This Work Is Tagged Asexual Character: An Analysis of Asexuality in Fanfiction

Abstract

Although asexual activism and asexuality scholars show that asexuality encompasses a wide range of experiences, asexual people remain an understudied sexual minority. Pop-cultural representations of asexuality are uncommon, but one place where asexual people are often represented is in fanfiction: transformative stories written by fans of cultural works. This thesis studies asexual depictions of two characters: the unsociable genius Sherlock Holmes (BBC) and the playboy superhero Tony Stark (Marvel Studios). Using content and discourse analysis to study a sample of 100 stories, this thesis shows that while asexual stories are diverse, they contain a number of recurring tropes and storylines. They depict asexuality as a cause for both negative and positive emotions and portray asexual characters as active participants in romantic relationships and sometimes in sex. This thesis shows that fanfiction can play a key role in providing representation of marginalized sexualities and furthering our understanding of asexual perspectives.