Neir

Welcome to the community. Since you're a pastry chef, you may appreciate this food-related welcome gift of aro ice cream:

Welcome! You're in good company; many cat lovers in this community.

Hi Alex. I'm a bit late to the welcome committee but I wanted to leave an aro ice cream as a little welcome gift. I've grown quite attached to this little welcome ritual.

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I feel you. Aromanticism (and a lot of other queer identities) are often pathologized, thought to be illness or dysfunction. I've experienced similar so you're not alone. Exactly that. I couldn't agree with you more. Emotions are tricky things and if others can't understand and accept that then that's their closed-mindedness and ignorance. I hope that with more education about aromanticism, and even about how the brain and experiences and identity are tied together, people will be more tactful when they speak to aros.

I'm an aro also near the Toronto area! Hello! I did attend an Ace Toronto meeting and found it accepting of aros, but I'm not a regular so I can't say more definitively. They hold some really neat discussion sessions. I heard they've been meaning to rebrand to a-spec at some point. The queer folks at UofT I found to be quite inclusive, but apart from schools I'm not too sure. I would look up events and groups that meet at The 419; that's essentially the queer center of the city. Hope that helps! And if any other Torontonian comes along with recs, I'd be happy to hear as well.

Welcome! So nice to have you. Have some aro ice cream as a welcome gift:

I think it's definitely possible. I haven't heard of a specific term for this, but I know some people use the broader "physical attraction" when it can't quite be pinned down or labelled.

First!

Fourteen!

For people who are not as familiar with aromanticism (at least on a deep level), I've seen people talk about amatonormativity in a way that shows how harmful emphasizing romantic relationships is. I know a lot of friends of mine who, for example, will easily talk with me about how society is so obsessed with romance and marriage and how they feel pressured to get into relationships when they are happy single or simply have other priorities in life at that moment. I remember there being a recent article about Emma Watson talking about being self-partnered, for example, and there are much much older articles talking about people of all genders and ages who feel pressure from their parents, family, friends, and society to have a relationship (even a toxic one) so they won't be "alone." Even though they are happy. I am sure you can find stories like these, even if they don't straight up use the word "amatonormativity." There are a lot of feminist principles you can talk about side by side with amatonormativity and just general individual empowerment and personal choice. Over time, bringing up aromantics as people who are especially affected by amatonormativity can be a way to tie it back to your identity without becoming too academic or filled with aro-specific words. Hope that at least helps for a start!

I've heard of alterous attraction be described kind of like the non-binary equivalent of attraction types and I like that analogy. I personally feel alterous attraction. AUREA has a couple of definitions: "An interest or desire for emotional closeness without necessarily being platonic and/or romantic. A significant attraction that is related to other attractions (e.g., romantic). A significant attraction that is unrelated to any other attractions" I know that, for me personally, if I'm alterously attracted to someone I don't necessarily want a particular relationship or partnership, but emotional closeness is something important to me. It feels different from platonic or romantic attraction, but I know that for some people, other kinds of attraction like that can be part of it (like how for some people romantic attraction also has to come with platonic). It's intended to be a loose term with no strict definition. Alterous attraction, if someone identifies with that label, can manifest in many different ways depending on the person. I hope that helps!

Welcome to the forums! Have some complementary aro ice cream: The identity journey, especially when considering aromanticism, can be wild and confusing, but there's a lot you can learn from poking about on these forums and chatting with others. It's nice to see your enthusiastic spirit. Everything said by @Queasy_Attention is also great. I'll add on to say that some aromantic people do feel romantic emotions but still call themselves aro because it's the closest or best label for their experiences. Emotions are really complicated and it's hard to fit perfectly into a box sometimes. Other than that, my advice is to take things slow! There's a lot of info out there and I know even I am still learning every day. It's kind of fun that way, though.

Welcome back

I'm happy to see all these responses; it is very wholesome. I am back today to publicly announce to myself (what a strange thing to say lol): Another thing I like about myself is that I care very deeply about others and do everything in my power to make my loved ones happy.

Hi and welcome! There's no particular format for intros so whatever you want is good. I'm glad you're here to find some well-needed community. Come join us with some aro ice cream:

Hi all! Sometimes I can forget that I'm a human being with genuine worth, but in an effort to grow my (and perhaps others') self-esteem and self-confidence, I wanted to start a little thread where people can list something they like about themselves whenever they feel they need to. This thread would also be a nice way to get to know some of you and see how you think about yourselves. I think there might be a compliments thread somewhere else where people give compliments to each other, but I'd like this to be a little bit of a self-appreciation corner. I'll go first! One thing about myself I like is that I am working on being more self-aware. It's an admirable goal.

This is a very common thing I've heard a lot of us deal with, so you're definitely not alone! For me, perhaps because I'm an honest person who sometimes overshares and gets really deep within the first few conversations I have with new people I vibe with, I've found that many of my friends have been very receptive to being called friend-family or chosen family. We've agreed that we want to stay close to each other and help with each other's lives, with babysitting the children of those who want them, and just in general treat each other like cousins or siblings. Not all my friends are like this, of course, and it takes time to develop something like this. It also doesn't always work, as much as you may like and appreciate someone. But, in general, I've found most people (including alloromantic people who intend to marry) very receptive. A lot of people are scared to want to have such close relationships because they feel society doesn't allow them. By making the first move and telling my friends that I would like to have meaningful lifelong friendships, I have found success. As for raising kids, I did read a story a while back about two friends legally co-parenting HERE. Although their situation was rocky, it shows that it is possible to raise children with willing friends. I also know of other co-parenting options that aren't necessarily legally recognized but are experiences friends of mine have had. One of my good friends was parented by her mom and godmother, who didn't live together. Another friend of mine was parented a lot by many people in their community - neighbours, friends of their parents, parents of their friends, etc. There are people out there who would be willing to do it; the work is finding them.

8!

I had to dig a bit but it looks like these forums have a thread where some people who feel romantic attraction have commented on what it and romance feel like, in case you're curious. It's also quite normal to feel confused! You're right that some quoiromantic folks identify under the aro umbrella while others don't and those kinds of feelings are difficult to figure out in general. If you don't think you've felt romantic attraction, as you would expect or define it, then I think it's quite fine to say so. Some things I say and do 'look' or 'sound' romantic to some outside observers when they are distinctly not for me, while for other outside observers they aren't romantic at all. So it's quite personal. Unfortunately, that kind of makes it harder because you have to come up with your own personal definition... Good luck, in any case! Questioning is always quite the journey.

Just popping in to WIN to say that this conversation happening over this game is really heartwarming

Many people I interact with who are ND (in the aro community especially, which is interesting) tell me I also have ND vibes but what exactly underlies that I have no clue. ? I've struggled with pretty severe chronic anxiety all my life, while other things like depression come and go with treatment. So I'm not sure if my anxiety's anxiety or if it's a front for something else. It's comforting to see others in the aro community who have had similar experiences with various physiological conditions, even though we're kind of all connecting through pain. We're still goin'. I don't think it interacts with my aromanticism, personally, but I am always interested in reading others' stories about how their conditions and aromanticism influence each other.

Welcome and nice to meet you "New and confused" could describe a lot of us when we first came here so I hope you can find some voices that speak to you here

Nice to meet you! Have some aro ice cream as a welcome gift:

Bienvenue! It's nice to have you. I'm glad you're in a better place now and have come back. Here is some aro ice cream for you in celebration: