A Brief Rant...

I keep up, in my own quaint little way, on kink in the world. I follow a number of groups on Fetlife; I listen to Dan Savage; I follow a couple of blogs; I follow news stories and follow some events as they happen... There's certainly much more I could do to be up-to-date on kink news and culture, but I keep a toe in. And recently, quite a few times, I've come up against someone that has been pushing my buttons; people talking about the fact that they're "Poly" because they have sex with a lot of women. Let me release a small amount of bile; if that's what you're saying, YOU AREN'T POLY.

One definition of polyamoury found online is the following:

The practice, state or ability of having more than one sexual loving relationship at the same time, with the full knowledge and consent of all partners involved.

To be blunt, if you sleep with a lot of women, you may be open; it's possible you're poly; it's quite likely you're a slut (said in the most friendly, loving way possible); you may be a big stud... But poly is different. Poly is actually maintaining multiple, honest relationships... Not having a huge list of women to call up when you're horny, or being good at picking up men in bars when you're out.

I refer to myself as poly, and I suppose it's a little unfair of me to be so grumpy without differentiating. Fine; I'm poly by nature, without being actively poly right now. There's nothing inherently wrong with having sex a lot - with one person or dozens of people. There's nothing wrong with having one relationship, or five relationships (if you have the energy for it). But for the sanity of those of us who care... Learn what your terms mean? Please?