Lith (orientation)
| Orientation: | Any |
|---|---|
| Prefix: | Lith- / Akoi- |
| Main Umbrella: | Aspec |
| Attracted To: | Unreciprocating individuals |
|---|
Lith-, or akoi-, is an a-spec orientation prefix that refers to individuals whose attraction fades when reciprocated, the Greek word lithos meaning stone.[1]
Some lith individuals do not wish for their attraction to be reciprocated, while others simply do not need it to be reciprocated.[2]
History
Lithromantic was coined by the mods of Tumblr blog lithromantic sometime before February, 2012. One mod described its coining and etymology as deriving from the concept of Stone Butch lesbians. They wrote:
We looked at other terms for romantic and sexual orientations, and we noticed that most of them relied of latin or greek roots. So we went looking for a root which meant something at all like “experiences without desire to reciprocate”.
We didn’t find anything. I mean, anything close, not anything we could figure out how to twist around and make it mean what we wanted.
But, we’re both AFAB queers, one of us Stone, so we were familiar with Stone Butch sexuality.
For those of you who don’t know, Butch/Femme is sortof the Old Guard of lesbian sexuality (not to say butch/femme isn’t still a thing, but a particular type of butche/femme was historically the norm for lesbians), and Stone is a particular type of sexual expression. Someone who is Stone likes to provide sexual stimulation to a partner, but does not like to receive sexual stimulation themself.
This was the closest allegory that we could find, and we chose to call this in our naming of this romantic orientation.[1]
It is unknown when exactly lithsexual was coined, but the term has been in usage since November, 2013.[3]
Due to controversy that lith appropriates lesbian culture, Tumblr user cisphobeofficial proposed the prefix akoi, which derives from the Greek word koine meaning common or shared.[4] Combined with a- and -romantic, it describes an individual who does not experience shared romantic attraction.[5] However, the appropriation claims were reportedly mainly asserted by non-lesbian individuals, and many stone lesbian individuals have said not using lith- is more problematic as it can be perceived as lesbian erasure.[6]
Related Terms
| Label | Relationship | Description | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fray- | Similar | Attraction that fades when an emotional bond is formed. | Fray does not indicate whether the attraction was reciprocated, nor whether losing the attraction was caused by reciprocation. |
| Keep- | Similar | Attraction exists until they are rejected. | A keep individual loses attraction after rejection, whereas a lith individual loses attraction after reciprocation. |
| Recipro- | Opposite | Attraction only exists towards people who are attracted to them | Lith can be considered an opposite of recipro. |
Orientations
| Label | Orientation | Flag | Creator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lithalterous/akoialterous | Alterous |  [7]
|
Unknown |
| Lithplatonic/akoiplatonic | Platonic |  [8]
|
Unknown |
| Lithqueerplatonic/akoiqueerplatonic | Queerplatonic |  [9]
|
Unknown |
| Lithromantic/akoiromantic[1] | Romantic | [10]
|
Lithromantic, thejasmineelf-blog |
| Lithsensual/akoisensual | Sensual |  [11]
|
Unknown |
| Lithsexual/akoisexual | Sexual |  [12]
|
Unknown |
Sub Terms
| Label | Prefix/Suffix | Description | Flag | Creator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithflux | -flux | Describes an individual who either experiences attraction and only sometimes desires for it to be reciprocated, or whose attraction fades once in a relationship and then said attraction may come and go.[13] |  [13]
|
Wavership |
Flags and Symbols
The lithromantic flag was designed sometime before the 17th of April, 2014, by Tumblr user thejasmineelf-blog, who hosted a contest for lith individuals to vote on the best flag. The red stripe represents community, the orange stripe represents "lith-ness", the yellow stripe represents varied relationships, the white stripe represents romanticism and sexuality, and the black stripe represents aromanticism and asexuality.[10]
The alternate lithsexual and lithromantic flags were published by Pride-Flags.[14][15][16]
Lithromantic Alternate (Pride-Flags)
Lithromantic Alternate (Pride-Flags)
Lithsexual Alternate (Pride-Flags)
Resources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 lithromantic. "I understand the term Lithromantic and what it means". Tumblr, 15 Apr, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20230624214956/https://www.tumblr.com/lithromantic/48021635860/i-understand-the-term-lithromantic-and-what-it. Archived on 24 Jun, 2023.
- ↑ lithromantic. "ok, lithromantic sounds a lot like me, but". Tumblr, 2 Sep, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20230624215409/https://www.tumblr.com/lithromantic/149802209914/ok-lithromantic-sounds-a-lot-like-me-but-i-keep?source=share. Archived on 24 Jun, 2023.
- ↑ asexualadvice. "I'm wondering if I might be lithsexual.". Tumblr, 24 Nov, 2013, https://www.tumblr.com/asexualadvice/67859494012/im-wondering-if-i-might-be-lithsexual-i-most.
- ↑ Mufwene, Salikoko Sangol. "koine". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Mar. 2008, https://www.britannica.com/topic/koine-language. Accessed 24 August 2023.
- ↑ cisphobeofficial. "so, since lith is (potentially?) appropriative". Tumblr, 18 May, 2014, https://cisphobeofficial.tumblr.com/post/86169342734/so-since-lith-is-potentially-appropriative-of.
- ↑ aromanticaardvark. "i can't seem to find anyhting about why lithromantic is problematic?". Tumblr, 3rd Sep, 2014, https://www.tumblr.com/aromanticaardvark/96454743307/i-cant-seem-to-find-anyhting-about-why.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Akoialterous / Lithalterous". DeviantArt, 5 Sep, 2015, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Akoialterous-Lithalterous-558308926.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Akoiplatonic / Lithplatonic / Akoineplatonic". DeviantArt, 30 Aug, 2015, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Akoiplatonic-Lithplatonic-Akoineplatonic-557108735.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Akoiqueerplatonic / Lithqueerplatonic". DeviantArt, 27 Jun, 2016, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Akoiqueerplatonic-Lithqueerplatonic-617764703.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 lithromantic. "I actually got quite a few messages from lith people". Tumblr, 19 Apr, 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20230624215711/https://www.tumblr.com/lithromantic/83139535401/thejasmineelf-i-actually-got-quite-a-few?source=share.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Akoisensual / Lithsensual". DeviantArt, 21 Jan, 2016, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Akoisensual-Lithsensual-585726500.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Akoisexual / Lithsexual". DeviantArt, 28 Sep, 2015, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Akoisexual-Lithsexual-562751792.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 wavership. "i havent seen this coined yet so". Tumblr, 17 Jan, 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20210723135522/https://wavership.tumblr.com/post/182093554099/i-havent-seen-this-coined-yet-so. Archived on 23 Jul, 2021.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Akoiromantic / Lithromantic". DeviantArt, 20 Sep, 2015, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Akoiromantic-Lithromantic-561387256.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Lithromantic / Akoiromantic". DeviantArt, 2 May, 2016, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Lithromantic-Akoiromantic-606455151.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Akoi- / Akoine- / Akoin- / Lith- (2)". DeviantArt, 25 Jun, 2016, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Akoi-Akoine-Akoin-Lith-2-617532661.
