Romantic orientation

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Romantic orientation, also called affectional orientation, is the classification of the sex or gender which a person experiences romantic attraction towards or is likely to have a romantic relationship with. The term is used alongside the term "sexual orientation", as well as being used alternatively to it, based upon the perspective that sexual attraction is only a single component of a larger concept. [1]

Contents

For example, although a pansexual person may feel sexually attracted to people regardless of gender, the person may experience romantic attraction and intimacy, for example, with women only.

For asexual people, romantic orientation is often considered a more useful measure of attraction than sexual orientation. [2] [3]

The relationship between sexual attraction and romantic attraction is still under debate. [4] [5] Sexual and romantic attractions are often studied in conjunction. Even though studies of sexual and romantic spectrums are shedding light onto this under-researched subject, much is still not fully understood. [6]

Romantic identities

People may or may not engage in purely emotional romantic relationships. The main identities relating to this are: [2] [3] [7] [8]

Relationship with sexual orientation and asexuality

The implications of the distinction between romantic and sexual orientations have not been fully recognized, nor have they been studied extensively. [37] It is common for sources to describe sexual orientation as including components of both sexual and romantic (or romantic equivalent) attractions. [5] [37] Publications investigating the relationship between sexual orientation and romantic orientation are limited. Challenges in collecting information result from survey participants having difficulty identifying or distinguishing between sexual and romantic attractions. [5] [38] [39] Asexual individuals experience little to no sexual attraction (see gray asexuality); however, they may still experience romantic attraction. [40] [41] Lisa M. Diamond states that a person's romantic orientation can differ from whom the person is sexually attracted to. [4] While there is limited research on the discordance between sexual attraction and romantic attraction in individuals, the possibility of fluidity and diversity in attractions have been progressively recognized. [42] [43] Researchers Bulmer and Izuma found that people who identify as aromantic often have more negative attitudes in relation to romance. While roughly 1% of the population identifies as asexual, 74% of those people reported having some form of romantic attraction. [29]

A concept commonly used by people that experience discordant romantic and sexual attraction is the split attraction model, which tries to explain that romantic and sexual attractions are not exclusively tied together and is often used by people of the asexual and aromantic community to explain their differing romantic versus sexual orientations. The abbreviation aroace (or aro-ace) can be used for someone who is both aromantic ('aro') and asexual ('ace'). [44]

Aromanticism

Simplified diagram of the aromantic and asexual spectra A spec compass.svg
Simplified diagram of the aromantic and asexual spectra

Aromanticism is a romantic orientation characterized by experiencing little to no romantic attraction. [45] [46] [47] The term "aromantic", colloquially shortened to "aro", refers to a person who identifies their romantic orientation as aromanticism. [48] [49]

As a romantic minority, it is included in the initialism LGBTQIA+ as the A, standing for aromanticism, along with asexual and agender. [50]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual orientation</span> Pattern of romantic or sexual attraction

Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns are generally categorized under heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, while asexuality is sometimes identified as the fourth category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bi-curious</span> Person who is attracted to experiencing bisexuality

Bi-curious is a term for a person, usually someone who is a self-identified heterosexual, who is curious or open about engaging in sexual activity with a person whose sex differs from that of their usual sexual partners. The term is sometimes used to describe a broad continuum of sexual orientation between heterosexuality and bisexuality. Such continuums include mostly heterosexual or mostly homosexual, but these can be self-identified without identifying as bisexual. The terms heteroflexible and homoflexible are mainly applied to bi-curious people, though some authors distinguish heteroflexibility and homoflexibility as lacking the "wish to experiment with sexuality" implied by the bi-curious label. It is important when discussing this continuum to conclude that bisexuality is distinct from heterosexuality and homosexuality rather than simply an extension of said sexualities like the labels heteroflexibility and homoflexibility would imply, due to the prominent erasure and assimilation of bisexuality into other identity groups. To sum it up, the difference between bisexual and bicurious is that bisexual people know that they are sexually attracted to both genders based on personal experience. Bicurious people are still maneuvering their way through their sexuality.

<i>LGBTQ</i> Initialism for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer"

LGBTQ is an initialism of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. It is an umbrella term, broadly referring to all sexualities, romantic orientations, and gender identities which are not heterosexual or cisgender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinsey scale</span> Scale for measuring sexual orientation

The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual–Homosexual Rating Scale, is used in research to describe a person's sexual orientation based on one's experience or response at a given time. The scale typically ranges from 0, meaning exclusively heterosexual, to a 6, meaning exclusively homosexual. In both the male and female volumes of the Kinsey Reports, an additional grade, listed as "X", indicated "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions" (asexuality). The reports were first published in Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, and others, and were also prominent in the complementary work Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asexuality</span> Lack of sexual attraction to others

Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. It may be considered a sexual orientation or the lack thereof. It may also be categorized more widely, to include a broad spectrum of asexual sub-identities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pansexuality</span> Sexual attraction to people regardless of sex or gender identity

Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people of all genders, or regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others.

