History Main / HomophobiaIndex

* BetterThanSex: Properly handled, it can create a moment relatable to asexuals who have sex (or experienced it at some point in their lives), but genuinely find other activities more enjoyable. Poorly handled, it can either imply or outright state that if someone finds another activity more enoyable than sex, there is some kind of problem with either the other activity or the person's sex life.

* DeconfirmedBachelor: Never wanting to get married is quite common among asexual and aromantics, if the two overlap. The belief that members of those populations "just haven't met the right person yet" is also quite widespread. It's hence extremely easy for that trope slip into asexual or aromantic erasure, especially if the narrative is closer to "this character had never fallen in love before, but then they met that person" than to "this character dated plenty of people, but this is the first time they meet someone they want to settle down with."

* DeconfirmedBachelor: Never wanting to get married is quite common among asexual and aromantics, especially among those who are both. The belief that members of those populations "just haven't met the right person yet" is also quite widespread. It's hence extremely easy for that trope slip asexual or aromantic erasure, especially if it applies to a character without much of a love life up to that point.

* EveryoneMustBePaired: Asexuals and aromantics are much more likely to be happily single or in relationships that qualify for HeterosexualLifePartners or PlatonicLifePartners. This makes narratives that insist upon having every single member of the cast in a romantic and/or sexual relationship a mix of erasure and something on par with insisting upon having explicitly gay characters paired with someone of the other gender.

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, it gives those who ''are'' virgins, which include many sex-repulsed aces, the type of attention that they often ''don't'' want to have. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they have an easier time in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually do[[note]]In many such environments, the social imperative to "save oneself" for marriage comes with an obligation to eventually get married and have sex within said marriage. Asexuals who ''do'' want to get married might have to deal with laws that, in practice, require the people involved in a marriage to have sex for it to be valid.[[/note]].

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, it gives those who ''are'' virgins, which include the sex-repulsed aces, the type of attention that they often ''don't'' want to have. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they have an easier time in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually do[[note]]In many such environments, the social imperative to "save oneself" for marriage comes with an obligation to eventually get married and have sex within said marriage. Asexuals who ''do'' want to get married might have to deal with laws that, in practice, require the people involved in a marriage to have sex for it to be valid.[[/note]].

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, it gives those who ''are'' virgins, which include the sex-repulsed aces, the type of attention that they often ''don't'' want to have. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they are better treated in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually are[[note]]In many such environments, the social imperative to "save oneself" for marriage comes with an obligation to eventually get married and have sex within said marriage. Asexuals who ''do'' want to get married might have to deal with laws that, in practice, require the people involved in a marriage to have sex for it to be valid.[[/note]].

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, it gives those ''are'' virgins, which include the sex-repulsed aces, the type of attention that they often ''don't'' want to have. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they are better treated in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually are[[note]]In many such environments, the social imperative to save oneself for marriage comes with an obligation to eventually get married and have sex within said marriage.[[/note]].

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, those who ''are'' virgins (which include the sex-repulsed aces) can have various reasons to be uneasy about the pedestal that comes with it. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they are better treated in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually are[[note]]In many of them, the social imperative to save oneself for marriage comes with an obligation to eventually get married and have sex within said marriage.[[/note]].

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, those who ''are'' virgins (which include the sex-repulsed aces) can have various reasons to be uneasy about the pedestal that comes with it. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they are better treated in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually are[[note]]In many of them, the social imperative to save oneself for marriage comes with an obligation to eventually get married and have sex within said marriage.[[/note]]

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, those who ''are'' virgins (which include the sex-repulsed aces) can have various reasons to be uneasy about the pedestal that comes with it. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they are better treated in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually are.

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, those who ''are'' virgins can have various reasons to not want to be put on the pedestal that comes with it.

* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, those who ''are'' virgins can have various reasons to not want to be put on the pedestal that comes with it. In addition to this, this trope causes many to assume that environments that reject same-sex relationships and/or sex before marriage don't mistreat asexuals.

* '''Assumed Heteronormativity:''' When someone is assumed to be straight unless proven otherwise

* GayGuyDiesFirst: the minority included to be immediately killed off is a queer character. It’s almost explicitly giving the message that creators feel pushed to include them but actively want to erase them.

* BlackJezebelStereotype: Black people are stereotyped as being more sexually promiscuous than other women, resulting in asexual people being even less likely to be believed about their orientation if they happen to also have dark skin.
* CelibateEccentricGenius: Asexual and aromatic behavior are depicted as going hand in hand with lack of interest in ''platonic'' socializing, high intelligence and interest in intellectually stimulating activities. The personalities of real-life asexuals and aromatics are much more diverse than that. The fact that asexuality and aromanticism don't always overlap is also relevant when it comes to the type of socializing that is actually engaged in.

* BlackJezebelStereotype: Black people are stereotyped as being more sexually promiscuous, resulting in asexual people being even less likely to be believed about their orientation if they happen to also have dark skin.

* AloneAmongTheCouples: Single characters who stumble into a situation where they are surrounded by couples are almost never ''happily'' single and hence almost always in a position in which they are envying the couples to some extent. This also reinforces the idea that singlehood is something undesirable, which results in asexuals and aromatics being pressured into finding a sexual/romantic partner they sometimes don't want at all by friends and relatives.

* BlackJezebelStereotype: Black people are stereotyped as being more sexually promiscuous, resulting in asexual people being even less likely to be believed if they happen to also have dark skin.

[[folder:Tropes Specific To Asexuals]]

* AloneAmongTheCouples: The trope most often used to put emphasis on the idea that being single is something undesirable, which causes the people around asexuals and aromantics who aren't partner-seeking to be unnecessarily worried about their happiness.

* AllWomenArePrudes: Several asexual traits (In particular sex repulsion) are portrayed as universal among women, which erases the fact that there are differences between asexual and allosexual women.

* EveryoneMustBePaired: Asexuals and aromantics are much more likely to be happily single or in relationships that qualify for HeterosexualLifePartners or PlatonicLifePartners. This makes narratives that insist upon having every single member of the cast in a romantic and/or sexual relationship a mix of erasure and something on par with insisting upon having gay characters paired with someone of the other gender.

* EveryoneMustBePaired: Asexuals are much more likely to be happily single or satisfied with living arrangements that qualify for HeterosexualLifePartners or PlatonicLifePartners. This makes narratives that insist upon having every single member of the cast in a romantic and/or sexual relationship a mix of erasure and something on par with insisting upon having gay characters paired with someone of the other gender.

* SourPrudes: People who don't engage in much sex are portrayed as looking down on people who have significantly more sex than they do. This results in a "asexuals don't want anybody to have sex" stereotype, when in reality even asexuals who don't engage in sex at all can be favor of other people having the amount of sexual activity they wish, as long as said sexual activity doesn't involve them.