Brand New - First Question...

[Three]

Hello! I just joined...like now, today, minutes ago! I figured that I would start by asking this community a simple question about this lifestyle. The terms, better yet, the labels. I am confused, but then again - I was born in the early 70's and not up to date on all of the lingo. Pardon my ignorance.
There is polyamory. There is quad, vee, polyfidelity, solo poly, and then, oh my god - about 40 more! I can barely recall what "ROYGBIV" stood for, how is a newbie like me supposed to learn all of this? Or, perhaps a better question (again, pardon my ignorance) is - why are there SO many labels? Can't we just say something like "free love" or along those lines?
Just curious, not poking fun at anyone. I am honestly just not sure where to begin to get the language sorted out.
Cheers!

 

[GalaGirl]

Welcome.

Over in the User Guidelines, there's the link to the Glossary. That might be a good place to start for learning some of those vocab words.

A lot of the ones you mentioned describe relationship "shapes" like a quad, V or vee. There a visual aid might help like the one here.

There's lots of models. This list isn't exhaustive, but might help you see why some vocab is needed. Here's another visual aid. Because while they are all "not monogamy" and the same in that sense? Each model is NOT the same as the next one. Like cheating on someone is not ethical and it is not monogamy. But it's not the same model as ethical swinging. Which is not the same as an ethical polfi quad. Which is not the same as... YKWIM?

Take your time, maybe do some reading, get a feel the the forum, etc. There's lots of reading out there, but maybe consider

Practical Polyamory

Information on relationship skills, education and activism information related to the practice of polyamory; polyamory media resource.

practicalpolyamory.com

kathylabriola.com

Kathy's new zine published by Microcosm Guide to Happy Polydays: How Polyamorous People Can Thrive Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Book Reviews by Kathy Labriola:See Below_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

www.kathylabriola.com

HTH!
Galagirl

 

[kdt26417]

Hello Three,

• Closed = not allowed to have sex outside the given polycule, and/or not allowed to acquire new partners.
• Polyamorous = practicing, inclined toward, or having to do with, polyamory.
• Polyamory = relationships in which any one person is romantically involved with two or more other people, with their knowledge and consent.
• Polycule = a total set of people, connected to each other in a polyamorous way.
• Polyfidelity = the state of being polyamorous, but closed.
• ROYGBIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
• Solo poly = polyamory in the life of someone who lives alone.
• Quad = a polyamorous relationship involving four people.
• Vee = a polyamorous relationship involving three people, in which one person, the "hinge," is romantically connected to each of the other two, and the other two, the "legs," are only platonically connected to each other.

That should get you started.
Regards,
Kevin T.