Is Polyamorous an Identity or a Relationship Style?
Definitions, opinions, and how to spot manipulative polyamory.
I’ve identified as polyamorous since 2007.
Like many open relationship nerds at that time, I read The Ethical Slut and Opening Up.
Then I created a blog, found fellow polyamorists, and discussed infinite love, identity, and language ’til LiveJournal went out of style.
While it’s hard to claim expertise on something as expansive as polyamory, it is something I spend a good bit of time reading and thinking about in the context of modern Western, particularly American, relationships.
Recently, a discussion about polyamorous being an identity vs. a relationship style caught my attention.
The concept of polyamorous as a relationship descriptor has never clashed with my understanding of polyamorous as an identity. A person can engage in polyamorous relationships and they can also be a polyamorous person regardless of their relationship status, in my opinion.
I’d argue the current definition still allows for this.
