“The Purest, Most Innocent Kind of Love”: Summer Bird Blue and Asexuality

Abstract

Asexuality consists of individuals purporting a statement of the following nature, “we supposedly have the choice to lead an active sexual life, but this does not interest us. We have no sexual drive. We have been born like this, we are happy and want to be considered as normal people. We are neither frustrated nor antisocial, nor are we solitary masturbators” (Pardo 74).

Therefore, when encountering a text whereby asexuality is depicted, it brings about scrutiny. As a result, I would like to explore the text via the research question, “how does Summer Bird Blue depict asexuality?” Furthermore, sub-questions will include: • How is asexuality posited within a sexual normative culture? • How does the author of Summer Bird Blue deal with questions about sexuality? This exploration will be undertaken by exploring asexuality as a sexual orientation, how asexuality is presented within a sexual normative culture via an explanation and contributors to sexual normativity. Furthermore, Summer Bird Blue’s depiction of asexuality will be compared and contrasted to other texts where the theme of asexuality is present.