"I find that we work best with descriptive relationships, rather than prescriptive."
Someone in a poly group I'm in on Facebook asked:
> "How many of ya'll are poly and how many are open and how do you differentiate the two in your own words when people ask?"
I answered:
> "We are open and poly, we swing, we connect, we love, we play, we enjoy the wide variety that relating has to offer."
>
> "I find that we work best with descriptive relationships, rather than prescriptive."
In practice, what that means is that I identify as ethically nonmongamous. It also means that when people ask what that looks like, I have to use a lot of words.
Because "polyamorous" won't do.
Neither will cuckoldress, pimptress, swinger, open relationship, relationship anarchist, or slut.
Because while all of those words suit me, none are all that I am.
And my partner is himself as well, with his own rhythms and desires.
Monday night, after a rough day at work, instead of having a raunchy night of sex, we sat on our balcony, watched downtown, and ate dinner, talking.
And this same topic came up from a different direction. A friend of ours with a podcast is on their own journey of change of identity—sexually and in their relationships, and my partner had been listening to their latest.
He mentioned that it seemed like a difficult path.
And I said that I relate.
Find the full transcript for this episode here.https://datingkinky.com/blog/polyamory/is-your-relationship-style-descriptive-or-prescriptive/