Aroace

Aroace (also written aro-ace) describes someone who identifies as both aromantic and asexual, experiencing little to no romantic attraction and little to no sexual attraction to other people. The term combines the shortened forms of "aromantic" and "asexual" and depends on the split attraction model, which separates romantic and sexual attraction into two axes rather than treating them as a single, linked orientation (AVEN; Wikipedia). Major LGBTQ reference guides define the two halves of the label the same way: GLAAD describes asexual as someone who does not experience sexual attraction and aromantic as someone who does not experience romantic attraction, and treats each as its own umbrella spanning graysexual/grayromantic and demisexual/demiromantic experiences (GLAAD); the Human Rights Campaign frames asexuality as "a complete or partial lack of sexual attraction or lack of interest in sexual activity with others," existing on a spectrum rather than as a single fixed state (HRC). Because the two attraction types can vary independently, a person can be asexual without being aromantic, aromantic without being asexual, or (as aroace specifically names) both at once.

Being aroace is not the same as feeling nothing at all. Advocacy and health organizations distinguish romantic and sexual attraction from other kinds of connection (platonic, aesthetic, or sensual), and aroace people continue to experience and value these, including close friendships and, for some, committed non-romantic partnerships (AVEN; HRC). Like the aromantic and asexual spectrums individually, aroace is not a single fixed experience: some aroace people are sex-repulsed or romance-repulsed, others are neutral or occasionally willing, and many use additional spectrum terms (gray-, demi-) alongside "aroace" to describe conditional or infrequent attraction (GLAAD).

Examples

Aroace is two labels worn at once, so what it covers is best shown by keeping the two axes it combines visibly separate.

What the term covers. Someone who experiences neither romantic nor sexual attraction; someone who combines the two labels with spectrum qualifiers, gray or demi on one axis and not the other, because the two need not be equally absolute; and people who are sex-repulsed, sex-neutral or occasionally willing, all of whom the label covers, since it describes attraction rather than behaviour or comfort. Deep friendships and committed non-romantic partnerships, including queerplatonic ones, are common and are not exceptions to the label.

What the term does not cover. Asexuality alone leaves romantic attraction untouched (most asexual people experience it), and aromanticism alone says nothing about sexual attraction. Celibacy is a decision about behaviour, not a pattern of attraction. And "aroace" is not a claim about feeling nothing: platonic, aesthetic and sensual attraction all sit outside the two axes the term describes.

How the word is used. A community portmanteau of "aro" and "ace" that only makes sense inside the split attraction model, which treats romantic and sexual attraction as separate axes. It circulated on AVEN forums and Tumblr, and acquired its own five-stripe "sunset" flag posted in December 2018, distinct from the separate asexual and aromantic flags. It is community vocabulary; surveys generally reach it only by asking the two questions separately.

History

The modern use of "aromantic" traces to the early-to-mid 2000s, developing alongside the online asexual community that coalesced around the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), which David Jay founded in March 2001 as a college freshman to build community and argue for asexuality's legitimacy as an orientation (Wikipedia). One of the earliest attestations of the modern term dates to 2005, and "aromantic" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2018 (Wikipedia). As the split attraction model became a standard way for asexual-spectrum people to describe romantic orientation separately from sexual orientation, "aroace" emerged as informal shorthand (used across AVEN forums, Tumblr, and other community spaces) for people who identified with both the aromantic and asexual labels at once (Wikipedia). A widely adopted community pride flag for the combined identity, the five-stripe "sunset" design, was posted to Tumblr by user aroaesflags on December 11, 2018, distinct from the separately established asexual and aromantic flags (Wikipedia).

Demographics & research

Population-level data on the aroace overlap specifically is limited, but two studies indicate its scale within the broader asexual community. A 2020 analysis of pooled survey data from asexual-identified respondents found that 74.0% reported experiencing some romantic attraction, meaning roughly a quarter of asexual-identified people in the sample were also aromantic, the overlap this entry describes (Antonsen et al., Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2020). Among LGBTQ+ youth specifically, The Trevor Project's 2020 research brief on asexual and ace-spectrum youth, drawn from more than 40,000 respondents to its national survey, found that 10% of LGBTQ+ youth identified as asexual or somewhere on the ace spectrum; when this group was asked to select additional labels for their romantic orientation, 13% also selected "aromantic", the closest available proxy for aroace identification in that dataset (The Trevor Project).

Terminology & related identities

Aroace sits at the intersection of the asexual spectrum (which also includes graysexuality and demisexuality) and the aromantic spectrum (grayromanticism, demiromanticism). Because the split attraction model allows the two axes to vary independently, aroace people may still pursue platonic, sensual, or queerplatonic relationships even though they do not experience conventional romantic or sexual attraction (AVEN); HRC notes that some asexual people "are aromantic and find fulfillment outside of sex and romance," prioritizing friendship, family, work, and personal values over romantic or sexual pursuits (HRC). Some aroace people also use narrower or adjacent labels alongside "aroace" (such as lithromantic or lithsexual, for romantic or sexual attraction that fades once it is reciprocated) to describe their experience in more detail. The Trevor Project and similar resources note that asexuality is itself an umbrella spanning a wide range of experiences of attraction, rather than a single uniform absence of feeling, and the same is true of aromanticism (The Trevor Project).

Common misconceptions

A persistent misconception treats asexuality (and by extension aroace identity) as equivalent to celibacy or sexual abstinence. HRC's asexuality resource states plainly that "asexuality is not the same as celibacy," explaining that celibacy is a choice to abstain from sexual activity while asexuality is a sexual orientation, an intrinsic part of identity rather than a decision (HRC). A second misconception holds that aroace people cannot form meaningful relationships or experience love at all. Under the split attraction model, HRC notes, "sexual attraction and romantic attraction are separate feelings that may or may not align," and some people on the ace and aro spectrums still date, partner, or build committed non-romantic relationships, while others find fulfillment through friendship, family, and community rather than romance (HRC). GLAAD's reference guide similarly frames both asexual and aromantic as spectrum identities rather than absolutes, encompassing gray- and demi- experiences rather than a single uniform lack of feeling (GLAAD).