#lithromantic positivity

[xxcalicofemmexx]

lith + moths

Lith: Someone who experiences attraction, but doesn't want it reciprocated. They may be uncomfortable with the thought of someone being attracted to them, or they may lose their feelings if they learn it's reciprocated. An aspec identity that is used as a prefix, and can be combined with other identities (lithbisexual, lithpanromantic, etc) or used on its own (lithsexual, lithplatonic, etc). Also known as Litho, Akoi, Akoin, and Ap

[flip-flopping-frede]

My attempt at Lithromantic Positivity

I want to preface this by saying I am ~in general~ not a fan of positivity. Trying to “force positivity” is quickly a slippery slope to toxic positivity and superficially. Nonetheless, I feel like I could have realized some lithromantic positivity, and thought it was necessary to share rather than keep it to myself.

It is ok that there’s nothing good about being lithro. It is ok if there are no benefits that we can exploit from ourselves and take advantage of ourselves (or our relationships) with. Lithromantics not necessarily having *any* positives to being lithro (besides our dope flag) means that those of us that have accepted ourselves, are some of the most compassionate, kind, strong, and resilient souls. The amount of self-compassion one has to develop before they can radically accept themselves as lithromantic, is so much higher than essentially any other queer identity.

In a world that has yet to be educated on aromanticsm, aromantics and cupioromantics are scared to date alloromantics, due to alloromantics behaving like it is a “dealbreaker” or “end of the world” if their [romantic] partner is not “in love” [essentially experiencing romo attrac] towards them. It’s valid for both aros and cupioros to be scared to date alloros because of this arophobic mindset they have, tho.

Anyways, a lithromantic might “seem” more appealing to an uneducated alloromantic, since we do experience the romo attrac, or what alloros mistake for “love”. At the same time, once an alloro experiences and returns that romo attrac towards the lithro, the lithro’s romo attrac fades. Not necessarily fades, but flees and turns into romance repulsion (for most lithros). Uneducated, insecure, and/or unaccepting alloros might feel very hurt for the lithros sudden change. Simultaneously, the lithro may also be hurting for not being able to “keep” or “hold on” to the romo attrac. It feels like, being lithro leaves everyone worse off (and is potentially traumatizing for the lithro). This is why lithros who have accepted themselves have learned how to be compassionate and kind to themselves to an extent that most other queer identities never have to go to before they can accept their queer identity, due to there being more external support, education, and acceptance for their queer identities (including for aros).

It is so easy for lithromantics, especially lithros that have chosen to remain closeted, to drown in a sea of their own self-hatred and shame of being an arospec identity that leaves the alloromantics that reciprocated the romo attrac angry and confused. In a world where alloromantics have all the privilege and amatonormativity is everywhere, lithros are so strong, brave, and resilient for existing as our lithromantic identity in a world that refuses to see us, acknowledge us, validate us, support us, accept us, or understand us.

This is where the lithromantic positivity comes in: lithromantics can relate to everyone. Lithromantics know what it feels like to experience romantic attraction; and we know what it feels like to have a romantic relationship look you dead in the face and not want it. We are also romance ambivalent! We understand what it means to have more than one attitude towards romance. We can understand both apothiros and cupioros. We can relate to another largely unknown arospec identity—frayromantism, since frayros also experience involuntary, primary romantic attraction, just like lithros do. We can even relate to alloros in terms of experiencing romantic attraction involuntarily and getting crushes. And finally, we can relate to aros with struggling to desire romantic relationships in the same way an alloromantic does.

There are so many other identities lithromantic is similar to, like aegoromantic, bellusromantic, and frayromantic. Lithros belong in arospec spaces, and lithros’ voices are so valuable to the arospec community. Lithros are essential in terms of helping to bridge the distance and alienation that is only growing between aromantics and alloromantics.

At the same time, lithros need support. Unfortunately, a lot of lithos hate their identity, and feel no pride for it. We don’t feel seen or validated, and a lot of us feel a lot of shame for being lithromantic. I personally didn’t really see any actual lithros celebrating their lithromanticsm during this year’s arospec awareness week, which is sad. We need the arospec community to affirm that are voices are valuable and that our experiences are valid, especially as we are struggling to accept ourselves.

