All of these forms of CNM share the crucial characteristic of negotiating access to multiple lovers, distinguishing CNM from infidelity (also known as cheating or adultery) which is not negotiated, but rather conducted in secret without the other partner’s consent

there are at least three real reasons for this deviance assigned to polyamory, including honesty, women negotiating access to multiple partners, and the challenge it poses to heterosexual nuclear families

polyamory can evoke emotions such as betrayal, disgust, anger, or fear

it means consent to maintaining sexual relations with more than one person; secondly, it allows romantic feelings towards a few people at the same time. In a mono-normative culture, each of those transgressions is automatically associated with cheating, which is a situation where one person suffers harm and the continuation of the relationship is in question.

CNM relationships are those in which partners explicitly agree that they or their partners can enter romantic and/or sexual relationships with other people