Polyamory: Frequently Asked Questions

There's been a buzz around about what exactly polyamory is, and a lot of misinformation about polyamory too. One reason for this is because polyamory is so hard to define, because unlike a traditional male/female monogamous relationship, there are so many different facets to polyamory. In fact, there are as many different facets to it as there are people involved in it.

The one thing that is common, or at least should be common, across all polyamory relationships, is clear, open, and honest communication between all parties involved so that each person involved in a poly relationship knows exactly where they stand and what to expect from their poly relationship.

That being said, there are a few 'standards' that can be addressed, and that's what this article is going to do. We will answer five common and basic questions about polyamory.

1. What is Polyamory?

Polyamory is a relatively new term for relationships, and it's only recently become a commonly recognized word for a type of alternative lifestyle relationship. There is much debate about where the word originated and who coined it, but the term may have been used as long ago as the 1960s.

Poly stands for 'many' and amory for 'love', so essentially, polyamory would mean 'many loves'.

However, not all polyamorous folks have many loves, some may only have one love, while their partner has two, or maybe they only have two people they love, or maybe there are many people involved. In fact, there are as many different poly relationships as there are people involved.

Essentially, though, polyamory is a situation in which two people who are in love with each other have at least one partner who is also dating, involved with, or in love with at least one other person, with the full consent, approval and blessing of their partner/s.

2. Wouldn't polyamory be considered cheating?

To be perfectly honest, to someone who is not polyamorous, it may indeed seem like cheating. It's important, however, to note that cheating involves breaking of trust, deception, and lies to hide the activity.