Why is the subject of open relationships still sensitive?

Part 2. Major Misunderstandings

There are five major misunderstandings related to open relationships that contribute to the success of traditional relationships based on control, dependency, and manipulation. In this article, I will address the first four.

1. People seem disturbed or outraged by the idea of lasting relationships with multiple partners, but in reality, they are only upset by the recognition of this widespread truth about relationships, which undermines their ambition/expectation to have exclusive possession of a partner.

The overwhelming majority of people engage with multiple partners... but in secret.

Sooner or later, anyone who hasn’t compromised their vitality will understand that repressing emotions and denying the interest in intimate relationships with multiple partners comes with unsustainable costs. For this reason, many people realize, often too late, the importance of open relationships.

This generalized reality of secret parallel relationships is only discussed in scandalous terms because everyone seeks the advantages of openness for themselves while imposing the disadvantages of exclusivity on their partner.

In short, when someone rejects the idea of open relationships, they are rejecting the idea of not being able to control or possess a partner. And in order to possess them, they must believe that it is abnormal to desire, love, and engage in relationships with multiple people. For this lie to work, they must avoid hearing that it is natural to have feelings for more than one person at the same time.

Wherever you access the relational intimacy of those around you, you will discover how widespread secret romantic relationships are and how degraded official relationships have become. In magazines, gossip, friend groups, families, literature, and films—practically everywhere—you see the overwhelming interest in intimacy with multiple people.