Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-38639610-20190623234751

Where is it explicitly confirmed Athena, Hestia and Artemis are aro/ace? Because, there is a difference between choosing chastity and actually being aro/ace. Is there something in the books or a tweet that confirms them aro/ace? I'd like to preface this by saying I'm on the ace spectrum myself in case anyone wants to claim I'm saying this due to bigotry. I just don't want this to be a case of people conflating abstinence with asxeuality/aromanticism.

In the case of Hestia, it is stated in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods that Hestia "still recalled that terrifying moment of being swallowed by her father" and, because of this traumatic event, decided not to make a family. Being traumatized into not wanting to make a family is not the same as actually being asexual and aromantic. Also, in traditional myths, the choice of chastity was a sacrifice she made in order to avoid Poseidon and Apollo going to war over her hand in marriage, much like how she sacrificed her throne for Dionysus. Again, this points towards a conscious decision of hers rather than her actually being asexual/aromantic. I'd go as far as to say it'd be a poor choice on Rick's part to make Hestia aro/ace after writing that her choice in virginity was based on trauma. That has the unfortunate connotations that being aro/ace is a result of trauma.

In the case of Artemis, it is stated multiple times throughout the series and in the myths that Artemis swore the oath due to the fact she detested men and refused to marry them. This could be aro/ace or, more likely, it could be an extreme form of feminism in that she hates men so much she refuses to marry them. Keep in mind the time period the myths came out. Women were seen as property of men. Artemis basically refused to be property, formed the Hunt and invited all women who didn't want to be objects of men to join. The hunt was never about being aro/ace. It was an early feminist group, Artemis' metaphorical middle finger to the patriarchy at the time. This is why the group is all girls and not focused on aro/ace people of all genders. It's not anti-romance/sexuality: it's anti-men and pro-girl power. Misandry is not asexuality/aromanticism.

I'm not saying all this because I'd have a problem with them being aro/ace. I just think we need to recognize there is a difference between choosing to be a virgin and genuinely not feeling sexual or romantic attraction.

tl;dr: Are Hestia, Artemis and Athena actually confirmed to be aro/ace or did someone conflate choosing chastity with being aro/ace and put them down as such in the LGBT section? Because choosing to be a virgin due to trauma (Hestia) or due to the fact you are a misandrist (Artemis) is not asexuality/aromanticism. In fact, these are just negative stereotypes. 