added details and moved romantic orientation history to the romantic orientation page
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[[File:Sam.png|thumb|220x220px|A visual representation of
The '''split attraction model''' or '''SAM, '''not to be confused with [[Romantic Orientation|romantic orientation]], is a term created by its critics and has been used to describe any of the following:
* The differentiation between types of attraction, such as sexual, romantic, or [[Aesthetic Attraction|aesthetic]]
* The differentiation of romantic attraction and sexual attraction, specifically
* The use of separate personal identity labels for sexual orientation and romantic orientation
* The defining of "sexual orientation" as sexuality-specific (reserving romanticism and other emotions for romantic orientation)
* Sweeping statements and over-generalizations of any of the above
== History ==
The term "split attraction model" emerged recently in response to certain language and developments in the [[Asexual Spectrum|asexual]] community, including but not limited to: 1) romantic orientation, 2) attraction subtyping, and 3) universalizing statements. Within the asexual community, the concept of romantic orientation dates back to the early 2000s, when asexuals began self-describing with terms such as "heteroromantic" and "aromantic."<ref>[https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/73978-the-aromantic-threads-index/#comment-2136134 History of the term "Aromantic"]</ref>
This terminology emerged in connection to (but separable from) the concept of multiple types of attraction. At the time, one of the most popular definitions of "asexual" was "a person who does not experience sexual attraction," which featured on the front page of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network.<ref>[http://www.asexualexplorations.net/home/history_of_definition.html Asexuality: The History of a Definition]</ref><ref>[https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/717314 A Condensed History of Asexuals Arguing Over What Asexuality Is]</ref> In connection with that definition, some asexuals made a distinction between sexual attraction and romantic attraction in order to explain their romantic identities.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030225191733/http://www.asexuality.org/bigfaq.htm AVEN FAQ (archived from 2003)]</ref> <nowiki/>Other asexuals also began using additional attraction terms, such as emotional attraction, sensual attraction, and aesthetic attractions, starting in the early 2000s.<ref>[https://theacetheist.wordpress.com/2019/05/17/a-mini-history-of-different-types-of-attraction-in-the-ace-community/ A Mini History of Different Types of Attraction in the Ace Community]
</ref><ref>[https://secondlina.tumblr.com/post/21955456091/a-comic-about-the-different-types-of-attraction A comic about different types of attraction]</ref> These attraction types could also be paired with parallel orientation identity terms (ex. pansensual, panaesthetic), but that application of them wasn't necessarily as common.
This terminology began to proliferate on the Tumblr blogging platform in the following decade, as asexual communities branched out to Tumblr and brought their language with them.
In 2015, as this language spread beyond the asexual community, the term "split attraction model" was created for the purpose of criticism. The earliest posts and exact unfolding of events are poorly-documented due to linkrot, but some of the controversy appears to have included the following:
* the objection to universalizing definitions of "sexual orientation" as sexuality-specific
▲</ref><ref>[https://secondlina.tumblr.com/post/21955456091/a-comic-about-the-different-types-of-attraction A comic about different types of attraction]</ref> These attraction types could also be paired with parallel orientation identity terms (ex. pansensual, panaesthetic), but that application of them wasn't necessarily as common.
* the objection to universalizing a romantic-sexual distinction or pressuring others to use it
* the objection to universalizing a separate recognition of romantic, platonic, sexual, aesthetic, and sensual attraction as different for everyone
* the objection to personal use of romantic-sexual distinction among non-asexual people
* the objection to personal use of separate romantic/sexual orientation labeling among non-asexual people
* accusations of homophobia and lesbophobia
The use of the word "split," in particular, seems to have possibly originated from Tumblr user pure (also known as Tumblr user medicine), who in 2015 wrote "i got a prollem w ppl splitting a complex sociocultural influenced ting like attraction into only two distinct experiences that ppl present as inherently unrelated all the time."<ref>[https://songnumberthree.tumblr.com/post/114585671235/arent-romantic-and-sexual-attraction-unrelated Tumblr post using "split" for attraction, dated approximately May 2015]</ref>
▲</ref> In 2015, a new criticism emerged among anti-ace bloggers: conflating the concepts of multiple orientation labeling, attraction subtyping, and universalizing language by sloppily grouping all three together as "the split attraction model." Many of the earliest Tumblr posts on this subject have been lost, but early uses of the term involve accusing the split attraction model of being homophobic, as well as defining it with an inherently universalizing element.<ref>[https://cupidisco.tumblr.com/post/118622623652/hey-im-sorry-if-this-is-a-bother-but-could-you Tumblr post using "split attraction model," dated approximately May 2015]</ref><ref>[https://morwinyon.tumblr.com/post/122370182643/could-you-elaborate-on-the-split-attractions Tumblr post using "split attraction," dated approximately June 2015]</ref><ref>[https://legislacerator.tumblr.com/post/124764170311/can-you-tell-me-what-split-attraction-model Tumblr post using "split attraction model," dated July 2015]</ref><ref>[https://vanillil.tumblr.com/post/128042336475/the-split-attraction-model-is-homophobic Tumblr post using "split attraction model," dated August 2015]</ref> The use of the word "split," in particular, seems to have possibly originated from Tumblr user pure (also known as Tumblr user medicine), who wrote "i got a prollem w ppl splitting a complex sociocultural influenced ting like attraction into only two distinct experiences that ppl present as inherently unrelated all the time."<ref>[https://songnumberthree.tumblr.com/post/114585671235/arent-romantic-and-sexual-attraction-unrelated Tumblr post using "split" for attraction, dated approximately May 2015]</ref> The term "split attraction" necessarily centers a more monolithic experience of attraction as the default, and the term "split attraction model" was typically used to describe inappropriate sweeping statements about how a romantic/sexual attraction distinction is universal for everyone.
</ref><ref>[https://theacetheist.wordpress.com/2019/05/16/three-narratives-of-non-rosol-identity-in-the-aro-community/ Three Narratives of Non-Rosol Identity in the Aro Community]
</ref><nowiki/>
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