Jaiden Animations Comes Out As Aromantic And Asexual, Leading To Conversations About The 'Aroace' Identity Online

Famous storytime YouTuber Jaiden Animations announced she was aromantic and asexual, or "aroace," in a video posted Sunday that quickly shot up YouTube's trending videos list.

In the video, Jaiden reveals that she experiences no romantic attraction towards anyone, nor does she feel sexual attraction towards anyone. She explains how she never felt crushes towards anyone as a child and felt like she had to develop crushes to feel up-to-speed with her peers. Even with people she felt drawn towards, she never felt like she wanted to cuddle or kiss them. She doesn't disclose too much information about her personal life, but she does explain that discovering her identity helped her feel more confident and less out of place in a romantically driven society.

Reactions to the video were largely positive, particularly from people who shared the aroace identity with Jaiden.

Me after watching new Jaiden video because I don’t feel attraction the way everyone else in my life does pic.twitter.com/DkNoA3upki

— I’m Loh (@ImLoh5) March 20, 2022

Ty Ily Jaiden pic.twitter.com/GxEW9ACV7x

— JAMMY THE CONNIENATOR! (♡_♡) (@Iexisbf) March 20, 2022

YEAHHH JAIDEN ANIMATION’S AROACE!! I absolutely loved the new video, as an aroace person I just felt SEEN and HEARD. 🖤🤍💜💚🤍🖤 pic.twitter.com/n4i0DCiXnx

— Sunset (@SunsetStrawbery) March 20, 2022

THIS picture hits me so much, thats EXACTLY how i've been feeling since i discovered i'm aroace, THANK YOU JAIDEN💜💚 pic.twitter.com/NaWuk7vwwN

— Dolphw¡¡🐬 (@Dolphw_isMandow) March 20, 2022

While most on social media expressed support, there was also a contingency of people who doubted the term aroace. "You're not aromantic and asexual you have some unchecked trauma and mental issues preventing you from forming connections with other people on a meaningful level," wrote one Twitter user in response to Jaiden's video. Another person in the video's comment section attracted Reddit's attention by using the video to say they felt the human population would rapidly decrease in 20 to 30 years due to the volume of people coming out as not heterosexual.

Jaiden's coming out makes her one of the most visible people in the aroace community and has generated a significant amount of discussion online. Jaiden's fans on Reddit have taken to highlighting YouTube comments from people who feel betrayed because they had a parasocial crush on the YouTuber or declared the video would cause them to unsubscribe.

At least one commenter seemed a little confused, but they had the spirit. A Reddit post in /r/youngpeopleyoutube noticed that "Ace" is the name of a character in One Piece, and that, since Jaiden came out as Ace, they would come out as Luffy or Zoro.