“Studies find that about one in five persons has had an open relationship, the same proportion of the population that owns cats, according to Moors. Think about the number of people you know who have a feline for a pet. A similar number of those in your social circle have …
“When issues like swinging are discovered, however, the laissez faire impression that the government gives some applicants by not asking about the conduct quickly shows itself as a façade. Suddenly, the government does have an interest in the applicant’s sex life, and a deeply invasive one at that. It is …
“Beyond just attending to multiple partners’ needs, poly people must also contend with deprogramming their own deeply ingrained conditioning. Whether from rom-coms or our own parents, most of what we’ve been taught about love has been filtered through a monogamous lens, so rewriting that script can be arduous, even for …
“It’s funny: Our expectations at kink parties are higher than in other settings like mainstream dance clubs or even some workplaces. We don’t tolerate harassment of any kind and demand that everyone be treated with respect. I think kink spaces are where society meets intimacy. We used to view sex …
“I am speaking over Zoom to Luke Brunning, a philosopher at the University of Leeds whose research focuses on relationships. He is explaining an idea he called the “paradox of prevalence”. “It’s such a common experience to feel attraction to more than one person at a time romantically, it’s something …
“When it comes to cuckolding, it flies in the face of the male-centered and monogamous American cultural norms, Lehmiller said. So, a man sexually sharing his wife with another man through cuckolding often comes with a negative connotation in the US. For some, that forbidden feeling can be a major …
“[Compersion is] that joy that has nothing to do with your joy,” relationship coach specializing in consensual non-monogamy Effy Blue told Mind Body Green. “It’s sympathetic joy or unselfish joy, where you are joyful for the other person for things that have nothing to do with you. You’re just happy …
“But the most alarming thing about these glamorised choking sex scenes is the lack of consent, communication, boundaries, safe words, or aftercare (read: the fundamentals of BDSM). As any BDSM practitioner will tell you, safe, sane, and consensual play are the building blocks of any scene. Yet when intense BDSM …
“If polyamory has entered its cultural adolescence, swinging is its elder cousin who has long outgrown the kids table at Thanksgiving. The swinger lifestyle is probably the most normalized form of non-monogamy with its own reality TV shows, all-inclusive resorts, and origin story lore that includes World War II Air Force pilots. And no, …
“The people who ordered milkshakes in dog bowls in their full leather,” they said. “The people who made munches and parties and events. If there’s one thing I hope for, it’s that we’re going to be in multiple places. Let’s keep building who we are and get out there. I …
