Michael Paramo
Profile
Michael Paramo (born 1993) is a researcher, artist, and academic. Paramo created AZE (azejournal.com), a community journal publishing asexual, aromantic, and agender writers and artists. AZE has been referenced in several peer-reviewed publications, including books and journal articles, as well as in popular fiction writer Alice Oseman’s Loveless (2022). Paramo’s debut book Ending the Pursuit (2024) is a blend of critical analysis, personal memoir, and poetry that is oriented toward deconstructing modern/colonial notions of sexuality, romance, gender, and identity. The book was listed in Ingram Academic’s Sociology Catalog as a course-recommended text for educators. A book review for Foreword noted, “moments of vulnerability breathe life into the text; most effective is Paramo’s inclusion of personal anecdotes.”
Email: mdparamo@gmail.com
Social Media: @azejournal
Books
Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity. February 7th. 2024 (UK), September 3rd, 2024 (US). Unbound. ISBN: 9781800182868, 1800182864.
─ ─ Foreword Review: “Moments of vulnerability breathe life into the text; most effective is Paramo’s inclusion of personal anecdotes.”
─ ─ Ingram Academic Sociology Catalog: Listed in “new and classic books for your courses” under Political Sociology.
Dissertation
─ (In progress) “Sustaining Repair in Modern/Colonial America: Autoethnographic Critical and Creative Practices” (working title). University of British Columbia, Social Justice Institute. Committee: Pilar Riaño-Alcalá (chair), Denise Ferreira da Silva, and Erin Baines.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
─ (In progress) “A False Domination. A Rising Submission?” (working title). Feral Feminisms (2024).
─ “Virtual Intimacy and Queer Confrontations in The Last of Us: Left Behind.” (1st Pub: VGAR Journal, Issue 2, 2019) + (2nd Pub. 2022: Book by Amherst College Press, pg. 75-83).
Online Articles
─ “The History of Dismissing Platonic Love Goes Back Centuries and Still Matters Today” AZE. February 14th, 2024.
─ “What is Aesthetic Attraction?” AZE. August 21st, 2022.
─ “Mainstream media must be more inclusive of asexual people” LS:N Global. February 22nd, 2019.
─ “The ‘A’ Doesn’t Stand For Ally” INTO. October 11th, 2018.
─ “Transphobia is a White Supremacist Legacy of Colonialism.” AZE. July 16th, 2018. Cited in Glitter Up the Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary (2020), among others.
─ “Beyond Sex: The Multi-Layered Model of Attraction.” AZE. March 13th, 2018. Cited in Handbook for Human Sexuality Counseling: A Sex Positive Approach (2022), among others.
─ ”Interrogating the Whiteness of the Asexual Community.” AZE. October 25th, 2017. Cited in an article for Communication Education (2022).
─ ”Considering Intersectionality and Accessing Asexuality: Sexualization.” AZE. July 24th, 2017. Cited in an article for the Archives of Sexual Behavior (2021).
─ ”Life as a homoromantic asexual.” The Queerness. October 10th, 2016.
Art/Poetry Publications
Art gallery: 2018-2020, 2021-2024
Music: Spotify
─ “Aromantic Love Poems” in Ending the Pursuit. February 7th, 2024. Series of 40 poems.
─ “What embracing my gay asexual effeminacy taught me.” AZE. September 17th, 2023. Performance writing.
─ “The Twist.” Music. Spotify. July 17th, 2023.
─ “comparing myself to other gays” Poetry published in AZE. Vol. 5, Issue 4. February 18th, 2023.
─ “Noted Scholars Series Poster” Poster published by the Social Justice Institute. August 26th, 2021.
─ “MindRoam,” “Alienation,” and “Graffiti.” Poetry and art published in Night Music Journal. Volume 9. May 21st, 2021.
─ “Meltdown.” Art published in University of New Mexico’s Blue Mesa Review. Issue 43. Page 35. May 17th, 2021.
─ “This Ain’t Your Kind of Rodeo.” Art series including Scale, Transcendence, and This Ain’t Your Kind of Rodeo. High Shelf Press. June 15th, 2020.
─ “White Wolf” for Bombus Press. Fall 2016.
Interviews
─ Key Informant Interview with Northwestern University’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) for Project Recognize. June 17th, 2024.
─ Interview with Michael Paramo: Author of Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity. Interviewed by Michele Kirichanskaya for Geeks OUT International. April 1, 2024.
─ The new aromantics flying the flag for the misunderstood identity. Interviewed by Kyle MacNeill for Woo (ITV). February 14, 2024.
