6 Signs You Don't Experience Romantic Attraction (Aromantic)

Have you ever been attracted to someone romantically? Those who haven’t, are defined as aromantic. You may be thinking: well isn’t aromantic just another word for asexual? But they are actually two different things. Those who are asexual don’t experience sexual attraction, while someone who is aromantic doesn’t experience romantic attraction but can still experience sexual attraction. You can be both aromantic and asexual, or one or the other. It’s also important to know aromanticism exists on a spectrum, so you may feel romantic attraction in some cases under a certain circumstance. So, how do you know if you are aromantic? Well, here is aromantic explained.

#aromantic

Writer: Michal Mitchell
Script Editor & Manager: Kelly Soong
Animator: Krisha (new animator)
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

References:

[Psychgo]

Happy Pride Month! 🏳‍🌈🏳‍🌈🏳‍🌈 Psych2Go is so glad to have you in our journey to 10 mil and if you're new to the channel, comment below where you're from.

[froogy]

I recently found out that I’m aromantic, and the hardest part for me was realizing what crushes were. I thought I had several crushes, but after thinking about it, they were never romantic. They were always just girls that I wanted to be friends with, and I just kind of assumed that that’s what a crush was. It’s hard to find out what romance actually is, because if you never experience it, you just assume what it feels like.

[assassinatedwalrus]

As an aromantic i've always felt that i was in love with the idea of love not a person

[Moonstruck_Arrow]

A few other signs you might be aromantic (or arospec) based on personal experience:

1. You can’t tell the difference between platonic and romantic attraction
2. You might THINK you have a crush on someone, but you’re never able to tell if it’s actually real. If you did have any feelings, they kinda just vanish after a bit.
3. One time I thought I had a crush on someone, but then I found out they had a partner and I realized I didn’t really care, and was actually kind of relieved.
4. You might tend to form really close platonic bonds with some of your friends. So close, in fact, that you might even start to wonder if your relationship is more than platonic (remember #1?)
5. The one time I was in a relationship, I very quickly started to panic and feel like I had made a mistake. I also felt like they loved me more than I loved them and I felt guilty for not returning the favour. This was before I realized I was Aro.
6. You can be Aro and still want to be in a romantic/semi-romantic relationship! I think that realizing you’re Aro can help you better understand what you really want out of a relationship. You might realize you only wanted it because society expected you too, perhaps you only want certain aspects in a relationship, or maybe you really do just want romance, you just don’t have the attraction to help you find it

(Sorry for the wall of text)

[nyxblue]

"I love you"
"Haha ok"
I feel like I'd say that

[alessiadenobilii]

heyy! for the people who are questioning if they are aromantic please remember that some aromantic people still feel the desire to be in a romantic relationship! I'm aro and I'm not really okay with the fact that I'm not able to feel romantic love! I hope this will help!

[fallofftheplanetwithme]

1. You've never had a crush
2. You don't find yourself romantically attracted to anyone (often or it's confusing)
3. You experience platonic and familial love, but not romantic
4. You prefer being single
5. May feel sexual attraction, but no romantic attraction with it
6. You're ok with never having been in love

[sillyhappy]

As an aromantic, I often find myself giving this analogy for how aromanticism feels for people who do experience that attraction. I basically just say, "It's like when you're shopping for clothes and you see a really cute blouse! It's adorable! But you put it back because it's not your style, and although it would look super cute on someone else, it's just not your style." And that usually helps to communicate what it feels like. I think romance is hella cute. I love seeing couples and reading sappy romance manga, but that doesn't make me wanna date or marry anyone. I've tried dating and it just makes me feel alienated from myself, like I'm roleplaying.

[billysmith]

My teen daughter has been schooling me about gender and sexual identity. I grew up and spent my life chained in religion. When she was talking about aromantics, things really started clicking in my head. I realized that I have never felt romance. It simply is impossible for me seems like. I can't relate in any way to whatever feeling romance is. Still learning, trying to figure myself out.

Also, parents please listen to your children. You might find out just how much smarter they are compared to you.

[GetYourLifeBetter]

Aromantic people generally don't feel like they need a romantic relationship to feel fulfilled and might be quite happy to stay single. Their lack of desire for romance can often cause people to think that they are "cold" or "prudish, " but this isn't the case. Aromantic individuals can make social connections and feel platonic love, like between friends and family.

