I write many articles about asexuality. Some have been about the general asexual experience, others have been more educational, and one was even about why I make so many dang articles about something that a lot of people seemingly couldn't care less about. However, I've wanted to talk about the show "Riverdale."

I refuse to watch it.

It has entirely to do with Jughead Jones.

For those unfamiliar with the Archie comics, as I was, Jughead is Archie's best friend, a relaxed, laid-back, food-obsessed high schooler. He has also, canonically, been revealed to be asexual. And before anyone objects that in Archie, they didn't care about sex drive or anything of the kind, look at the following:

Yes, it's definitely in one of the newer iterations of the comic, but the word "asexual" is used very explicitly. Not only is he asexual, but he's openly asexual, not portrayed as broken, but rather as confident in his sexuality, and a main character. For representation, it's pretty much everything we could ask for. On top of that, he's aromantic as well, which, though less personal to me, is hugely important.

Our society glorifies sex and romance as a hugely important part of the teenage experience, so having a high schooler (especially a man, since sex is glorified for men especially) who quite openly wants neither is a huge step. It's honestly amazing for the community. And even before Jughead's asexuality was confirmed, even in the oldest comics, he had no interest in sex or romance.

Even though he has a little bit of a ship tease with Betty, largely Jughead is more interested in food than in women.

There are numerous other instances where Jughead refers to romance as something he's just not interested in, and how his only true love is food. Now, many asexuals aren't aromantic, and Jughead is, but this is still incredibly important representation. Sure, it seems silly, but like I stated before, sex and romance are so hugely glorified that rejecting one, or both, can be seen as broken.

Jughead, though seen as "immature" sometimes, is honestly a great representation of a happy, healthy asexual/aromantic person.

And as someone who is desperate for even the tiniest bit of explicit ace rep, that's absolutely amazing.

Now, let's look at "Riverdale," a new TV show that's been widely popular. Again, I'll reiterate that I haven't watched it, so I'm only judging based on what I can get from the media and clips. However, I can see that Jughead's asexuality and aromanticism have been erased within the media. He had a romantic relationship with Betty, and even kissed and had sex with her.

Asexual people can certainly have sex, there are sex-positive aces, but Jughead is very much not one of them in the comic. So why is he one in the show? And he does have a romantic relationship, erasing the fact that he's aromantic completely. Where is his asexualitiy and aromanticism? This is one of Jughead's defining traits in the comic, and it's completely gone.

The director attempted to justify it, saying that "Riverdale" is a coming of age story and that Jughead has to discover himself, but Jughead never had to discover himself in the comics. Jughead had no illusions about his sexuality or romantic orientation. Heck, he's even touch-averse in the comic. So why not now?

This is a huge disservice to the asexual and the aromantic community.

We live in a world where sex and romance are so glorified, touted as a part of life that everyone experiences. Asexuals and those who are aromantic might be called immature as best, and even psychologically broken at worst--many consider lack of sex drive like asexuality a psychological disorder, though it's been disproved by many studies.

For those who are asexual and aromantic, it's so hard to find people like them. It's so hard to find commonality in media, something to validate identities. Asexual and aromantic people were hoping for "Riverdale" to be that something.

But it wasn't.

This is just another instance of erasure, and for someone who is asexual, it feels like an erasure of an important part of my identity. It hurts to have been hoping that mainstream media would have represented someone with my sexuality and then having those hopes crushed.

Especially as a teenager who's told that loss of virginity is something to be idealized, it's so easy for me to feel broken as someone who's still a virgin, someone who doesn't have any interest in sex. Seeing a supposedly ace character have a sexual relationship with no acknowledgment of asexuality honestly just makes it worse.

So to the creators of "Riverdale," I'd hope that you do remedy this. But even now, you've messed up. You had a chance to represent someone who just didn't care about sex, a guy (which is especially important!!) who was confident in his lack of desire for sex or romance. That chance was ruined. You've alienated us in this community, and you've continued to make us feel isolated.

Thanks for sticking to the status quo.