: Re: Writing an ace/aro character? In a fantasy series that I’ve been working on for some time now, there is a character that I’ve always kind of seen as not having sexual or romantic attraction.

@Sue2132873

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Create a culture that recognizes aro/ace as valid sexual identities

The easiest way to show that a character is aro/ace, is for the character to explicitly identify as such. This is tricky if your culture doesn't recognize aro/ace as valid identities. If there's no word for it, how do you put a name to what you are?

But just because there wasn't a name for these identities back in medieval Europe doesn't mean there can't be a name for it in your fantasy world. Many cultures in the past recognized more than two gender identities (e.g. the fa'afafine, hijra, khanith, and two-spirits, which I just all pulled from Wikipedia), and as other answers have pointed out even Europe had alternative routes (such as nunneries and monasteries) that people with no interest in pairing off could take. Third genders aren't quite the same as an asexual identity, but it's still not out of the question that your fantasy culture has a word that your character can identify as.

Heck, it might even make more sense for them to have it than not. I'm currently reading a webcomic (Aerial Magic) who recognize a third gender in part because of humanity's frequent interactions with non-gendered spirits. The presence of beings who are unequivocally separate from the binary sexual system has helped them recognize the non-binary members of humanity as well.

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