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I'm a little worried that I will be thrown to the wolves for asking this, but...
Are there hard and fast definitions for all of the different types of polyamory? My boyfriend has asked me to explain things to him, and what I would call the type of relationship I am hoping to have. Both he and I have had issues with finding conflicting information whenever I look on websites on the internet, even different sites describing polyamory itself differently (some websites claim that a person can "be" polyamorous, and others claim that polyamory doesn't describe a person, but a type of relationship... so the person would be non-monogamous but in a polyamorous relationship?) I've also found a lot of conflicting descriptions for terms like Monogamish, and Polyfidelity.
I actually tried to put together a list of my own, to try to sort it out in my own head and so I could share it with the boyfriend, but I got overwhelmed and confused very quickly. I had come up with a list of attributes and then tried to pair them up to make different descriptions... for instance: Open, Closed, Singular, Plural, Platonic, Romantic... But when I tried to give names to them, I realized there were way too many attributes that I wasn't thinking of.
So, is there a hard and fast list that most people swear by?
And since I already bothered to make this post....
Is there such a thing as closed polyamory, that doesn't function as a triad/quad/pod? For instance, if a person is dating two people, but they are not involved with one another... but at the same time, the person in question is not actively seeking other partners?
I suppose what I'm really wondering if there is any distinction between actively seeking other partners, and not actively seeking. And if there is, can a plural relationship involve different levels of that.
If, say, A was dating B and C in a compartmentalized fashion (where B and C don't know each other and are not involved), with no intention of dating anyone outside of B and C.... but is okay with B and C having other, casual partners of their own, while still being emotionally committed to A?
I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, but it's been on my mind for days as I've been trying to figure out how to describe things accurately. I don't want to mistakenly describe something.
Thank you in advance for any help, and apologies to anyone I offended by making this post.
Are there hard and fast definitions for all of the different types of polyamory? My boyfriend has asked me to explain things to him, and what I would call the type of relationship I am hoping to have. Both he and I have had issues with finding conflicting information whenever I look on websites on the internet, even different sites describing polyamory itself differently (some websites claim that a person can "be" polyamorous, and others claim that polyamory doesn't describe a person, but a type of relationship... so the person would be non-monogamous but in a polyamorous relationship?) I've also found a lot of conflicting descriptions for terms like Monogamish, and Polyfidelity.
I actually tried to put together a list of my own, to try to sort it out in my own head and so I could share it with the boyfriend, but I got overwhelmed and confused very quickly. I had come up with a list of attributes and then tried to pair them up to make different descriptions... for instance: Open, Closed, Singular, Plural, Platonic, Romantic... But when I tried to give names to them, I realized there were way too many attributes that I wasn't thinking of.
So, is there a hard and fast list that most people swear by?
And since I already bothered to make this post....
Is there such a thing as closed polyamory, that doesn't function as a triad/quad/pod? For instance, if a person is dating two people, but they are not involved with one another... but at the same time, the person in question is not actively seeking other partners?
I suppose what I'm really wondering if there is any distinction between actively seeking other partners, and not actively seeking. And if there is, can a plural relationship involve different levels of that.
If, say, A was dating B and C in a compartmentalized fashion (where B and C don't know each other and are not involved), with no intention of dating anyone outside of B and C.... but is okay with B and C having other, casual partners of their own, while still being emotionally committed to A?
I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, but it's been on my mind for days as I've been trying to figure out how to describe things accurately. I don't want to mistakenly describe something.
Thank you in advance for any help, and apologies to anyone I offended by making this post.