[angieblogging]

a beginners guide to… aromanticism.

so topic covered in this post will include:

what does it mean to be aromantic?

qpr vs romantic relationship

what is the aromantic-spectrum?

aro ≠ ace

a/n + other recourses

1. what does it mean to be aromantic?

an individual that is aromantic experiences no romantic attraction. that means they feel no romantic attraction, but can feel other types of attraction such as — platonic, familial, sexual, queerplatonic, alterous, aesthetic, emotional, sensual, intellectual. (these are the types of attraction i know, for the full list and descriptions check out this wiki page!)

each aromantic person can have a certain stance on romance such as romance repulsed or favourable. if you want to learn more about this topic check out this wiki page.

some aromantic people may be in a committed romantic and/or sexual relationship or a so called qpr aka a queerplatonic relationship.

2. qpr vs romantic relationship.

so to start this off i will say that the only people defining their relationship can be the ones in said relationship.

a romantic relationship is usually considered a relationship where two individuals are romantically attracted to each other and engage with each other romantically, such as kissing, cuddling, being committed exclusively to one another.

however the actions mentioned are not exclusive to romantic relationships.

a queerplatonic relationship is a relationship out of the binary. not a romantic or a platonic one. a qpr is not a stepping stone in between a platonic relationship and a romantic one. it is not necessary in between the two, it’s simply existent on it’s own.

what exactly is a qpr is hard to define as it means different things to different people and the only ones that can define it are the people in their qpr. some people are in a qpr where they engage in romantic and/or sexual activities, but feel no romantic attraction to each other, a qpr can be a fully platonic relationship with a sexual aspect or it can be just platonic, but their relationship exceeds the “norm” such as living together temporarily or permanently, raising a child together aka co-parenting. those are just a few examples.

3. what is the aromantic-spectrum?

it’s basically a spectrum of all the aromantic identities. someone who is on the aro-spec can feel little to no romantic attraction, some people feel it under certain circumstances or their attraction fades under certain circumstances. some, but not all labels on the aro spec include: demiromantic, aegoromantic, greyromantic, apothiromantic.

if you wish to read about more labels under the aro-spec check out this page.

all the labels on the aromantic spectrum have their sexual counterparts (ex. demiromantic — demisexual).

4. aro ≠ ace

so while aro and ace (short for asexual) communities are basically one big community (a-spec), it is important to note that aromantic individuals do not have to be asexual, some aros are asexual, some are just aro, some are aplatonic, so keep that in mind. one doesn’t equal the other. just cause someone is aro doesn’t make the asexual, however they can still be on the ace-spec. one can be aromantic and demisexual, many aro/aces use the split attraction model otherwise known as SAM.

SAM is there to basically help out to distinguish between romantic and/or sexual relationship, one is not tied to the other. some may be biromantic and asexual or homosexual and aromantic.

some aros choose not to use the SAM model and in this case they identify as a non-SAM aromantic. why they choose to use it can have many reasons, however they should also be respected as they can identify themselves however they want and truly own no one an explanation.

6. a/n + other recourses

i think this post catches the basics of aromanticism to the best of my ability. this is the basics and being aromantic is so much more complex than a couple definitions.

here’s a website you may find helpful! website

however i encourage you to do further research than just my post and that website. tumblr is a great place as well, there are plenty of aromantic blogs out there, like @our-arospec-experience @arospec-culture-is !

[acexualien]

Happy Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week! 🥰💚

[arospec-positivity-memes]

Hai :3

I'm Autumn :D

I'm Eliraleanic (they/them) and aromantic/aegosexual, and ive made this blog with the goal of spreading memes and positivity, ill be posting a combination of memes i find online, memes sent in by you all through the submissions button, and positivity posts/reblogs of positivity posts :3

If you have any questions about me, this blog, or my perspectives on being aro, feel free to send an ask! I love yapping and answering questions :D

[thee-radio-host-is-a-kookaburra]

Aromantic Flag History

With all the arophobes coming out of the woodworks, I want to share some aromantic history to hopefully brighten your day.

