The cover for the asexual romance anthology is released, I love it.
If you want to submit your story into the book, the details are here: http://goodmourningpublishing.com/call.html
Really? Really? People thought that THIS was the best idea for an asexual romance anthology? All I hear in my mind when I see this is “these two are bored in bed”. *sigh* There are so many other things that COULD have been done here.
I guess I won’t be submitting a story after all.
Great, so they decide that an overly sexualised image of two white women (who at first I thought were mannequins - read into that what you will) is a good way of representing asexuality? I honestly thought that the cover would be two people in bed reading books or some crap like that. I think this is worse.
It’s playing on the negative rather than a positive. Instead of focussing on the romantic/bonding side of a relationship (which I know is the main reason why I like relationships, I’m sure others do too), they opt for ‘OMGZ LUK A BEDZ WITH SEXY WIMUNZ ON IT!, THIS IS ‘IRONIC’ BECAUSE THEY’RE ASEXUAL’. Erm… no.
The publisher posted about this on AVEN:
The photo we at GMP chose for the cover of The Heart of Aces was chosen carefully and with much consideration. Our staff is more than half asexual and so this project is being seen to with much care and importance. We assure you our selection was not made lightly and although there has been some negative feedback on the cover, there has also been some great feedback.
The thought process that went into the selection of the cover art was as follows:
As with every one of our books, our goal is to make the subject more visible and for accurate representations to give those who are otherwise uneducated a non-argumentative entry into the issue of equality. That being the context, we knew our wider audience would be those who might not have even heard of asexuality.
We wanted to convey that this was, in fact, a sexuality and not a political statement or religious decision so a sexual image was
needed.
This particular image was chosen not only because of the talented photographer and models but because it’s interpretation caused a discussion of fluidity of asexual expressions within our staff; if it got us, who are asexual, talking then it would be sure to get those of other sexualities talking.
The consensus was that the placement of the girls on the made bed, seemingly not yet actively using it, speaks to the misunderstanding of what asexuals do in their romantic lives.
The nightwear indicates that the girls are in a sexual mindset but the difference of clothing styles and their looking different directions indicates a different and individual identification for them, even within their sexuality. The hand holding meant to us their willingness for compromise and understanding and a deeper companionship than sex alone could give.
We understand that some people are upset that both models are white and I’d like to assure you that wasn’t our intention; on our list of priorities racial diversity is high. This cover having two white models was accepted only because the quality of work and symbolism was too good for us to disregard.Okay, now put all that extra symbolism aside, take a step back, and look at this cover again. What would your immediate reactions to this be? What is the first impression you get from it? Because that is what people are going to see and what they’re going to think. No one’s going to get all that extra symbolic stuff about identities and stuff; they’re just going to see two very pale, bored-looking, mostly-naked women in a suggestive situation looking cold, emotionless, and utterly uninterested in one another. This is not how I want to see asexuality represented in literary form. This is not what I want the first ever fictional anthology about US to look. Please please please please PLEASE, whoever is in charge of this, PLEASE consider changing it.
^THAT.
I second the motion - please consider changing the cover. I know that the name was changed after getting some input form the community, which was excellent - so would it not be possible to do the same for the cover art?
The problem here is that no matter how good your intentions may have been, it doesn’t erase the problematic effects that this kind of cover will have.
Two skinny white girls in lingerie , looking deathly bored, in an awkard forced pose who can’t even look each other in the eyes? Not very romantic. Instead they look like they’re disinterest softcore porn models - not an image I want to promote for the asexual community.
We wanted to convey that this was, in fact, a sexuality and not a political statement or religious decision so a sexual image was
needed.Wait. So let me get this straight: you wanted to convey the legitimacy of asexuality, and so you do that by deciding that the image needs to be….not asexual? What the hell? Pandering to the male gaze doesn’t do anything to separate asexuality from political or religious ideology (unless making it de-legitimized to even be a concern for them). Instead, an image like this dehumanizes asexuals by fetishizing them.
The consensus was that the placement of the girls on the made bed, seemingly not yet actively using it, speaks to the misunderstanding of what asexuals do in their romantic lives.
yeah, sure, it speaks to the misunderstandings - by perpetuating them. It spreads the idea that all asexuals are is people who are boring or bored in bed, and their apparent boredom and disinterest in each other instead suggests that asexuals are not capable of emotional interest either - which is the exact opposite of what an asexual romance anthology should be trying to portray.
All of this! Please add my name to the list of those who are massively unenthused by this cover.
