Michael Paramo

Last updated
Michael Paramo
MichaelParamo.png
Paramo in 2024.
Born1993
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater California State University, Fullerton
Notable work Aze
Website https://azejournal.com/mxparamo

Michael Paramo is an American writer, academic, and artist known for founding the literary magazine Aze (formerly known as The Asexual) and for their work examining interpersonal attraction and love with consideration to asexuality, aromanticism, and agender identity. [1] [2] [3] [4] Paramo identifies on the asexual and aromantic spectrum and advocates for people of similar experience to express themselves toward expanding society's ideas of human sexuality, romance, and gender identity. [5] [6] [7] They published a book Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity in 2024. [2] [8]

Contents

Career

Paramo created Aze on October 5, 2016 (at the time under the name The Asexual) while attending California State University, Fullerton as a graduate student in American Studies. [9] [10] The journal was created because of what Paramo saw as an absence of places for asexual people to publish their creative work: "I knew their experiences, stories, perspectives, and voices needed a space of expression." [9]

In 2017, they authored an essay discussing the whiteness of the asexual community and advocated for the community to be more inclusive of BIPOC individuals. [7] [11] They also presented research on the dehumanization of non-traditional gender identities, more specifically of drag queens, and the relationship of this phenomenon to colonialism. [10]

They wrote an essay for the magazine in 2018 on the split attraction model that argued for the expansion of notions of attraction beyond sexual attraction and romantic attraction to include other forms of attraction. [12] [13] They wrote another essay for the magazine that discussed the relationship between transphobia and colonialism, arguing that the former was inextricably linked with the latter. [14] [15] Paramo interviewed Pragati Singh in 2018 on the subject of asexual awareness in India. [16] The magazine also reached 10,000 followers on social media platform Twitter. [17]

In 2019, Paramo was interviewed by Tristan Taormino for their work examining asexuality, aromanticism, and agender identity for a book they were writing. [1] That same year they changed the name of the literary magazine they founded from The Asexual to Aze to include asexual, aromantic, and agender people. [7] [18] They began attending the University of British Columbia as a PhD student. [19]

Paramo published the book Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity with Unbound in 2024, which questioned social norms of sex, romance, and gender. [2] [20] Of the book, academic Ela Przybyło wrote "Paramo refuses to take for granted the normalized ideas we are fed around how relationships should work and what they should look like." [8] In an interview for Geeks OUT, Paramo spoke to the inclusion of poetry in the book as a hybrid method of bringing together critical and creative expressions. [21] In 2024, they were referred to by ITV's platform Planet Woo as "one of the globe's leading aro academics." [2]

Personal life

Paramo is a Mexican American who was born in Orange County, California in 1993. [22] They identify as being on the asexual and aromantic spectrum and as queer and Xicanx. [18] [23] Paramo also creates visual art and releases music under the name COZMECA. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romantic orientation</span> Classification of a persons romantic attraction towards others

Romantic orientation, also called affectional orientation, is the classification of the sex or gender which a person experiences romantic attraction towards or is likely to have a romantic relationship with. The term is used alongside the term "sexual orientation", as well as being used alternatively to it, based upon the perspective that sexual attraction is only a single component of a larger concept.

<i>LGBTQ</i> Initialism for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer"

LGBTQ is an initialism for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. It is an umbrella term, broadly referring to all sexualities, romantic orientations, and gender identities which are not heterosexual or cisgender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asexuality</span> Lack of sexual attraction to others

Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. It may be considered a sexual orientation or the lack thereof. It may also be categorized more widely, to include a broad spectrum of asexual sub-identities.

Over the course of its history, the LGBTQ community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demisexuality</span> Only experiencing secondary sexual attraction

Demisexuality is a sexual orientation in which an individual does not experience primary sexual attraction – the type of attraction that is based on immediately observable characteristics such as appearance or smell and is experienced immediately after a first encounter. A demisexual person can only experience secondary sexual attraction – the type of attraction that occurs after the development of an emotional bond. The amount of time that a demisexual individual needs to know another person before developing sexual attraction towards them varies from person to person. Demisexuality is generally categorized on the asexuality spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of LGBTQ topics</span>

The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBTQ topics:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aromanticism</span> Lack of romantic attraction to others

