The Violence of Allonormativity in Communication Studies: Notes on Asexual Injury, Healing, and Worldmaking

In this essay, we examine the violence of allonormativity in the communication discipline. We also provide notes on healing for asexual folks navigating an allonormative world, ultimately seeking practical tools towards ace worldmaking. This research extends Yep’s (2003) theorizing of violence against sexual minorities across dimensions of interior-exterior and individual-collective by centering interview data from 20 individuals who self-identified on the asexual-spectrum. After cataloging the various violences of allonormativity, we offer three communication strategies of ace worldmaking based on the interview data: (1) denaturalizing allonormativity, (2) depathologizing asexuality, (3) policy and legislative change. Practical implications for communication research agendas, pedagogies, and community praxes are presented in the hopes of possibilizing healing for intersectionally diverse asexual-spectrum individuals and their communities.