Meaning
What does Aroace mean?
Aroace is short for “aromantic asexual”, and refers to a person who has lacks interest in either romantic, or sexual relationships.
It is an umbrella term for anyone who is on the “Aroace” spectrum, also including “demiromantics” and “demisexuals”, AKA people who are partially interested in sex or romantic relationships, but only after a strong emotional connection.
It is a common misconception that “Aroace” people are not interested in relationships at all, but this is generally wrong.
Although “Aroaces” don’t experience conventional forms of attraction toward others, they may feel different forms of attraction. Examples are “queerplatonic” attraction, meaning that they seek out a committed relationship, but it doesn’t involve romance, or “sensual attraction”, meaning that they do not have interest in sex, but want to feel the other person with their senses, generally touch.
Origin
What's the origin of Aroace?
Made up of “aro”, short for “aromantic”, and “ace”, short for “asexual”. Adding the prefix “a-” to both terms indicates that it is “not” what comes after.
The term “aromantic” appeared during the early 2000’s, however, “asexual” has been around for at least a couple decades longer. Already in the 90’s you could find websites for “asexual” people to communicate and support each other.
The combination of the two, “aromantic-aroace”, was defined in the early 2010’s, and the shortening “aroace” was created for convenience.
Spread & Usage
How did Aroace spread?
Just as many other sexual orientations and identities, “aroaces” have their own pride flag. In fact, they have at least 11 to choose from.
One of the most used ones is made up of 5 horisontal stripes, ranging from dark orange, to yellow, white, light blue and dark blue. It is a combination of both the “aromantic” flag and the “asexual” flag. This version was posted by user Aroesflags on Tumblr in 2018.
The term is mainly used in the LGTBQ community, and among societies of either “aroaces” or one of the two. Many mention it to people early in their relationships to let them know that they are looking for platonic relationships, not romantic or sexual.
An “Aroace” slang, “squish”, is the aromantic-asexual equivalent to “crush”, meaning a person you have strong platonic interest in.
The term is formed through using the slightly more moderate synonym for the verb “crush”, taking away from the emotional load, similar to how an “Aroace” person is feeling less emotional concerning the topic of love and romance.
External resources
- LGBTA Wiki – Aroace
- Healthline – What Does It Mean to Be Both Aromantic and Asexual?