Most of us know what an open relationship involves, theoretically. You and your partner both agree you can see other people, setting as many or as few rules and boundaries in place as you need to make that happen. It doesn’t sound so complicated on paper, but as with anything that involves relationships and emotions, open relationships can feel a little different in practice. Sometimes, we don’t realize just how different until we’ve already agreed to try it.
This is especially true of those of us who have insecurities that are triggered by our partners being interested in other people. It can be a turn-on to know your partner is seeing someone else (no kink-shaming — that’s one reason some people want an open relationship!), but it can also be painful in ways you might not have expected.
We say all this to introduce a couple on Reddit who seem to be experiencing this exact issue. After being married for eight years, the husband has been pushing for an open marriage for years, according to his wife (aka our OP, which is Reddit-speak for the person who wrote the post). She finally agreed, but now he’s started acting strange and insecure — even though he was the one who wanted this arrangement in the first place. Keep reading for the full story and for Reddit’s take on it all.