Aromanticism is a romantic orientation characterized by experiencing little to no romantic attraction. The term "aromantic", colloquially shortened to "aro", refers to a person whose romantic orientation is aromanticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gray asexuality</span> A-Spec sexuality with low levels of sexual attraction that fluctuates over time

Graysexuality, greysexuality, gray asexuality, or gray-sexuality is a sexuality within the a-spectrum. It is often defined as limited amounts of sexual attraction that can vary in intensity. Individuals who identify with gray asexuality are referred to as being gray-A, gray ace, and are within what is referred to as the "a-umbrella". Within the a-spectrum are terms such as demisexual, graysexual, asexual, and many other types of non-allosexual identities.

This is a timeline of asexual history worldwide. The briefness of this timeline can be attributed to the fact that acceptance of asexuality as a sexual orientation and field of scientific research is still relatively new.

<i>Sounds Fake but Okay</i> Comedy podcast on gender and sexuality

Sounds Fake but Okay is a weekly comedy podcast that focuses on asexuality and aromanticism. The podcast is hosted by University of Michigan alumni Sarah Costello and Kayla Kaszyca. Each Sunday, Costello and Kaszyca "talk about all things to do with love, relationships, sexuality, and pretty much anything else they just don't understand."

The portrayals of asexuality in the media reflect societal attitudes towards asexuality, reflected in the existing media portrayals. Throughout history, asexual characters have appeared in television series, animated series, literature, comics, video games, music, and film.

Queerplatonic relationships (QPR), also known as queerplatonic partnerships (QPP), are committed intimate relationships between significant others whose relationship is not romantic in nature. A queerplatonic relationship differs from a close friendship by having the same explicit commitment, status, and structure as a formal romantic relationship, whilst it differs from a romantic relationship by not involving feelings of romantic love. The concept originates in aromantic and asexual spaces in the LGBT community. Like romantic relationships, queerplatonic relationships are sometimes said to involve a deeper and more profound emotional connection than typical friendship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Split attraction model</span> Discordance between sexual and romantic attraction

The split attraction model (SAM) is a model in psychology that distinguishes between a person's romantic and sexual attraction, allowing the two to be different from each other.

<i>Aze</i> (magazine) Literary magazine

Aze is a literary magazine for asexual, aromantic, and agender people that was created in 2016 and publishes issues online. It was formerly known as The Asexual until 2019 when it expanded to include aromantic and agender people. The magazine publishes visual art, poetry, and personal and academic essays on the subjects of asexuality, aromanticism, and agender experiences and their various intersections. It was founded by Michael Paramo.

<i>Loveless</i> (novel) 2020 young adult novel by Alice Oseman

Loveless is a novel written by Alice Oseman. Published by HarperCollins Children's Books on 9 July 2020, the novel follows Georgia as she begins university. Depicting her journey of self-discovery as an asexual and aromantic individual, the novel received positive reception from literary reviewers and media outlets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asexual flag</span> Pride flag

The asexual flag is a pride flag representing the asexual community created in 2010 by a member of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN). The flag features four horizontal stripes of equal size. From top to bottom, the stripes are black, gray, white, and purple. The black stripe represents asexuality, the gray stripe represents gray-asexuality and demisexuality, the white stripe represents allosexuality, and the purple stripe represents the community as a whole. The flag is often flown at pride events and is used to represent the asexual community.