─ Exploring Asexuality: The “A” in LGBTQIA+. Interviewed by Kristin Currin-Sheehan for PsychCentral. October 26, 2021.
─ Lunar Notes: An Interview with Featured Writer Michael Paramo (M.AZE). Night Music Journal. May 14, 2021.
─ Vol. 1, Ep. 9. Interview for Chismology Anthology on February 13, 2020.
─ Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity. Live interview for Sex Out Loud with Tristan Taormino on October 11, 2019. IMDb.
─ “What It's Like To Date When You're Asexual: Asexual people still date, even if they're not that into sex.” Interviewed by Brittany Wong for The Huffington Post published on November 12th, 2018
─ “When You’re An Asexual Assault Survivor, It’s Even Harder To Be Heard.” Interviewed by Julie Kliegman for Buzzfeed Reader published on July 26th, 2018
─ “Why I Began A Magazine For Asexual People To Express Themselves.” Interviewed for Cake via Youth Ki Awaaz published on December 18, 2017
─ “Let me assure you that my life is no less fulfilling, thank you very much.” Interviewed with Aeron P, Vesper H, and Alison K for Buzzfeed LGBT (social media video) on October 27, 2017
─ “‘Centering Ace Perspectives and Narratives’” Interviewed by Noah Fields for Anomalous Press on October 23, 2017. Drunken Boat.
─ “CSUF student explores how RuPaul slays ‘monsters’ in humanizing drag queens” by Wendy Fawthrop for TheOrange County Register. April 24, 2017.
Presentations
Rutgers University (Online) ─ Invited panelist for “Aro and Ace A-piphanies” presentation. Hosted by The Honors College of Rutgers' LGBTQ+ Affinity Group and The Rutgers Ace and Aro Alliance. April 15th, 2024.
University of British Columbia (Online) ─ Invited class speaker by Isabel Machado on Ending the Pursuit and asexuality, aromanticism, and agenderness. November 30, 2023.
Williams College (Online) ─ Invited class speaker by Ianna Hawkins Owen on aromanticism, my visual practice/philosophy, and Aze journal. March 11th, 2020.
University of British Columbia ─ “Second annual Art + Memory + Justice Symposium.” Art presenter of self-portrait series “Metamorphosis,” January 30th, 2020.
California State University, Northridge ─ “Navigating Asexual and Aromantic Identity in a Sexual/Romantic World.” Invited Workshop Facilitator, March 7th, 2019.
UC Davis ─ “Navigating Asexual and Aromantic Identities in a Sexual and Romantic World.” Invited Workshop Facilitator, February 22nd, 2019.
Princeton University ─ “Understanding Our Ace and Aromantic Identities Workshop.” Invited Workshop Facilitator, October 16th, 2018.
National Women’s Studies Association ─ "Tracing Desirelessness: An Historical Analysis of 'Asexual' Existence." Hilton Baltimore, November 16-19th, 2017.
Ethnic Studies Summit ─ "Gender, Performance, and Drag Culture." Invited Panelist, Wilshire Theater, Fullerton College, October 14th, 2017.
California American Studies Association ─ "Reproducing Erasure: The Inclusivity Issue of Gay Media." CSULB, April 28-29th, 2017.
Popular Culture Association ─ "LGBT Inclusive Public-School Curriculum: A Gradual Process, Support vs. Opposition, and Effects on LGBT Youth." Marriot Marina, San Diego, April 17-20th, 2017.
International Association for the Study of Popular Music ─ “'God Makes No Mistakes': Analyzing the LGBT Empowerment Anthem and Lady Gaga’s 'Born This Way.'" Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, February 23-26th, 2017.
Citations
Peer-Reviewed Journals and Books:
─ “Freedom Lovers”: Blackness, Asexuality, Abolition in Asexualities (2024, Routledge). Book chapter by Ianna Hawkins Owen
─ “Cake is Better than Sex: Pride and Prejudice in the Folklore of and about Asexuality” (2023). Journal of Folklore Research. Article by Lisa Gilman.
─ “Contested intersections: Asexuality and disability, illness, or trauma” (2023). Sexualities. Article by Anna Kurowicka.
─ “Homonormativity: A Critical Exploration into Legal Silence Regarding Intersex and Asexuality” (2023). Leeds Student Law and Criminal Justice Review (3). Article by Lily Proudfoot.
─ “More: Cake, Feedism, and Asexuality” (2022). Social Text. Article by Ianna Hawkins Owen.
