How does your aromantic orientation affect your career?

[Guest Doodlebob]

Wasn’t quite sure what to put for the title, so that was the best question I could come up with for it. What I mean by it, is that for me, I’m a musician, and since a lot of songs are about love, I have a hard time finding music that I can perform that I actually relate to. I realized that all this time, when I sang a love song, I liked the music, but I had always somehow changed the interpretation of the lyrics in my mind to mean something else so that I could relate to it somehow. I don’t really have that much of an issue with love songs, but I was just thinking about how, now that I know I’m aroace, I might change my approach to music and my career. Like in a way that would better fit me and my aromanticism than bending myself to fit a norm. I guess I’d just like to know if anyone else felt that their aromantic orientation impacted their career in some way or vice versa? For the arts or any other career really.

[roboticanary]

I'm in a very diffierent boat to you, physics research is my day job. I suppose the career itself hasn't had an impact on my aromanticism, however the cultural stereotypes of a young man going into science have been a pain.

I suspect I would have had a better chance at finding out I was aromantic earlier if it wasn't for a large amount of culture showing the lonely research nerd. I pretty much deluded myself into thinking the problem was that people like me simply weren't any good at romance rather than that I wasn't interested in it.

[eatingcroutons]

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Edited September 1, 2021 by eatingcroutons

[Rolo]

I suppose not having a relationship made spending the first decade of my career moving to different countries regularly easier, I know the "2 body problem" is something that people in committed relationships struggle with in academia. 

[eatingcroutons]

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Edited September 1, 2021 by eatingcroutons

[Sam Spade]

It doesn't really affect my career... I get asked if I have a SO occasionally but I just say "I'm focusing on my career". Don't know if it'll work when I'm older but no one bothers me now.

On the plus side, there's no one in my life to feel neglected when I'm working all day. Except my pets, who have a good pet-sitter.

[such]

I am a community development worker and my job includes talking to and supporting different people in various situations. It's not quite social work but it's close. I guess I struggle to relate to some people, because I have never had any romantic or intimate relationship. I guess it's still something I can improve on and work on, even though I may never become involved in a romantic relationship, I just need to understand people's experiences and how it might impact them.