Aesthetic attraction is a form of physical attraction to an individual's appearance. It is defined as an attraction to the way someone looks, or how they present themselves. It is typically based on a desire to observe someone because one finds them aesthetically pleasing. It is often described as a similar feeling to looking at a nice painting or landscape. One way of experiencing aesthetic attraction is a stronger desire to admire or gaze at an individual; their physical features, their curves and shape, their bearing, how they move, how they dress, etc.
Among allosexuals and/or alloromantics, aesthetic attraction most of the time is felt alongside sexual and/or romantic attraction, and is sometimes considered a necessary element of the experience. However, aesthetic attraction can sometimes be felt separately from other forms of attraction. In the a-spec community, it is typically useful to distinguish aesthetic attraction from sexual and romantic attraction. You can essentially find someone aesthetically pleasing or attractive while feeling something separate that doesn't involve them physically. Individuals can even have romantic relationships despite having aesthetic attraction, though this does not apply to everyone.
An aesthetic crush is known as a swish or a thete[1], although the terms are not widely used. Someone that an individual has an aesthetic connection/relationship with could be called one's idol.[2] Aesthetic attraction is most commonly associated with the color pink. One who does not experience aesthetic attraction may identify as a-aesthetic or nonaesthetic.
History
One of the earliest known uses of the term "aesthetic attraction" among asexuals was in 2005, on the AVEN forums.[3] Since then it has been commonly included in lists of subtypes of attraction.[4]
Flag
The flag was coined by the user Ruthie on December 6th, 2020. The first shade of pink represents individuals with neutral or genderless aesthetics. The second shade of pink represents individuals with androgynous or fluid aesthetics. The third shade of pink represents individuals with feminine or xenic aesthetics. The fourth shade of pink represents individuals with masculine or animalistic/non-human aesthetics. The white represents attraction, and represents how vast the spectrum of attraction can be. Orange represents a-spec individuals with aesthetic attraction. Lighter orange represents individuals with multiple attraction types. Gold represents breaking past societies expectations of attraction. Light yellow represents peace, unity, and community. The circle with the colors represent all races, as many races have different aesthetics due to their culture. It is also there as a nod to QPoC, who are highly under appreciated.
When someone wants to show a certain attraction is aesthetic they will put that attractions flag in flower shape.
An alternate flag was created by FANDOM user Zer0Rebel4. Magenta represents alloaesthetics (those who experience aesthetic attraction), pink represents greyaesthetics (those who rarely experience aesthetic attraction), orange for nonaesthetics, yellow for demiaesthetics (those who only experience aesthetic attraction to those they're close with), and white for aesthetic attraction and black for the spectrum of aesthetic attraction.
Another alternate aesthetic attraction flag was designed by Reddit user u/MIRROR 11 on May 17, 2020.
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220120163428/https://bogkeep.tumblr.com/post/86134520589/thete-aesthetic-attraction-crush-romantic
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220124020433/https://system-lgbt.tumblr.com/post/179036193408/types-of-attraction-and-their
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220124020427/https://godlessace.tumblr.com/post/183350622283/a-comic-about-the-different-types-of-attraction
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220120152709/https://theacetheist.wordpress.com/2019/05/17/a-mini-history-of-different-types-of-attraction-in-the-ace-community/