I keep bumping into people who use the term "polyamorous" as if it is synonymous with 1950s - style dating. They seem to think that it means dating a bunch of people casually until they end up in a "real" / "serious" relationship, and then they become monogamous.
This really irritates me, but I have no idea why. I don't own the word polyamory. Their relationships generally having nothing to do with me - although I have been burned twice before when I started building a relationship with one of these "polyamorous" folks and then they went mono with someone else. (This has taught me to have conversations with people about what polyamory means to them.)
Maybe I am invested in the term after all. I work really hard to challenge conventional scripts and unlearn jealousy, I risked coming out to my family, etc. Perhaps I feel that I've earned the right to use the term "polyamorous" and it annoys me when people who haven't done that work use that word so lightly. I don't know.
Has anybody else experienced this? Does anybody else feel that same anger? Does anybody know why?
This really irritates me, but I have no idea why. I don't own the word polyamory. Their relationships generally having nothing to do with me - although I have been burned twice before when I started building a relationship with one of these "polyamorous" folks and then they went mono with someone else. (This has taught me to have conversations with people about what polyamory means to them.)
Maybe I am invested in the term after all. I work really hard to challenge conventional scripts and unlearn jealousy, I risked coming out to my family, etc. Perhaps I feel that I've earned the right to use the term "polyamorous" and it annoys me when people who haven't done that work use that word so lightly. I don't know.
Has anybody else experienced this? Does anybody else feel that same anger? Does anybody know why?