[awesomeanimator]

What if I wouldn't mind dating, or wouldn't be opposed to it. But I don't want to go out of my way to find a person. Like if an opportunity passes by and someone asks if they want to date me. Would it be wrong if I say yes, even though I never thought of them before.

[Naravayax]

Usually I feel proud of being aromantic, but today, I feel extremely upset, not really because I want a partner (because I don’t), but I feel left out because of it. Most of my friends aren’t aromantic like me, so it makes me sad that I can’t relate.

[TheTiredOtaku]

Whenever I had a “crush” it was either someone I was really close to, or someone I found aesthetically pleasing. My last boyfriend was the only one I thought I had romantic attraction for, but he always made me uncomfortable with wanting to kiss or go further. It wasn’t until we broke up did I realize that I only liked him for his looks. I didn’t know romantic attraction and didn’t know that was a thing I didn’t feel. I was always told your partner or spouse would be your best friend. So I always saw love platonically but never saw it more than that. My parents are best friends so I thought that was natural. Then I was exposed to the aroace spectrum and everything fell into place

[ozzzzy]

hi, i got excited bc im on the aro spectrum!! here u go:
1:01 youve never had a crush
1:19 you dont find yourself romantically attracted to others
1:41 youve experienced platonic love but dont desire romantic love
2:05 you prefer being single
2:35 you may have felt sexual attraction but dont feel romantic attraction along with it
2:56 you're okay with never having been in love

heres more info just in case being straight up aromantic doesnt apply to you

romantic attraction is the want to date someone. so if you crush on someone and have the thought of "i want to be in a relationship with them" that is romantic attraction. often comes along with that fluttery stomach feeling and having a better mood when this person is around. these symptoms can also apply to squishes, which is a term aromantic people use when they feel like this around someone but dont want to date them, therefore making it platonic!

demiromantic:
can experience romantic attraction after developing close bonds with people, no hallway crushes
grayromantic:
can experience romantic attraction, but not frequently
cupioromantic:
likes the idea of dating and might end up dating, but no actual romantic attraction along with it.

there are more terms, but these are the basic ones! have a nice day <3

[WyxienTheFox]

I'm aroace (aromantic asexual) and this describes aromanticism almost perfectly! Granted I don't know if there is a way to describe it perfectly, but this is pretty close!

[willneilson]

I would like to talk about the last point "youre fine with never being in love". I think there is a slight misconception that aromantic are just constantly chillin. Not caring about never being in love is really just a opinion. Apart of someones peronality, an emotion. Just because someone is aromantic doesn't mean they are automatically fine with it. But just because theyre not fine with doesn't mean they want a romantic relationship. Someone can be not fine with it and also not want a girlfreind or boyfreind ect. I hope this made sense as i didn't really do a good job of explaining it but anyway.

[ismaeo]

Aaah The never ending conflict of being an AroAce, and still not wanting to be alone LOL. Only late in life I've found out I fell into the AroAce spectrum. And for the longest time I thought there was something wrong with me. Thankfully there have been more and more youtube channels like this one bringing more awareness to this topic. Great work.

[rosied]

I’m demi-romantic, and I thought there was something wrong with me for years! My friends would all be drooling over a male stranger and I would just be sat there feeling nothing and not being able to relate. For ages I settled with the conclusion that I must’ve either been a lesbian or aromantic, but that didn’t make sense because I’d had plenty of crushes on guys. Then I found out about the possibility of being demi-romantic and it all made so much sense! There’s nothing wrong with me, I just have to form a very close bond with someone before I’m able to be romantically attracted to them :) In a way it’s a blessing because it means that I fall for someone’s personality before their looks!

[ParaChuGaming]

As an aromantic asexual person myself I want to thank you so much for shining a light on this. There’s a lot of misconceptions about asexual people and a lot of people aren’t even aware that aromanticism exists. Number 6 is especially interesting to me as I only realized I was aromantic after I realized I was okay with having never fallen in love. The process of discovering who you are can be hard but having other people break down these concepts in a simple to understand way can go a long way in that process.

[KingofNewYorkkk]

The idea of a relationship sounds more appealing than the actual relationship?

Don’t really experience crushes mostly feelings of sexual attraction.

Used to feel romantic attraction long time ago but I loose interest quickly due to expectations and stress😅