References

  1. 1 2 Taormino, Tristan (2019-10-11). "Michael Paramo on Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity". VoiceAmerica. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kyle, MacNeill (2024-02-14). "The new aromantics flying the flag for the misunderstood identity". Planet Woo, ITV . Retrieved 2024-02-18. Mexican-American writer Michael Paramo is one of the globe's leading aro academics... they published Ending the Pursuit, a book questioning society's normative views on sex, gender and romance.
  3. ↑ "Exploring Asexuality: The "A" in LGBTQIA+". Psych Central . 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2024-02-18. Michael Paramo — creator of AZE journal (originally known as The Asexual) and moderator for the Facebook group The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project — is a digital artist and researcher who identifies as homoromantic and asexual.
  4. ↑ Wong, Brittany (2019-04-09). "What It's Like To Date When You Don't Experience Sexual Attraction". HuffPost . Retrieved 2024-02-18. Michael Paramo, a 25-year-old from Southern California who founded and edits the online magazine The Asexual
  5. ↑ Kliegman, Julie (2018-07-26). "Asexual People Can Be Sexually Assaulted Too". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  6. ↑ Paramo, Michael (2018-10-11). "The 'A' Doesn't Stand For Ally". INTO. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  7. 1 2 3 Montenegro Marquez, Janeth (Spring 2022). "Asexual Latina/o/x Representation in AZE" (PDF). Feral Feminisms. 10 (2): 13–15. Paramo created this journal to give other queer individuals, queer BIPOC individuals especially, a space of community to explore their identities. The journal began in 2016 as The Asexual, then became AZE to be more inclusive of ace, aro, and agender people.
  8. 1 2 "Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism and Agender Identity by Michael Paramo". unbound.com. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  9. 1 2 ""Centering ace perspectives and narratives": an interview with Michael Paramo, founder of The Asexual". Drunken Boat. 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  10. 1 2 Fawthrop, Wendy (2017-04-25). "CSUF student explores how RuPaul slays 'monsters' in humanizing drag queens". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  11. ↑ "International Asexuality Day". Amplify. 2021-04-06. Retrieved 2024-02-18. As Michael Paramo writes, current discussions of asexuality are rooted in mostly-white, mostly-online spaces...
  12. ↑ Diane A. Litam, Stacey; Speciale, Megan (2022-09-20). "Ch. 8: The Multidimensional Nature of Attraction". In Schubert, Angela M.; Pope, Mark (eds.). Handbook for Human Sexuality Counseling: A Sex Positive Approach. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 129–130. ISBN   978-1-119-90413-7. In a 2018 essay "Beyond Sex: The Multilayered Model of Attraction," Michael Paramo provided a comprehensive framework of attraction that expands and critiques the historical definition of attraction.
  13. ↑ "ALTERNATE TAKE: On Chesil Beach (2018) by Dominic Cooke". Cinematary. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2024-02-18. Michael Paramo writes in The Asexual Journal of "The Multi-Layered Model of Attraction," in which sexual attraction is just one of many that draws people together. Others include emotional, aesthetic, sensual, intellectual, or romantic.
  14. ↑ Spencer-Hall, Alicia; Gutt, Blake, eds. (2021). Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography. Amsterdam University Press. p. 324. doi:10.5117/9789462988248. hdl:20.500.12657/61200. ISBN   978-90-485-4026-6. Gender is inextricably bound up with racialization. On this, see... Paramo, 'Transphobia'
  15. ↑ Geffen, Sasha (2020-04-07). Glitter Up the Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary. University of Texas Press. p. 2. ISBN   978-1-4773-1878-2. When European settlers devastated the Americas, they "looked to the existing sexual and gender variance of Indigenous people as a means of marking them as racially inferior and uncivilized: a justification for a forever unjustified genocidal conquest," wrote Michael Paramo.
  16. ↑ Paramo, Michael (2018-02-01). "Indian Aces: Awareness and Activism in India". AZE. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  17. ↑ Trust, Asexuality New Zealand (2018-10-23). "Celebrating Ace Achievement: "The Asexual"". Asexuality New Zealand Trust. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  18. 1 2 M., Bradda (2021-06-10). "Pride Reads: Three Queer Speculative Fiction Magazines to Check Out!". The Geekiary.
  19. ↑ JW (2021-05-14). "Lunar Notes: An Interview with Featured Writer Michael Paramo". Night Music. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  20. ↑ Paramo, Michael (2024-02-08). Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism and Agender Identity. Unbound Publishing. ISBN   978-1-80018-286-8.
  21. 1 2 Kirichanskaya, Michele (2024-04-01). "Interview with Michael Paramo, Author of Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism and Agender Identity". Geeks OUT. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
  22. ↑ "Profile (Michael Paramo)". AZE. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  23. ↑ Gilman, Lisa (2023). "Cake is Better than Sex: Pride and Prejudice in the Folklore of and about Asexuality". Journal of Folklore Research. 60 (2): 200. doi:10.2979/jfolkrese.60.2_3.09. ISSN   1543-0413. Michael Paramo, who describes himself as a "Queer Xicanx artist-theorist," provides one example of the complexity of ace identity
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