So, its Aromantic Awareness Week

Maduixa which means no same-sex adoption, and little acceptance of people parenting their own biological children outside a heterosexual relationship, like a mother who lives with a same-sex partner?

RE: Platonic relationships being recognised under the law. File under: be careful what you wish for.

This happens in Poland: a household of unrelated adults can register itself as a special status. The benefits are limited and mostly tax-related, but it is a “thing” and yes I guess it can provide limited and household-specific social acceptance - while forestalling political and economic acceptance and excusing social conservatives from acknowledging the broader need for such.

Poland has no legal same-sex marriage, no same sex civil partnerships, transitioning is MTF or FTM only and requires a successful court case and medicalisation with a typical timeframe of 5+ years, and women’s rights are under sustained attack.

But yay! One can be what random people in the UK/Anglosphere call “genderqueer”! I’m off to tweet congratulations to Andrej Duda; I bet he doesn’t know the English word for his policies but will love to use it to his advantage.

(Please excuse my cynicism, any actual feminists. It’s just really exhausting reading this nonsense.)

I really clicked on this thinking it was going to be about awareness for those of us with severe fragrance allergy and how it actually can devastate lives.

Genuine question but would aromantic cover- single person would like a relationship but doesn't currently fancy anyone IRL; person choosing to be single due to life circumstances (eg single parent, carer, travels a lot) & a person in a long term relationship which started out romantic & is now platonic (eg decades long marriage, now sexless by mutual decision). Aren't they all aromantics? How about a widow/widower who chooses not to have another relationship? I'm confused!

I've seen so many threads on here from women who are just done with the idea of romantic relationships. But I've never seen any of them say they feel oppressed and discriminated against because of it.

www.jesusandmo.net/?s=Valid

There's a distinct voice, isn't there? To those hip young things who come here to educate us.

"Hi! Your friendly neighborhood queer here! Here are some great resources about supercalifragilistisexuality! Thanks for reading!
Oh, you might not agree? Well, you're all hateful bigots. Fuck off, mum".

I'm not that old but teenagers have definitely got more YouTubey and transatlantic since my day. "Subscribe below!!" *rictus grin"

I wonder whether there's a graysexuality "community"?

You're in luck!

Hey Anon,
Welcome to the community!! So happy to have you here.
The black ringg^ or the ace ringg^ has quite the history. It’s something that’s been around for a few years now and is probably one of the biggest <a class="break-all" href="https://href.li/?wiki.asexuality.org/Black_ring" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">symbolss^ in the Ace Community.
Basically, the black ring <a class="break-all" href="https://href.li/?www.asexuality.org/en/topic/76607-black-rings-and-other-ways-to-show-asexual-pride/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">came aboutt^ for other aces to not only show their pride, but to also help identify other people who are ace. Many people liked the idea and it quickly became popular. People wear their ace ring for many different reasons whether it be pride, knowing they are not alone in being ace, or to feel connected to a community. The ace ring can mean a lot for aces for different reasons. 
The ace ring is typically worn on the right hand and middle finger, this makes it a sure sign for other aces to spot a fellow ace. And even though the ace ring is typically black, many people like to find a ring that is personally their pride colors. You can most certainly be gray asexual and have an ace ring! Several gray aces go with the black/sliver look. It’s pretty cool because it shows the connection with the asexual community(black) but also represents the graysexual community(silver). However, a plain black ring is perfectly acceptable for any gray-a to wear.

just-graysexual.tumblr.com/post/173190944451/hi-there-so-im-new-here-and-new-to-the-community

TheGoddessFrigg

But WHY do I have to claim some made up status just to be accepted by society? Can't I just be an eccentric spinster?

Now that cuts to the heart of it! The word "valid" gets thrown around a lot, but you only get to be accepted as valid if there is a specific word.

You can be an obnoxious git about other people's lives until they have a label!

My family doesn't speak to me because I'm single and don't have children. I have never had many romantic feeling because I'm autistic and it's mostly baffling for me. Since I've been on SSRIs I don't have much sexual desire any more.
But WHY do I have to claim some made up status just to be accepted by society? Can't I just be an eccentric spinster?

Apparently graysexuality lies somewhere between sexuality and asexuality. They sometimes feel like sex but mostly don't. I wonder whether there's a graysexuality "community"?

A song has been running round my head all morning,
Lonnie had a hit with it in the 60's but it goes back to 1925

"Young man just from college, makes a great display
With a long jawbreaker with all he has to say
Can't be found in Webster's, and won't be for a while
For we all known he's only putting on the style"

I'd advise singing the song very loudly, it cheered me up no end and stopped the world feeling quite so daft.

Obviously the problem is the ever finer hair-splitting that creates all these neo-identity labels means that the terms are not clear at all.

No, quite. If I want to be romantic with only certain types of people am I "on the aromantic spectrum" where one end is welcoming romance with anyone and everyone?

I get pressured to like my friends cat and I never will, Im in the lower end of cat avoidance spectrum my OH will scream and run away from a cat and will be very ill around them.
Please be aware of Acat people and not pressure us into that type of love

CATPHOBE!!!!

Yes, at base, the label is essentially just another version of those posters with things you should do to avoid being raped.

You should feel under no pressure to give a label to your lack of desire to have sex or be in a relationship with someone. A simple no should suffice. It fucking irks the shit out of me that I have to reiterate that lesbians don't want male sexual partners, for example. But having said that, I understand the usefulness of being able to find a community based on clear terms. Obviously the problem is the ever finer hair-splitting that creates all these neo-identity labels means that the terms are not clear at all.

I'm asympathetic...

I'm anti-romantic. Does that count?

I've decided to identify as ABASPI - Ancient Barren Spinster

They used to burn us, which was pretty oppressive.

Yeah, It seems a lot of these labels are for perfectly normal and fairly commonplace attitudes and behaviour, but the production of a label seems to legitimise it, when just saying what you want/don't want, doesn't.

Is it the, (fairly recent) abject fear of saying something that someone else could construe as 'offensive', maybe?

Well, the Olympics have been cancelled, but it seems we have a new game in town - The Oppression Olympics,

And the great thing is that it can be completely virtual!

Well, the Olympics have been cancelled, but it seems we have a new game in town - The Oppression Olympics, who will be the most oppressed in society, who displays the highest number of narcissistic tendencies?

I recall one of these neo-identities, I think it was Graysexual or something, and the explanation was roughly 'Able to feel sexual attraction for someone until you get to know them'.

I actually thought it was a bloody ingenious way to get a creepy woke-bro off your back if you fancied him at first and discovered quickly that he was a bit of a tosser.

"It's been nice chatting, but we've reached the point where my graysexuality kicks in, so we'll have to call it a night."

It's a shame really. Because I can easily understand why young girls need a label like, eg, asexual. If it's a means of telegraphing to a porn soaked peer group that you're not to be pestered for sex.

But instead of dealing with the symptom using gender identify politics, it would be so much more productive to deal with the actual ailment using feminism.