wait what's wrong with the split attraction model? if it makes people happy then it makes people happy, esp ace folx who find themselves needing a way to explain that they're not aro or aro folx who need a way to explain they aren't ace. like... if it isn't hurting people then what's the purpose of making fun of/actively targeting people who are just trying to use words to describe themselves?
The split attraction model hinges on an over-literal reading of words that were pathologically applied to LGBT people to describe our orientation as a whole, in a way that coercively sexualizes us. And, because people are still missing this, “-sexual” refers to gender, not solely “wanting to bang”.
Think of, like, every negative stereotype you know attached to the words “bisexual” and “homosexual”. They probably have something to do with us being sexually ravenous predators with no real regard for our partners. It’s almost like there’s a reason that the latter is considered offensive at best, and a full-on slur by many.
When you decide “bisexual” isn’t enough, or that “gay” isn’t enough, and that you also need “biromantic” and “homoromantic”, you are suggesting that “romance” is not inherently included (or, at the very least, prioritized) within gay and bisexual identities. Can you not see how this is deeply hurtful and plays into some of the most significant stereotypes about us? Not to mention, the idea that romantic and sexual attraction are so easily separated makes it VERY easy for many of us to push ourselves deeper into the closet. Thank FUCK I wasn’t on this site as a young teenager, because instead of confronting the reasons why I was terrified of the idea of dating another girl (surprise: it was fear of homophobic repercussion), I would’ve just said I was a “heteromantic bisexual” and called it a day and thus set myself back five years.
You can be a bisexual ace, or a gay ace, or, yes, even a straight ace, because who you’re attracted to - which is literally All That These Labels Are Supposed To Mean - is not the same thing as how you are attracted to them. The identities do not contradict each other, and to claim that they do is to claim truth in some age-old homophobic garbage.
tl;dr the split attraction model is actually actively hurtful, and also, “folks” is a gender neutral word
