Romantic orientation - meaning and definition
Alsoaffectional orientationromantic orientationsromantic identity
Definition
The pattern of whom a person feels romantic attraction towards, such as wanting to date, fall in love or build a partnership, as distinct from sexual attraction.
At a glance
- Describes romantic attraction, such as wanting to date or fall in love, rather than sexual attraction.
- Labels usually end in -romantic, for example biromantic or aromantic.
- For many people romantic and sexual attraction match, so they never need a separate word.
- Especially useful for people on the asexual and aromantic spectrums.
In detail
Romantic orientation describes the genders of the people someone tends to feel romantic attraction to, or whether they feel it at all. Labels mirror those for sexual orientation, with the ending "-romantic": heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, panromantic, aromantic and so on.
For many people romantic and sexual attraction line up, so they never need a separate word. For others, especially people on the asexual and aromantic spectrums, naming the two separately helps describe their experience more accurately.
In a sentence
- I'm asexual, but my romantic orientation is panromantic, so I still enjoy dating.
- Learning the term romantic orientation helped me explain why I want a partner but not in the way people expect.
Common questions
Can romantic and sexual orientation be different?
Yes. For some people they point in different directions, for example someone who is asexual and heteroromantic. This is the idea behind the split attraction model.
Does everyone need to know their romantic orientation?
No. Many people never think about it separately because their romantic and sexual attraction line up. The term is there for those who find it useful.