Compersion - Polyamorous Views On Jealousy and Compersion

Polyamorous Views On Jealousy and Compersion

The concept of compersive behavior is widespread within the polyamorous community, and was originally coined by the now defunct Kerista Commune in San Francisco. The related adjective is "compersive".

It is common for people within the polyamorous community to state that jealousy comes with the territory of open romantic relationships. Compersion has often been referred to as "the opposite of jealousy".

In romantic relationships, thoughts and feelings of security, fear, and/or anxiety over anticipated loss of a partner or of that partner's attention, affection, or time emote both compersion and jealousy as natural reactions to perceived complexities of nonmonogamy and are quite extensively covered in polyamorous literature.

In her book Polyamory: The New Love Without Limits, Dr Deborah M. Anapol describes five different types of jealousy - possessive, exclusion, competition, ego, and fear - before discussing compersion. The books The Ethical Slut and Opening Up also devote entire chapters to discussions of jealousy.

Investigative reporter and sex educator Eric Francis wrote on his Planet Waves website that an individual could look for their own compersion within jealousy itself: "Right inside the jealous episode is a fiery core of erotic passion. It may surprise you how good it feels, and if you get there, you can be sure you're stepping right into compersion."

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Famous quotes containing the words views and/or jealousy:

    The universe is wider than our views of it.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    The hood-winked husband shows his anger, and the word jealous is flung in his face. Jealous husband equals betrayed husband. And there are women who look upon jealousy as synonymous with impotence, so that the betrayed husband can only shut his eyes, powerless in the face of such accusations.
    J. August Strindberg (1849–1912)