWS will have to wait to find out if Erin is actually Asexual or not. They should not be too disappointed if the character turns out not to be Ace. The author already knows right now whether Erin is Ace or not. Asexual fans just need to wait until the artist decides to reveal Erin’s sexual tribe.
Source:
Girls With Slingshots -- March 30
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You, uh, should seriously read that comic before making comments like "they would not discuss the use of relationship aids while sitting in a bar". That's the only place people discuss things in GWS. Erin broke up with Jamie because Jamie pressured her into sex, and only got back together when Jamie thought she was happy with just cuddling. I don't know how the comic will handle it, though. It has made numerous transphobic comments in-comic, so there's no reason to expect this to end well. 
As a fan of the strip (I've read the entire run at least twice), I should comment.So I will.
A character of the strip is indeed very asexual, but the author seems to have done a major switcharoo with this latest story arc, because it used to be Jamie who is at least a very committed celibate if not altogether asexual. One storyline featured Jamie having sex in the airport restroom with Erin, a decision she came to regret later because she didn't want to lose her virginity after all.
But now the storyline features Jamie as someone who is starved for sex all of a sudden and Erin as the asexual one. But it would seem that this is a pretty committed decision since even Erin's character bio confirms this.
And to comment on the previous commenter: Yes, the strip features a lot of trans- and homophobic jokes, since the main character is homophobic. But the author is not and the tone of the joke makes it clear that these jokes are at the expense of the phobics out there.