Willow Smith, the daughter of actors Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith, recently revealed that she is polyamorous.
Speaking during an episode of Red Table Talk earlier this week, the 20-year-old - who has previously been candid about her sexuality - opened up about being polyamorous. Polyamory is defined as practicing or being open to multiple intimate relationships at the same time with the consent of everyone involved.
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According to Web MD, polyamory is a type of open or non-monogamous relationship that follows a set of rules. These rules include each partner being aware of their partner’s other partners. The key differentiating factor between polyamory and other non-monogamous relationship setups is that all the partners in the relationship can have relationships with each other.
Opening up about why she chooses to be polyamorous, Willow says that she likes the freedom that comes with this type of relationship setting.
“With polyamory, I feel like the main foundation is the freedom to be able to create a relationship style that works for you and not just stepping into monogamy because that’s what everyone around you says is the right thing to do,” she explained to her mother Jada and grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris.
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“So I was like, how can I structure the way that I approach relationships with that in mind? Also, doing research into polyamory, the main reasons why monogamous relationships, or why marriage, why divorces happen is infidelity,” she continued.
She also went on to give examples when her grandmother questioned what polyamory was centred around.
“Let’s say you haven’t always been the kind of person that wanted to have sex all the time, but your partner is. Are you going to be the person to say ‘Just because I don’t have these needs, you can’t have them either?’ And so that’s kind of one of the reasons why I actually was interested in poly, because I was introduced to it through kind of a nonsexual lens,” she said.
- Solo polyamory – people who don't have primary partnerships but date multiple people.
- Polyfidelity – a group of three or more people who have a committed relationship with each other and do not date outside of the group.
- Hierarchical polyamory – people who have primary partnerships to which they devote the most time and attention, and secondary and tertiary partnerships that receive less time and attention.
- Non-hierarchical polyamory - people who don’t have a hierarchy of partners. It is also called egalitarian polyamory or relationship anarchy. Each partner may receive equal time and attention.
Source: Web MD
