Since you all seemed to like the last one: here's a list of common aromantic experiences. As before, please use this kind of thing with care. Not every aromantic person will relate to these, and non-aromantics may relate to them as well. Without further ado:
(1/15)
• finding people aesthetically or sexually appealing, but that's as far as that feeling goes
• the idea of romancing someone never occurring to you on its own
• finding conversations about romance especially boring
(2/15)
• deciding that you would 'put up' with romance because it seems like a requirement to have an intimate relationship
• a friends-with-benefits relationship sounding ideal to you
(3/15)
• performing romantic gestures for others but it feeling like it's an obligation or just something you like to do to make someone else happy
• your ideal relationship would be one that doesn't include romantic gestures
(4/15)
• going through with romantic gestures but 'not getting what all the fuss is about'
• being repulsed by the idea of romance
• pursuing romance as an intellectual curiosity rather than due to attraction
(5/15)
• feeling like you could go the rest of your life without romance just fine
• liking the idea of marrying / spending your life with a good friend without any romantic feelings attached
• not understanding why kissing is seen as romantic
(6/15)
• knowing what counts as romantic based on what you think other people would say, rather than knowing what feelings it would evoke in yourself
• never having a crush or not being sure if you have
• not having fallen in love before or not being sure if you have
(7/15)
• the concept of squishes resonating with you
• trying to 'force' yourself to have a crush, or thinking that crushes were something that people generally chose to have
• consistently not initiating or suggesting romantic gestures with your partners
(8/15)
• wondering why everyone else seems to find romance so interesting, and hence feeling like the odd one out
• finding yourself unable to relate to others when they talk about crushes or falling in love
(9/15)
• having trouble knowing / understanding what the difference is between friendly and romantic feelings
• being confused when other people's fantasies include romance
• forgetting or not realising that other people think about romance
(10/15)
• thinking you're just a late bloomer (or picky) and waiting for the moment that romantic attraction comes to you but it never does
• feeling aesthetic, platonic, or sexual attraction and mistakenly labelling it romantic attraction
(11/15)
• not understanding why people connect the idea of sex or aesthetic attraction with forming a long-term (emotionally) intimate relationship
• not seeing why people act as if sex implies a romantic relationship
• finding flirting confusing or failing to even notice it
(12/15)
• at some point you've doubted if romance is a real thing or feeling like everyone must just be going along with it
• not getting why people talk about love so much, why there is so much art dedicated to it, and so on
(13/15)
• finding (the preoccupation with) romance in fiction random, out of place, or uninteresting
• thinking that everyone is exaggerating or ironic or being 'immature' about romance and that really they all see it the same way you do
(14/15)
• not understanding / thinking it's a joke when people say they would have a romantic relationship with a certain stranger (especially when based only on appearances)
• not understanding why people would want to inject romance into a platonic or sexual relationship
(15/15)
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