There Are Many Ways to Polyamory

Your guide to understanding it all.

- KAYLA KIBBE

Is it fair to say that we've reached peak poly? Nearly half of dating-age Gen Zers are open to the idea of a non-monogamous setup, according to a recent Tinder survey. Sixty-two percent say that they've actively fantasized about being in an open relationship, per a Feeld x Kinsey Institute poll. (The latter also found up to 80 percent of millennials, Gen Xers, and boomers fantasizing about the same.) And data aside, it honestly seems like everyone is suddenly talking about or curious to try polyamory.

Of course, the practice of having multiple romantic partners at the same time isn't exactly new, but the way it's evolving, especially when it comes to its lexicon, is. Hence the importance of this handy cheat sheet for keeping you up to date.

Unicorn Quad

It's when four partners are all in relationships with one another-named for how rarely this actually happens IRL, says sex educator Leanne Yau, founder of the blog Poly Philia. Other kinds of quads do exist, but not everyone is necessarily dating everyone else. Some non-unicorn ones may include two couples who partner swap or partners who are dating more of their fellow quad members than others are.

Hierarchical Non-Monogamy