I’m actually a somewhat notable blogger in the aro sphere, but because I’m also an otherkin, I don’t necessarily feel comfortable talking about this completely there, as the person I’m known as.
I’ve noticed that there are a lot of people who doubt that aromantics are actually queer, and even some who doubt that we face oppression. And I think in part that’s because we don’t have a slur to point to. I mean, we experience things that are just as bad, if not worse, as the things that queer allosexuals face, but we don’t really have a slur to point to.
And that’s where my idea comes in. I believe that because, once we’re found out to be aromantic, people usually call us robots or imply that we don’t have feelings, we actually do have a slur to point to.
ARObots. That’s basically what they’re calling us. And because I firmly believe that slurs should be reclaimed, and only by those affected by the slur(queer), I think we should all start to reclaim this slur.
People who want to believe that they’re “allies” to the aro community should take heed: Don’t you dare fucking use the word arobot. (Unless you’re a robotkin, which I think is a whole different set of oppressions, and also if you are, we should be friends! Hi!).
To the aro community: in order to make people see that we’re in fact oppressed, I think it’s important that we make it clear that arobot is a slur, and something we’re reclaiming. No one else, (save robotkin) should be allowed to use this term to hurt us. We’re reclaiming it, and people who use it are actively participating in the oppression that keeps us marginalized. They are arophobic.
Basically: Here’s a slur that applies to us, and that people have been throwing around and claiming isn’t a slur, and here’s us reclaiming it and making it clear that anyone who calls us this, who isn’t aro, is in fact an oppressor and has to check their alloromantic privilege.
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