Are open relationships becoming more common?
In an age when 1 billion people are swiping right every day, are open relationships the next step?
When picturing the ultimate gentleman, you might conjure up an image of a well-dressed chap with a glamorous woman on his arm. The modern day gentleman, on the other hand, might have more of a mysterious air about him. Is he single? Is he married? Is he – shock horror – in an open relationship?
True story: I met a twenty-something guy the other day who was very freely letting everyone in the room know about his newfound open relationship. He wanted everyone who would listen to know just how ‘awesome’ it was to have a girlfriend whenever you felt like it but to be able to freely date at the same time. Why, you ask, was he so freely going on and on about his modern relationship status? Because he wanted a reaction – and he was getting it.
We’re subject to a bunch of different ways of dating these days. You can go on a blind date, a Tinder date, a Bumble date and a Happn date all in the space of a week, all whilst having a ‘go-to’ girlfriend for whenever you feel like you need a bit of comfort on a hungover Sunday. And while there are arguments for both sides (and of course dating is subjective depending on you and your emotional boundaries) no-one can deny that the ripe age of 20-30 is when most of us will start finding it hard to commit.
Why? It’s been argued that polygamy is actually in our nature; supposedly our animal instinct means that we shouldn’t be subject to just one partner in our lifetime. And whether you agree with that or not, more and more often people in monogamous relationships are bound to end up unhappy and therefore adulterous, which only strengthens the argument of polygamy further. And off the back of this, the same argument states that being in an open relationship will actually make us happier as a result of not having to commit to one person and one person only. So it’s no wonder this guy I met – who will remain unnamed – was bragging about it. He’s happier than the rest of us, of course.
Dating still comes with taboos; people believe different things, some more strongly than others. There are also bound to be different arguments from different people about what’s right and what’s wrong but one thing’s for sure – open relationships are certainly becoming more common. Take a look around: how many people do you know who are on Tinder, who have found someone as afraid of commitment as them but have who’s still the right kind of person to have a semi-relationship with? Next time you’re with your single friend, ask him if he’s that guy. And I can almost guarantee you that he’ll say yes.
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