Do open relationships work?

[Q2UnME]

^Few.... Anyone else finding it very warm in here ...

 

[MollyRoger]

been there, done that, no problem

 

[Kibbin]

well then you probably are fine for an open relationship and enjoy it, I would say you would thus get more than me but I'm not evenh in a relationship with one person, so that goes without saying .

Me I'm not sure I could do that.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Then you need to re-read the Thread. I never said any such thing.

Then how do you explain this?

All relationships are open; it's just a matter of degree. A closed relationship is not healthy.

If I may interject, and I may - I think RJ was making a point along the lines of - one doesn't have a relationship without openness. (and that it is a matter of degree) Just as one doesn't have a conversation if the other person never lets you get a word in. You can't have a musical jam if the others don't listen. You can't dance with someone who's just doing their own thing. You have to let someone in and to do that requires being open to it.
I don't think it was the blanket statement concerning sex that you inferred.

Yes, that's it exactly.

I think RJ was talking about how relationships exist outside of the one between man and wife, those aren't nesacrily sexual but are at times as deep as any shared between a man and wife

And so is this.

When asked, most people will tell you that emotional intimacy is far more important than sexual intimacy, and yet it's sexual exclusivity that is demanded and expected. On those rare occasions that the same exclusivity is demanded emotionally, it's considered pathological.

 

[Venardhi]

RJ: Sex is an act, which we can control. Emotions simply -are- and it is unrealistic and unfair to expect someone to keep their feelings to just one person. We also tend to see sex as the ultimate act of affection, and many people can't understand sex without that emotional affection guiding it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

sometimes both partners are able to separate sex from love(generally easier for men than women, obviously)

I know for a fact I could never do that.

Hope that's not UNHEALTHY.

 

[Kibbin]

Is it not because a 'relationship' as in one between two loving partners (for lack of a better term) is typically both, the physical and the emotional? Yes you have for instance the friend who you can tell all but you don't share the physical intimacy of say sex with them.

 

[RJDiogenes]

RJ: Sex is an act, which we can control. Emotions simply -are- and it is unrealistic and unfair to expect someone to keep their feelings to just one person. We also tend to see sex as the ultimate act of affection, and many people can't understand sex without that emotional affection guiding it.

I know, but that attitude is born out of history and I'm pointing out that it is not necessarily correct or the only viewpoint. And nobody ever said that the relationships of an open relationship lack emotion attachment.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I define that special someone as someone who makes my toes curl and eyes cross with pleasure on a regular basis. And just because I find one who does that does not mean I won't take applications from others.

How you doin'?

 

[MollyRoger]

I define that special someone as someone who makes my toes curl and eyes cross with pleasure on a regular basis. And just because I find one who does that does not mean I won't take applications from others.

How you doin'?

oh! a joey impersonation! *swoons*

catch me!

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I define that special someone as someone who makes my toes curl and eyes cross with pleasure on a regular basis. And just because I find one who does that does not mean I won't take applications from others.

How you doin'?

oh! a joey impersonation! *swoons*

catch me!

I can't decide whether this amuses me more if you're being sarcastic or serious.