Holmbo

Thanks for sharing. Do you feel left out about not having a partner?

I would like to touch my friends more but I have trouble not associating it with romance or sex. For example yesterday my friend wanted to cuddle and I agreed but had an uneas about it being foreplay or something romantic. Any tips how can I feel comfortable with touching without assuming it's non platonic?

So love songs are the equivalent of fast food! I like it. Now I feel like I want to listen to that top 500 and categories what the songs are about 😄

I would advise you to talk to her about it. Tell her what you wrote here.

@merlindfluoritethanks for mentioning voidpunk because I was trying to remember the name of the term reading this conversation. Personally I absolutely identify as human but I do enjoy hopepunk content.

Yes, especially one you use in a marching band. Like a big one you wear by your stomach. Smaller drums can be more romantic I think. Like bongo drums I would not consider aromantic.

Regarding the choice of study, a good start is to learn more and explore more i general. The more you try out and learn the more options you will know of. Also you don't need to know your exact career. If you're unsure you can always pick something broad to study You don't need to be super interested in it. Most things are more interesting once you learn a lot about it. The same is true for hobbies. Especially if you can find others to do it with.

I tried it but it seems mostly a concentration exercise

It's not really possible to "know" since all these things are just labels we choose for ourselves to fit our experience. You could Id as cupid romantic if you want. And if you change your mind later it's entirely valid.

@pulchritudinous_toastI agree blankets are aro. It's because they make us not need anyone else's body heat.

@Nix That's a good point. I suppose it's more I relate to others who reject amatonormativity and its related rituals.

I've noticed that my identity as single/solo/not partnered/single at hearth more than I do aromantic. For example if I met an aromantic person who was in a monogamous romantic relationship and a alloromantic person who is not interested in such relationships I'd relate much more to the later. How is it for you?

Yeah I think since you're open for romantic relationship it might get more complicated and less important for you to come out. I'd say the main reason would be to disclose your aromantic orientation to potential partners, like you said, and also is always good to spread the word and visibility.

I suppose I would just imagine a platonic partner and say what I'd like from them.

I used to wonder about this as a teen. In my country it would be pretty weird to stay with a partner from your teens. Which means teenage couples are expected to break up. So the best end you could hope for is an amicable separation. But that's never talked about.

Swans pair up for life. So maybe that's part of the romance. And also the association of lakes as romantic settings. Because of this I don't think ducks are aro either.

I think the underlying issue is the lack of representation and the long ongoing tradition of implied LGBT+ characters. The way it's set up now it's encouraging people to read any small sign as a proof that they're gay. Cause Disney would never state it outright. So the only way to get any kind of representation is to pretend that the small details are in fact subtext intended to be interpreted in one specific way.

I have been reading Decamerone by Giovanni Boccaccio. It's a collection of short stories written in the 14th century. Most of them are humourous stories about people having sexual affairs. The funny thing is the sexual attraction is always presented as romantic love, even when it's most obviously is just that they want to bone. Unless the translation is bad it's says a lot about how the people viewed romantic love and sexual attraction as intrinsically linked.

Thanks everyone for sharing. I'm not sure it helped me understand myself any clearer though 😅 I think what trips me up is I often don't relate to topics that other people are interested in. For example I'm an environmental activist and don't relate to many things tied to consumerist culture. But also since I'm aromantic and child free I don't relate to a lot of topics about family. So maybe before I decide on my platonic orientation I should try to connect to some people with other kinds of interest.

I've never thought about it before because I'm generally a social person and enjoy spending time with others. But I feel like my enjoyment is often impersonal. I rarely feel any special connection to a specific person and a desire to get to know them better. I would like to hear from those of you who identify as aplatonic. What's your interpretation and experience of it?

We should also pick media which is kinda tangentially related to aromanticism and just claim it as aro culture. Kinda like gays have claimed the wizard of oz. But it must be a really famous one so that it can be generally known. I vote for Shawshank redemption because it's a good movie, has no romance in it and it's very well known.

When I first started to frequent forum I lived in the suburb Bromma in Stockholm. So I made a username Brommabo which means inhabitant of Bromma. When I moved from Bromma I changed the name to Holmbo to kinda refer to Stockholm instead. Stockholm means log-islet in Swedish, so my username kinda means islet inhabitant.

Welcome!

The line between romantic and platonic is very vague. Have you seen the concept of relationship anarchy smorgasbord? If not you should look that up and think about which activities you'd like to do with each of your friends. If there are new activities you're not currently doing then if you feel up for it you can bring it up with them.

Sadly I didn't do anything aro themed during the week and didn't see anything aro relaterade