An increasing number of people are now familiar with the term “asexual,” referring to those who don’t experience sexual attraction to other people. Fewer people, however, know what it means to be aromantic—that is, not experiencing romantic attraction. These are two separate aspects of someone’s identity, and someone might identify with both or just one of these labels. While one’s sexual orientation refers to who they want to have sex with, their romantic orientation refers to who they may want to go on dates with, hold hands with, or marry, explains licensed clinical professional counselor Kari Holman. So, an aromantic person is generally someone who doesn’t have a strong interest in such activities. Continue reading from Men's Health
When people talk of community they mean a group of people that have banded together for a specific reason, and an identifier often tends to come hand in hand with that concept. While there is no doubt people who feel little to no romantic attraction or have non-normative relationships with romance have existed as long as people have existed, the term ‘aromantic’ is what brings us together. (Notice the use of ‘romantic’ and ‘normative’ in that statement. It’ll come up later.) The question of ‘how old is this community?’ can be answered, somewhat, by how old the term ‘aromantic’ is. Just as the asexual community - and specifically AVEN - was taking off, certain roots of the aromantic community were being formed. This fledgling understanding of us came about in the early 2000s, and one of the earliest uses of “aromantic” we have found so far was used in 2005. Continue reading from AUREA
Aromantic-spectrum Union for Recognition, Education, and Advocacy (AUREA)
The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project (TAAAP)
General Aromantic FAQs (AUREA)
The Split Attraction Model (Princeton Gender and Sexuality Resource Center)
Aromantic Definition: What It Means to be Aromantic (Women's Health)
That's So Aromantic! (Psychology Today)
Confessions of an Aromantic (Vox)
What if Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life? (The Atlantic)