The first use of the term "aromantic" appeared in an AVEN thread in June of 2005. A couple years later, a flag was created by the National Coalition for Aromantic Visibility. It looked like this:

Green symbolized aromanticism, as green is the opposite of red, and red is sometimes seen as a symbol of romance. Yellow represented platonic love. Orange represented lithromanticism, and black represented anyone who fell under the greyromantic range.

At some point, the aromantic community decided it was time for a change, and thus came the second flag. Created by Cameron Whimsy, this one looks a lot more familiar to the one we see nowadays:

The two greens represent the spectrum of aromantic identities, yellow represents friendship, and grey and black represent the spectrum of sexual identities in the aromantic community.

While this flag wasn't as widely used as the first, it laid the groundwork for the one we'd come to know and love today. At some point, it was pointed out that the yellow stripe caused sensory issues for some individuals, and as such, it was changed to white.

And now we have the modern aromantic flag we all love! Thanks for reading!

[joestarkisser]

Arospec selfshippers are amazing!

Aromantic selfshippers?

Aroflux selfshippers?

Arospike selfshippers?

Arofluid selfshippers?

Loveless Aro selfshippers?

Frayromantic selfshippers?

Lithromantic selfshippers?

Bellusromantic selfshippers?

Acoromantic selfshippers?

Acriromantic selfshippers?

Amoraromantic selfshippers?

Autiaro selfshippers?

Cupioromantic selfshippers?

Cassromantic selfshippers?

And any other selfshippers with an arospec identity?

Your F/Os all respect you and your identity regardless of what it is!

[your-stranger-halfblood-things]

A shout-out to the arospecs who don't feel romantic attraction, DO feel romantic attraction, sometimes feel romantic attraction, feels little to no romantic attraction, and obviously the ones who are shunned away from the rest of the community

[acewhowantsspace]

Holy hell. I didn't know there was a word for how I felt. I didn't know others felt like this. I thought I was faking being aromantic.

GUESS WHO JUST FOUND OUT WHAT LITHROMANTIC IS

Holy hell. It feels good. It feels nice knowing that there's a WORD FOR HOW I FEEL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

Because, like, I enjoy the IDEA of a relationship. But when I'm faced with the reality of one, I'm like, "No no, I changed my mind, I don't want this. I lost interest"

The fantasy is more appealing than the reality.

I feel happy right now. Oh my god

[lawofcollage]

Lithromantic: an individual who feels romantic love towards someone but has no desire of having these feelings reciprocated

[xxcalicofemmexx]

lith + tigers

Lith: Someone who experiences attraction, but doesn't want it reciprocated. They may be uncomfortable with the thought of someone being attracted to them, or they may lose their feelings if they learn it's reciprocated. An aspec identity that is used as a prefix, and can be combined with other identities (lithbisexual, lithpanromantic, etc) or used on its own (lithsexual, lithplatonic, etc). Also known as Litho, Akoi, Akoin, and Ap

[z0mbz-pr1d3]

F2U Lithsexual/Lithromantic, Fraysexual and Frayromantic emojis!

[theasexualgoddess]

Things are getting alittle interesting 🤷🏾‍♀️

Happy Aromantic Awareness Week 💚🤍🖤🏳️‍🌈

Characters & Art by me 🖤

[perfectlyyoungtimetravel]

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week Day 05: Comfort/Platonic

he made the blanket himself!

So let's talk about Lithromantic! Lithromantic people feel romantic attraction but would rather keep the relationship platonic. They can also feel platonic, aesthetic, queerplatonic, sensual and sexual attraction

Credits: @comyet

Materials used: soft pastel crayons and HB-2 pencil

See you today!

[starr-eaterr]

how it feels when my lithromantic brain starts associating a song with a person im crushing on and hence ruins that song for all eternity