I Am Just Now Realising The Possibility That Exclusionists Might Find My Blog And Try To Start Discourse

i am just now realising the possibility that exclusionists might find my blog and try to start discourse fuck

anyway don't be an exclusionist for clear skin

if you're not cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual you belong in the community

An Incomplete Arospec Terminology Post

Haven’t seen any of these bad boys float around, but! Here are some terms that may be helpful to folks who are like “what is an aro”? This is definitely not a complete list of terms, and I don’t remember where all the terms came from, but here we goooooo!

Important note: not all of these terms are used by the entire community, and there is discourse within the arospec community about terminology and the politics surrounding them, particularly in the identities section. The OP does not intend to make any statements on specific terms intentionally, and corrections from other arospecs (unless starred) are appreciated. Discourse from exclusionists is not, however, and romantic folks are NOT to speak over arospec folks discussing in this post. All terms defined will be tagged in the OP as to make sure that those avoiding specific terms can avoid them.

ETA: Removed the ‘read more’ and is now tagged as #long post for those who want to save their dashboards.

Important Concepts

Arospec: The umbrella term for the aromantic and aro-aligned identities within the wider aspec, which is the aromantic and asexual communities. The arospec has different needs and wants than the acespec community, and both are worth distinguishing from each other.

Split-attraction model: also known as SAM, the split-attraction model holds that attraction to people can be distinctly split up into categories, such as romantic, platonic, sexual, etc. Using the SAM is not mandatory to identifying as aromantic or arospec, and many people just use “aro” to describe themselves for many reasons.

Alterous attraction: an attraction term to describe attraction that is not entirely romantic or platonic, the “crush” equivalent is mesh

Queerplatonic relationship: a self-defined relationship by those within it that does not fit within the stereotypical definitions of a platonic or romantic relationship. You do not have to be aromantic in order to want or be in a QPR, a partner is called a QPP, zucchini, or a plush

Amatonormativity: the sociocultural idea that every single person is the most happy within a heteroromantic, heterosexual, monogamous relationship. Term coined by feminist Elizabeth Blake to describe the systemic ways that this ideology is upheld, and used within the arospec community as well as within the polyamorous community to discuss…

*Relationship anarchy: the ideology and practice of never assuming any kind of interpersonal dynamic is “one way” or “another” based purely on action. Every interpersonal dynamic, be it platonic, sexual, romantic, or otherwise, is discussed between all parties involved in it

Squish: the “crush” equivalent of platonic attraction, usually used to define friendships or a desire to become friends with someone

Arophobia: a specific prejudice against arospec people. Arophobia can be both intentional and unintentional, being called arophobic is not being called a slur, nor is it a dogwhistle for bullying.

Aromantic Identities:

Aromantic: experiencing no romantic attraction, often shortened to aro.

Demiromantic: only experiencing romantic attraction when a strong emotional bond is present.

Greyromantic: experiencing romantic attraction very infrequently. This is different from…

Aroflux: romantic orientation fluctuates but is always aligned with the aromantic spectrum

Lithromantic: experiences romantic attraction but does not want it reciprocated, also called akioromantic

Quoiromantic: cannot tell the difference between romantic attraction and other forms of attraction, platonic attraction is usually the comparison attraction

Reciproromantic: does not experience romantic attraction unless they know the feelings will be returned

Cupioromantic: does not experience romantic attraction but still desires a romantic relationship, this person can also be called romance-favorable or romo-positive (discussed in the next section)

Aroace: an aromantic asexual, meaning they experience no romantic or sexual attraction

Aroallo: an aromantic allosexual, meaning they experience no romantic attraction but experience sexual attraction

Neuaro/neu aro/neu-aro: a term that fits inbetween aroace and aroallo, for aromantics who are neutral about identifying as either asexual or allosexual

Non-SAM aro: an aromantic who doesn’t use the SAM to define their attractions

Unit aro: an aromantic who solely identifies as aro because their aromanticism is the most important part of their identity.

Nonamorous: the most commonly used term for aromantics who do not wish to enter any kind of relationship or dynamic that isn’t platonic. Other terms exist for this, like callistic, but they are not as well known or used within the arospec community.

Aplatonic: an aromantic that does not experience platonic attraction, and.or does not seek out interpersonal dynamics defined by platonic attraction

The Romance Feelings Spectrum

There are many terms used to describe how an arospec person views romance in society and in their life, many of which are debated within the community. The following list are terms that the OP has personally seen used and discussed (and one is a term that the OP uses personally for themselves), some of them are analogues with the acespec sexual favorability terms.

Romo-positive or Romo-favorable: an arospec who feels positively about romance portrayed in society and media. They may seek out romantic relationships of their own.

Romo-neutral: an arospec whose opinion on romantic portrayal in society and media is neutral. They may seek out romantic relationships of their own.

Romo-repulsed: an arospec whose opinion on romantic portrayal in society and media is negative, and often experiences distress and emotional exhaustion when interacting with media that contains romantic aspects or when discussing romance with people in their daily lives. They usually do not tend to seek out romantic relationships on their own.

Romo-antagonistic: term used by the OP to describe their own very intense disdain for romantic media and social norms, it is often also paired with an intense hatred for amatonormativity that prevents people from forming legally-recognized dynamics that exist outside of its “bounds” of acceptability.

Final Note

These terms are not all the terms used within the arospec community, nor should this post be seen as the sole dictionary of terminology. The LGBTA Wiki through FANDOM is a very good resource for finding terms and their origins. Do not apply terms to people without their consent, and this post does not give any readers permission to correct people on their own terminology. Arospec people are the authorities on the arospec community, and anyone else claiming otherwise is being arophobic.

<#, Allos the Menacing Aro

i spend so much time online i forget nearly everyone outside is cis het and allo like hello where all my lgbtqs at

how about we just claim both

if arts are gay culture can aros and aces claim stem

bitches be acting like hating romance is a personality trait and it shows

it's me. i'm bitches.

Aro culture is thinking you’re fine with your aro-ness and then having a single conversation which destroys all your progress and puts you back into “why am I like this” mode