What Is 'Relationship Anarchy?' |
"The rules are there ain't no rules." That's what the Scorpions leader told Danny Zucko right before their big drag race against each other in the 1978 movie Grease. That statement could apply as well to what's known as relationship anarchy. Relationship anarchy is a dating or mating approach that rejects traditional relationship rules, hierarchies, norms, and expectations. The emphasis instead is on flexibility, autonomy, and doing whatever you and your partner or partners feel like doing. It's certainly not for everyone. But is it something that can work for you?
The term stems from the definition of anarchy, which Dictionary.com lists as "a state of society without government or law." In the relationship case, no one else can tell you what to do when it comes to romantic stuff. For example, you may typically be expected to prioritize your significant other over others. But with relationship anarchy, you may choose to prioritize anyone, whether it's your friends, your cat's vet, or that Starbucks barista over your significant other, spouse, or whatever you happen to call that person whom you have sex with regularly. And that priority ranking could change week-by-week, day-by-day, or even hour-by-hour.
Another thing commonly seen in relationship anarchy is being decidedly non-committal about commitment. Whether or not you are actually........