You can go check out my blog for more info! I made many posts last year, and will probably do the same this year.
Image ID under the cut
[Image ID: Five digitally drawn pictures. They all have a green gradient background that fade into each other.
Image 1: A simple cartoon character with short brown hair, white skin and green cheeks. They’re dressed in the colors of the aro flag (green, light green, white, grey, black). They’re gesturing towards a central text in capital handrawn white letter that reads “It’s time for Aro-Spec Awareness Week 2022”. Another text typed in black says “From Feb 20th Until Feb 26th”. Two white arrows are at the bottom of the image as decorations.
Image 2: The text is divided into three blocks and reads: “What does aro-spec mean ? It’s short for "aromantic spectrum”. Arospec people don’t experience romantic attraction, or experience it differently.“ aromantic spectrum is written in green, romantic attraction is written in a dark red, and the rest is black. The same character previously described is standing on the right of the text as if they were saying the words. They’re drawn a second time underneath the text, holding a green umbrella while saying "It’s an umbrella term!”. The same two white arrows are at the bottom of the image as decorations.
Image 3: The text reads: “However, arospec and acepec are two different experiences. Not every aro is ace, not every ace is aro. That distinction between romantic and sexual attraction is based on the SAM! (Split Attraction Model)”. The words are typed in black except for the word aro which is green, and the word ace which is purple. A handwritten note on the side reads: “It can be used by anyone too!”. The character is at the bottom of the screen and says in parenthesis: “Tho there are non SAM aro out there”. The same two white arrows are at the bottom of the image as decorations.
Image 4: The image is filled with text with the exception of the character’s head poking out of the bottom. It says in a handwritten white text: “Transcript at the end”. At the top of the image is written “Some Vocabulary for the road:”. Underneath is a list of terms in bold capital letters and their definition. “Allo: Being non-aro (alloromantic) or non-ace (allosexual)” ; “Amatonormativity: The assumption that everyone must want a lifelong monogamous romantic and sexual relationship.” ; “Romance Repulsed/Favorable: How someone feels about romance! Some aro do like romance, others want nothing to do with it, and some are neutral.” ; “QPR: Queer Platonic Relationship! An unique kind of commitment, determined by the people in it.”
Image 5: The character is sitting on the decorative arrows at the bottom of the panel. White text above and next to them read: “This has been a brief introduction! There’s a lot more to learn… so follow ASAW and be aware of your local aros! Thanks for reading!”
Next up in our Aspec Voices series is Aros who have been in or want romantic relationships! Thanks to everyone wo contributed, including @a-romantic–aromantic!
These graphics feature some quotes from the article, which you can read in full here: https://taaap.org/2022/02/24/asaw-22-aros-romance/
[ID: “I really enjoy affection and the act of being cared for in a romantic way, but I also need my partners to understand that I don’t have relationship hierarchies in my head- I don’t value them more than my friends. “ - Alex. “Ideally I wouldn’t live with my partner, we’d have our own space, and they’d understand I’m seeking intimacy and closeness more than romance and sex.” - Ky. “I largely try to stay away from it, but I’ve seen quite a bit of anti-romance sentiment coming from some aro people, and I understand ranting about it, I understand wanting nothing to do with it, but the homophobic, racist, and ableist implications of being anti-romance make me uncomfortable.” - Magpie.
“Being aromantic affects a lot of aspects of my relationships. Since I’m aroflux, my orientation switches around a lot. I’ll go from being romantically attracted to someone to suddenly wanting no romance at all.“ - Mars Naomi. “You don’t need to be hungry to think the cake looks delicious. You don’t need to feel a romantic attraction to want to do the cutesy mushy romantic stuff. - Amalthæ. “[Aromanticism] also means I am barely ever interested in someone despite pretty much constantly wanting to be which is frustrating.” - Theo. End ID.]
who do not feel romantic attraction, but do feel sexual attraction, or any other type of attraction;
who do not identify with the word “love” in any context, whether it’s platonic, romantic, familial;
you are human. you are valid. just the way you are, and there’s nothing you need to do to prove it. you deserve to be heard and seen. and I’m sorry if you ever feel, have felt, or will feel, that you are excluded from the aspec community. because you belong here. and nothing can take that away. not the way you feel or don’t feel attraction or “love”. you are beautiful, and your voice and your story matters. speak up, because I’m listening. I want to hear you.
Our own community has gotten better about not assuming all aro people are ace, but the people outside the community… not so much.
I ask my friend for advice on rejecting someone gently. They say, “just tell her you’re ace”.
I’m at the hospital talking to the other patients in the unit, they ask me if I’m straight. I say, “no, I’m aromantic”. A few don’t know what it is, so I explain. One responds, “oh, so you’re like, asexual?”
I draw an aro flag on my arm for pride month. Someone sees it and asks why I don’t just use the ace flag.
I tell my friend that I’ve dropped asexuality from my label due to people constantly ignoring my aromanticism in favor of asexuality and due to feeling like my lack of sexual attraction is part of my aromanticism. They continue to call me ace.
I tell someone I’m aromantic. They call me ace.
Non-SAM aros and alloaros are erased by alloromantics all the time, no matter how much we explain that we aren’t ace. Yet another example of people not listening to aro people, as if we don’t already have a surplus :/
