Relationship

What is relationship?
At the sight of this alone, I know what you will be thinking about is the relationship that exists between a boyfriend and his girlfriend but is that the only definition of a relationship? I bet you, it isn’t. There are several types of relationships that exists between people which we will be talking about but first let’s justify its meaning. As defined by Merriam Webster dictionary, relationship is the way in which two or more people, groups, countries, etc, talk to, behave toward, and deal with each other.

Types of relationship
We basically have 4 types of relationships which are;
Family relationships
Friendships
Acquaintanceships
Romantic relationships
Let’s throw more light on each of them but we will be talking more about the romantic relationship.

Family relationships.
As the name implies, this is a relationship that exists between family members. Just like the relationship that exists between a father and his daughter, a mother and her son, a niece and her uncle, and so many more is what is described as a family relationship.

Friendships.
This kind of relationship exists between friends. We all have friends right from primary school with which we do almost everything together. Some have friends they do things generally with while some have tight friends which some call “best friend” or “bestie”, whichever way, you share a relationship with that person known as friendship.

Acquaintanceships.
This is often mistaken with friendship but they sure carry different meanings. Acquaintance is a term used to describe a situation of familiarity, that is, you can know a person but that person is sure not your friend. This is a relationship between two people who have met but do not know each other well. Good examples are some people you buy or sell something to, some of your neighbors and others.

Romantic relationships.
People sure go into romantic relationships for different reasons, this leads us to types of romantic relationships. We have different types or segments in a romantic relationship, some are;

Dating.
This has to do with two people getting to know each other better to determine if they will go on a long term relationship leading to marriage or not. People involved in this often refer themselves as boyfriends, girlfriends or partners. At times people involved in dating might just want sexual pleasure and care and nothing serious.

Committed relationship.
When both partners promise to keep out of other relationships and are at times willing to commit into marriage soon, this term is perfect to describe these set of people. Those in a committed relationship aren’t permitted to have emotions or anything to do with other opposite genders. Most committed relationships often lead to marriage in most cases.

Casual relationship.
This type of romantic relationship exists between partners who aren’t ready for something serious as they mostly engage in sexual activities without hope for the future. It is close to what is generally described as “friends with benefits”, most times, emotions are not attached as they are only into the relationship to satisfy their body.

Situationship.
I often call this the fools’ relationship. Sounds funny right? This relationship is about two people who really don’t know what they want, they just try to see if things works out as planned with strict rules involved. It is at times a combination of the above types of romantic relationships. In a situationship, the people involved aren’t expected to have emotions for others, they mustn’t get involved sexually with another person but must always be there for each other while figuring out what happens next.

Ethnic non-monogamy.
This is a term used to describe partners who have multiple sexual partners and most times know about it. For example, they may be in a romantic relationship and give themselves permission to have multiple sexual partners, at times with the approval of the boyfriend or girlfriend.