February Carnival of Aros - Round up
Word count: 476
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The month has come to an end and with it our hosting of the Carnival of Aros. Our theme was Variation vs. Unity and we received some lovely, thoughtful submissions.
On the topic of identity Autumn wrote about labels being inherently flexible, how models can be and can also not be useful, and the importance of sharing our differing experiences.
“Often times certain terms or models are exactly what one person needs, while for someone else they may seem too complicated or unhelpful for their experiences. But I actually really like the different possibilities in the community and hearing about others' experiences, even if not all of them apply to me.”
N talks about being arospec, how language within the community is as much a relief as it is a struggle, and what that all means for him.
“Despite feeling very relieved when I was presented with the idea of being on the aromantic spectrum, I’ve struggled a little because I don’t feel like I quite fit. See, I’m romance positive. I’m relationship positive.”
In her piece on lithromantism, Lianna talks about her experiences with relationships, her desires for connection, and how a comfortable overlap of the two is difficult to find..
“It is like I share the crushes of alloromantics, but have the relationship experiences of aromantics. I am now at the point of wondering how this realisation about my lithromantism will affect my life choices and future experiences.”
This month Scoop discusses aroallo community relations, self-doubt, and how she relates to queer people.
“It is interesting believing you’re the same as someone else and then finding out you aren’t. I had thought for a while there that I was just like every other queer person, I just didn’t feel romantic attraction. … And then I watched Contrapoint’s video on Shame and I thought ‘oh’ and I thought ‘ouch’ and I thought ‘I’m nothing like alloro queer people’.”
Sennkestra talks about recognising shared struggles, coalition building, and fighting the good fight.
“One of the things that communities of shared experience and identity often bond over is commiserating over our shared struggles, pains and frustrations. One of the things that communities of shared experience and identity often bond over is commiserating over our shared struggles, pains and frustrations. Whether we are looking for advice from someone has been throughout it, support in fighting to overcoming it together, or even just someone who understands that we can vent everything out to, shared pain is one of the big things that bring us together.”
Thank you to everyone who participated! Go leave a comment and continue this discussion on how we can differ and we can also be very much the same.
This month’s prompt’s are bought to you by Magni, our Vice President, on the topic of Aromanticism and Gender. Find out more on zer blog here.