*sigh* I don't have enough time to thoroughly lurk this thread; but before I leave I feel I must leave my opinion on the subject, as it pertains to my current irl fml situation.
I consider myself to be promiscuous in that I will sex those who I would feel comfortable with. And I do. If it is mutual, why not? It's a good time.
That does not mean that I would continue such behaviors if I were in a decidedly monogamous relationship.
More relevant to this bullcocky I am currently experiencing is an ex asking me to research "polyamory." It is a very interesting concept. I doubt I could do it justice by explaining it in short, but I will do my best.
People love other people in whatever way and whatever capacity they are capable of believing love to be. Convoluted as that may seem, it really comes down to the fact that the concept of love is all in perception. Most people think it can only be shared between two people. Well, if that is the case, all of you who have ever been in more than one romantic relationship throughout your life provides evidence to the contrary. People are equipped to love multiple people. The problem is that society leads us to believe that love is meant only for one person at a time. Why does that have to be so? That only leads to regret and insecurity in the form of lingering "feelings" for "long lost loves," etc... In polyamory, the community understand this and there is no reason to allow those feelings to be a negative influence on you.
That said, a polyamorous relationship only implies a romantic relationship involving more than two people. It can be a guy with two girlfriends, a guy with a girlfriend and a boyfriend, a girl with two boyfriends, three people in love with each other... in fact it can really be any string or combination of however many people that are connected through love. It is treated as any two-person relationship that you would be used to! If a guy has two girlfriends, both have to know about each other. It is also probably best if they get along with each other and know about the community. One of those girlfriends likely has another boyfriend anyway.
Jealousy is a common factor that the poly community is ready to help people deal with. It is not only a problem for people new to the idea. Everyone experiences jealousy and as long as people are open about their emotions there are people there to help you work through it.
Now, on to "cheating."
I disapprove of anything that would and could be considered "cheating."
Cheating includes:
? Being in a monogamous relationship and being intimate with a person who is not your partner WITHOUT your partner approving it before hand.
? Being in a poly relationship and being intimate with a person who is not one of your partners WITHOUT ALL of your partners approving it before hand.
? Being single and not communicating your intentions and feelings regarding a casual sexual partner.
That went quite a bit off topic; but to show where it ties in: Promiscuity is accepted in a particular area of romantic relationships; as far as the strict definition of promiscuity goes. Note that it does not apply to ALL polyamorous relationships. Poly relationships are not necessarily sexual. In fact, none of them should ever be based on sex alone... though some in the community consider themselves "play-buddies," which is fine as long as their partners' partners know and approve of it before hand.... still that is not a prerequisite for a poly relationship nor should it ever denote the existence of one.
But you better believe that if you're in a polyamorous relationship you are probably having sex with more than one person in a relative-enough period of time for it to be considered promiscuity. I, personally, disagree with that sentiment... but it cannot be avoided with a relatively close-minded society.
Oh, and one last thought... polyamory is NOT polygamy. They can be similar, but I must emphasize that polygamy is strictly sexual... and often marital (i.e. a man has two or more wives solely for the purpose of multiple mating partners).
Aw crap I did that thing where I typed way too much and now I'm late.
tl;dr ~~
Polyamorous Relationships: The closest you'll get to being allowed to be promiscuous whilst remaining socially acceptable. Also, not all about sex. Because mutual sex with someone you don't love is what is frowned upon. Transitive property (by a bloody stretch) means that polyamours relationships win. You love all of them. You sex all of them. All is good.
Oh yeah and if you can't learn to handle jealousy, guess it isn't for you.
