[PlayingPretend]

There was a discussion on this not too long ago on another site I belong to, polyamory specifically, though the topic of open relationships came up.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it if all parties are consenting parties. This goes for polygamous relationships and open relationships. I feel that the terms do need to be discussed and that both partners need to be on the same page, and I feel that communication is extremely important in both circumstances, same as it is/would be in a monogamous relationship.

The example I used in the other discussion, when someone essentially said polygamy and open relationships were "acceptable forms of cheating," was to compare it to exams. You have closed-book and open-book exams. If you bring in notes "under the table," so to speak, when the exam is closed-book, closed-note, then I would consider that to be cheating. In an open-book exam, everyone, students, teachers, etc., are aware of the fact that it's an open-book, open-note exam. You have the answers in front of you, same as you would if you smuggled the answers in, but it's different in the sense that it has been okayed and all parties have consented to the open-book exam. The same idea, in my opinion, can be applied to relationships.

Though neither of those relationships are for me, I can see the perspectives of the people who are in them, and I can respect those perspectives for what they are. I don't feel I'm in any position of authority to be judging somebody else's lifestyle, and to be frank, I feel a lot of people spend too much time on analysing and judging others' lifestyles and not enough time focusing on their own. I think we need to live and let live. I don't expect to be criticised for being in a monogamous relationship, and I'm not going to bring that criticism down upon somebody else. I find many societal standards to be ridiculous (excluding the obvious, such as child molestation, murder, etc. being seen as wrong across society). However, I feel the lack of awareness, education, and accurate information on, say, polyamorous relationships contributes to the ignorance of society, and ignorance tends to breed hatred, distaste, or quick disagreement.