Can Open Relationships Cure Jealousy?
We've always said that if you want to be in an open relationship, it helps if you're the kind of advanced human being who is missing the jealousy gene. (Neither of us comes even remotely close, for the record.) It just seems like, if you're going to be cool with your one-and-only kissing someone else or going down on someone else, then the Green-Eyed Monster is an unwelcome guest at the sex party.
So we were surprised to read a personal essay in the New York Timeslast weekend by a woman who claims that her open-ish relationship helps her husband handle his fears that she will cheat on him or leave him.
It may seem eccentric that my husband has translated the common fear of being cheated on into enthusiasm for the idea, but he's not alone. Type "cuckold" into a pornography search engine and you'll be greeted with countless scenes in which people play out that exact fantasy.
The writer, Ada Calhoun, explains how, of the two of them, she was the sexual adventurer before they met, the one who'd had more sexual encounters, more fleeting encounters, more casual sex.
