Multiple S.O.s

[Geordie]

If one has a relationship with multiple people, will he been seen as unorthodox, or something worse?

 

[juffur]

It depends on the culture.

 

[Geordie]

At least in the hyper-rich in Asia, multiple S.O.s is a way of life that's just, well, a lifestyle.

 

[kasmanaft08]

I think some of it depends on consent and what is agreed upon, for it to be successful- if you mean open marriage.
Sometimes it's culture, not necessarily choice by both parties- just what ends up accepted as normal.

 

[Geordie]

Indeed. Cultural acceptance underlies all marriages

 

[Occasional_Demon]

To me, the ideal relationship was the relationship that two French philosophers - Jean-Paul Satre and Simone de Beauvoir - had. They had an open relationship, in the sense that they were each other's primary relationship, but they were allowed to have other partners. The other partners knew that they were no. 2, and were happy with that arrangement. What it meant was that if, for instance, Satre decided that he wanted de Beauvoir's company for the night, then de Beauvoir would spend the night with him at the expense of spending time with no. 2 [whoever it might be at the time].

It worked really well for them.

I think what drew me to that relationship was their deep sense of trust in each other. They loved each other enough to let each other go, because they knew the other partner will always return to them. There was a sense of honesty in their relationship as well, in that everyone in the relationships knew what was happening and where they stood.

I think the problem with a lot of relationships where one person has multiple partners is that not everyone knows what is happening. Hence the feelings of betrayal when the truth is found out.

 

[Geordie]

I look forward to an open-ended close relationship.

 

[Occasional_Demon]

It's something I tell my boyfriend too, although I don't know if he's up for it. I know that I wouldn't have a problem with him having another partner, as long as he told me about her, and she also knew of my existence.

 

[MaverlyBanks]

Most cultures favor monogamy. Between a man and a woman.

And then there's the fringe. That gets called names. And told they're going to hell. And such.

Women tend to favor monogamy, and are trying to stabilize their interactions with men into one stable relationship.

Her family will be upset that she is taking the road less traveled. They likely haven't thought it through to the point that she might be the "2nd place" girlfriend or whatnot.

 

[Geordie]

Well... personally, I don't mind having a few wives if I were filthy rich, because it had been a Chinese custom to have multiple wives.

But transposed into modern, Western-centric society, I guess even if I have a wife, it would be a wife and many, many children.