NobodySpecial
New member
I was talking with my friend that told me she is poly. I was trying to explain my understanding of polyamory and that it is having more than one romantically involved sexual relationship. She asked me "but what does romantic mean." And mentioned that for every person there seems to be a different definition of poly. (Also, there was discussion about mono and poly, so that may have been where that definition request came from).
And looking at the definition thread, it seems that my understanding was accurate by standards here, but the question remains, what is romantic?
One dictionary defined romantic as "Displaying, expressive of, or conducive to love." And romance as "Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love." I dislike using the word love simply because of the many different ways people use it and many of them are not interchangeable at all. Having the same name for conflicting ideas leads to confusion and misinformation at best, misleading and manipulation at worst.
For example, I have learned over my years that I do not want to have sex with someone unless I truly care for them. But I don't know if I'd call that "romantic."
I get the feel that the commitment to having open, emotionally mature, working relationships is important, and I think that open or not, emotionally mature working relationships are a very noble goal.
And looking at the definition thread, it seems that my understanding was accurate by standards here, but the question remains, what is romantic?
One dictionary defined romantic as "Displaying, expressive of, or conducive to love." And romance as "Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love." I dislike using the word love simply because of the many different ways people use it and many of them are not interchangeable at all. Having the same name for conflicting ideas leads to confusion and misinformation at best, misleading and manipulation at worst.
For example, I have learned over my years that I do not want to have sex with someone unless I truly care for them. But I don't know if I'd call that "romantic."
I get the feel that the commitment to having open, emotionally mature, working relationships is important, and I think that open or not, emotionally mature working relationships are a very noble goal.