Who Am I?

An Intro

First of all, welcome! And thank you for joining me here.

I am a sociology PhD candidate at the University of California, Irvine. I am an intersectional researcher, focusing on the relationships between (a)sexuality, gender, and race. I’m also a writer, and I’ve been a contributing writer at the Huffington Post, and collegiate correspondent for USA Today, and a writer for NPR’s The Loh Down on Science.

On a more personal note, queerness is core to my identity. I love to read fiction, cook, and paint in my spare time. And I’m passionate about the power of writing and learning.

I grew up in South Florida and then spent four years living in New York City while attending Fordham University. After graduating, I moved to Shanghai, China for two years, where I worked as an educator for a private learning firm. And now I’m in sunny California writing my dissertation.

In my natural habitat (food in hand not pictured).

Asexuality is central to much of my research. For those who don’t know, asexuality generally refers to those who do not experience sexual attraction (though even this definition is contested—which I’ll write about in future posts).

I don’t personally identify as asexual. I became interested in studying asexuality because I wanted to learn more about the relationship between gender and sexuality. I knew this meant I needed to interview people whose lived experiences give them expertise on that relationship. After much thinking, I decided that people on the asexuality spectrum had the expertise that I was looking for.

That decision to study asexuality has been one of the best decisions I’ve made as a researcher. I’ve learned so much from the ace community: things that have both shaped my scholarly work but also the way I personally think about topics ranging from sexuality, gender, love, romance, family, sex, consent, race, etc.

In short, I think asexuality has so much to offer to the world—even for people who aren’t asexual.

Academic research on asexuality is pretty slim, but it’s growing rapidly. I’m excited to add to that growing effort to illuminate this “invisible orientation.”

But I also think it’s vital that researchers share their findings with people outside of academia. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for many academics.

That’s what this Substack is for! I’ll be writing about my latest findings and thoughts on cutting-edge research. I hope you’ll join me here (and on Twitter @CantonWiner) and share it with your friends. I look forward to learning with all of you.