Sexual identity refers to one's self-perception in terms of romantic or sexual attraction towards others, though not mutually exclusive, and can be different from romantic identity. Sexual identity may also refer to sexual orientation identity, which is when people identify or dis-identify with a sexual orientation or choose not to identify with a sexual orientation. Sexual identity and sexual behavior are closely related to sexual orientation, but they are distinguished, with identity referring to an individual's conception of themselves, behavior referring to actual sexual acts performed by the individual, and sexual orientation referring to romantic or sexual attractions toward persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, to both sexes or more than one gender, or to no one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Questioning (sexuality and gender)</span> Process of self-exploration

The questioning of one's sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender, or all three is a process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, or concerned about applying a social label to themselves for various reasons. The letter "Q" is sometimes added to the end of the acronym LGBT ; the "Q" can refer to either queer or questioning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demisexuality</span> Only experiencing secondary sexual attraction

Demisexuality is a sexual orientation in which an individual does not experience primary sexual attraction – the type of attraction that is based on immediately observable characteristics such as appearance or smell and is experienced immediately after a first encounter. A demisexual person can only experience secondary sexual attraction – the type of attraction that occurs after the development of an emotional bond. The amount of time that a demisexual individual needs to know another person before developing sexual attraction towards them varies from person to person. Demisexuality is generally categorized on the asexuality spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of LGBTQ topics</span> Overview of and topical guide to LGBTQ topics

The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBTQ topics:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aromanticism</span> Lack of romantic attraction to others

Aromanticism is a romantic orientation characterized by experiencing little to no romantic attraction. The term "aromantic", colloquially shortened to "aro", refers to a person whose romantic orientation is aromanticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gray asexuality</span> Spectrum between asexuality and allosexuality

Gray asexuality, grey asexuality, or gray-sexuality is the spectrum between asexuality and allosexuality. Individuals who identify with gray asexuality are referred to as being gray-A, gray ace, and make up what is referred to as the "ace umbrella". Within this spectrum are terms such as demisexual, semisexual, asexual-ish and sexual-ish.

This is a timeline of asexual history worldwide. The briefness of this timeline can be attributed to the fact that acceptance of asexuality as a sexual orientation and field of scientific research is still relatively new.

Discrimination against asexual people, also known as acephobia or aphobia when directed at aspec people, encompasses a range of negative attitudes, behaviours, and feelings toward asexuality or people who identify as part of the asexual spectrum. Negative feelings or characterisations toward asexuality include dehumanisation, the belief that asexuality is a mental illness, that asexual people cannot feel love, and the refusal to accept asexuality as a genuine sexual orientation. Asexuality is sometimes confused with celibacy, abstinence, antisexualism, or hyposexuality. Since discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation belongs under the wider social concept of kyriarchy, any acephobic acts due to intentional discrimination are a form of kyriarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allosexuality</span> Person who experiences sexual attraction

Allosexuality is the ability to experience sexual attraction and the lack of identification with asexuality. Someone who experiences allosexuality is allosexual, sometimes shortened to allo. Other terms to describe non-asexual people include zedsexual, or simply sexual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Split attraction model</span> Discordance between sexual and romantic attraction

The split attraction model (SAM) is a model in psychology that distinguishes between a person's romantic and sexual attraction, allowing the two to be different from each other.

<i>Aze</i> (magazine) Literary magazine

Aze is a literary magazine for asexual, aromantic, and agender people that was created in 2016 and publishes issues online. It was formerly known as The Asexual until 2019 when it expanded to include aromantic and agender people. The magazine publishes visual art, poetry, and personal and academic essays on the subjects of asexuality, aromanticism, and agender experiences and their various intersections. It was founded by Michael Paramo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Paramo</span> American writer

Michael Paramo is a writer, academic, and artist known for founding the literary magazine Aze and for their work examining interpersonal attraction and love with consideration to asexuality, aromanticism, and agender identity. Paramo identifies on the asexual and aromantic spectrum and advocates for people of similar experience to express themselves toward expanding society's ideas of human sexuality, romance, and gender identity. They published a book Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Agender Identity in 2024.

References

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