When it comes to âalternativeâ lifestyles, the concept of polyamory has gained a lot of traction in recent years among those whoâve determined that traditional monogamy isnât for them. Statistically, four-to-five percent of Americans currently confirm that theyâre in polygamous relationships. Itâs not as simple as just deciding to be polygamous, though. In fact, it can be downright complicated when you consider that there are ten different forms of polygamy to choose from.Â
- Hierarchical Polygamy â Paul lives with his wife (the prioritize each other), and they each have a different lover they see once a week
- Non-Hierarchical Polygamy â Paul has had a âconsistent two partners for a while,â but he âjust hit it off with a new partnerâ and has âshifted his schedule to make more time for themâ (âevery partner is considered when making big decisionsâ)
- Kitchen Table Polygamy â Paul, his wife, and their two lovers get together for dinner on occasion (they want to be friends, and may even have independent relationships, with them)
- Parallel Polyamory â Paul has a wife, and a girlfriend, but the wife and girlfriend have never metâĻthough they are aware of one another
- Garden Party Polyamory â Paul has a birthday party coming up, and both the wife and girlfriend will be in attendanceâĻthey can be social, but donât feel the need to make it anything more than that (kind of like when you only see your cousins at a funeral or family reunion)
- Throuple â Paul has a wife, and thereâs another love that shares the living space with both of them (all three are dating each other, sharing expenses, etc)
- Polyfidelity â Paulâs wife and their lover are exclusive to each other in their own private triangle
- V Polyamory â Paul would be the bottom point of the âV,â with his wife and lover on the upper pointsâĻthose two arenât together, but the very well might be friends
- Solo Polyamory â Paul has multiple partners, and âloves and valuesâ each of them, but also lives alone because heâs focused on his career primarily
- Single Polyamory â Paul is single at the moment, but is aware that his âpreferred relationship dynamicsâ is polyamorous in nature
- Relationship Anarchy â Essentially, this is a hearty âfâĻ youâ to any form of relationship structureâĻPaul has multiple âpartners, friends, and loversââĻand he loves and values each of themâĻbut doesnât âtreat one relationship more seriously just because theyâre romantically/sexually involvedâÂ
Good luck sorting all of that out!Â
Check out the full article at Menâs Health