Difference Between Open Relationship and Relationship

Open Relationship vs Relationship
 

We all know what relationships are and their importance in our lives. There has been a lot of talk about open relationships of late. Many people find difficult to fathom differences between relationship and open relationship mostly because they are not able to comprehend the concept of open relationship. This article attempts to explain these differences by highlighting the features of an open relationship. For the sake of simplicity, relationship in this article will remain limited to marriage or man and woman relationship and not talk about other types of relationships.

Relationship

To prevent chaos with men running after several women who they are attracted to, the institution of marriage was conceived with the advent of civilization that has survived and thrived in all cultures of the world. It is a monogamous relationship that visualizes sexually exclusive relations between man and woman as they remain loyal to each other. This is the most important feature and pillar of a monogamous relationship that has helped in making marriage a grand success in all parts of the world.

Open Relationship

When a man and woman agree to remain in a relationship but allow each other to engage in casual sexual relationships, the arrangement is referred to as open relationship. Many refuse to accept open relationship as a valid relationship saying when partners have no obligation to meet; it is incorrect to call it a type of relationship. There are some open relationships where partners are free to make emotional relations apart from sexual relationships outside the relationship.

When starting on an open relationship, it is necessary for the two parties to know beforehand that they are free to form sexual relations outside. Otherwise, catching your partner having a sexual encounter with someone else is likely to be a mental and emotional disaster for you. For outsiders, open relationship might look like a great idea but believe me, there is a lot of emotional baggage and mental stress involved in such an arrangement that only those who have been involved in these relationships know about those.

The reason why some couples agree to enter an open relationship is that they may have an emotional attachment but do not find sexual gratification and hence agree to allow each other to find sexual satisfaction elsewhere. This is accepted so as not to have any guilt later in the relationship. This is perfectly alright if both man and woman agree to terms and conditions, but sometimes, women, or men, agree to open relationship just because they want the partner to be with them at any cost. This is when jealousy, insecurity, ego, and anger come into play, and the relationship does not last long.