─ "Towards an asexual-affirming communication pedagogy" (2022) Communication Education (48). Article by ben Bradley and Angela Labrador.
─ "Ch. 8: The Multidimensional Nature of Attraction” (2022) Handbook for Human Sexuality Counseling: A Sex Positive Approach. Book chapter by Stacey Diane A. Litam and Megan Speciale.
─ “Asexual Latina/o/x Representation in AZE” (2022) Feral Feminisms (10.2). Article by Janeth Montenegro Marquez.
─ ”Digital sexual identities: Between empowerment and disempowerment" (2022) Current Opinion in Psychology (48). Article by Nicola Döring, Deevia Bhana, Kath Albury.
─ “The Self-Identification, LGBTQ+ Identity Development, and Attraction and Behavior of Asexual Youth: Potential Implications for Sexual Health and Internet-Based Service Provision” (2021). Archives of Sexual Behavior. Article by Lauren B. McInroy, Brieanne Beaujolais, Shelley L. Craig, and Andrew D. Eaton.
─ “Examining the elevated risk of COVID-19 in transgender communities with an intersectional lens” (2021). SN Social Sciences. Article by Peter D. Goldie & Isha Chatterjee.
─ Glitter Up the Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary (2020). Book by Sasha Geffen, published by University of Texas Press.
─ “Personal Agency Disavowed: Identity Construction in Asexual Women of Color” (2019). Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Article by Aasha B. Foster, Austin Eklund, Melanie E. Brewster, Amelia D. Walker, and Emma Candon, Columbia University. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000310.
Other Journals/Books and Theses/Dissertations:
─ The Ace and Aro Relationship Guide: Making It Work in Friendship, Love, and Sex (2024, Jessica Kingsley Publishers). Book by Cody Daigle-Orians.
─ Ace and Aro Journeys: A Guide to Embracing Your Asexual or Aromantic Identity(2023). Jessica Kingsley Publishers. pg. 252-53.
─ “Against Compulsory Sexuality: Asexual Figures of Resistance” (2022). PhD dissertation by Margaret Rose McDowell, Duke University.
─ Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism (2021). Book by Kathleen Stock, published by Little, Brown Book Group. Chapter One. “A Brief History of Gender Identity.”
─ Das asexuelle Spektrum: Eine Erkundungstour (2021). Book by Carmilla DeWinter, published by Marta Press. pg. 60 and 119.
─ "Visibilización del colectivo LGBT+ a través de la música pop." (2021). Final project by Irene Regader Merínm, Pompeu Fabra University.
─ “Intersectional Definitions of Outness” (2020). MSc Thesis by Victoria Munoz, University of Guelph.
─ “Sexually “Broken”: The Rhetorical Production of The Distressed Nonsexual in The Flibanserin Debate & Beyond” (2019). Masters Thesis by Hannah Helene Thompson, Syracuse University. Theses - ALL. 302.
─ “Let’s Talk About Love, Tash Hearts Tolstoy, and the Asexual Coming-of-Age Story” (2019). RoundTable: Roehampton journal for academic and creative writing, University of Roehampton. DOI: 10.7710/rt.52
─ “A Rethinking of Gray Asexuality: What do we Learn from an Undefinable Identity?” (2019). Honors Thesis by Jason Gurevitch, Colby College. Honors Theses. Paper 967.
─ “Óðinn: A Queer týr? A Study of Óðinn's Function as a Queer Deity in Pre-Christian Scandinavia” (November 2018). Thesis by Amy Jefford Franks (Master of Arts, Viking and Medieval Norse Studes).
─ “ALTERNATE TAKE: On Chesil Beach” (June 2018). Article by Dominic Cooke for Cinematary.
University/Organization Citations:
─ UC Santa Barbara: Resource Center for Sexual/Gender Diversity. "Asexual/Aromantic Education Page.”
─ University of North Texas Library: LGBTQ Studies. ”Ace Journals/Magazines/Zines.”
─ University of Milwaukee: LGBTQ+ Resource Center. “Intersectional Identities.”
─ Seattle Pride. “Aromantic Spectrum Awareness” (2022).
─ Amplify. “International Asexuality Day” (2021).
─ University of British Columbia. ”CampOUT! Parent/Caregiver Webinar – Resource List” (2020).
─ School of Sexuality Education Workshop. “Asexuality in Sex Education” (2020).
University Education
B.A. - California State University, Fullerton - American Studies and Political Science, minor in Geography
M.A. - California State University, Fullerton - American Studies
Ph. D. (ABD) - University of British Columbia - Social Justice Institute