Is a Partner Really Just a "Friend With Benefits"

I dont sleep with my sl partner in real but we have sex in sl when we want to (I like to let him make the first move since he is older than me and I dont want to tire him out). We also chat a great deal and I tell him about music, books, plays, films and restaurants I have been to. I share my recipes with him and my knowledge of food. You know, the usual thing. He does the same thing with me.
In a REAL sense, even when I let him have sex with me, he is a friend. I am a great believer in "friend with benefits" approach to a relationship.
Why do you think sl's approach to partnership is conducive the the "beneficial" relationship rather than the matrimonial and "binding" relationship that some people tend to make it? After all, separation rate in sl is high. (I've been with my partner since January 2006 - poor bugger)

I have yet to find any use for paying LL to put a name in a field in my profile... for any reason.

Speaking of which....is there anything elsethat comes along with that besides the name in the feild?

Having a partner name cuts down the amount of women who wander idly by and start to hit on you, therefore cuts down chat time and makes more create time

Edit: I should say I have a 'partner' but I only asked her to be one after we became partners in RL

I suppose that for some people it is a posessiveness thing. People who like to "own" others in RL, have a similar psychology in SL.

alimoney.

Not to plug one of my own buissneses but as an sl divorce lawyer I heve yet to see anyone try to get thet.....child support for prim children yes but not allimony.....but what I find odd about the whole partner thing is even to have any shared assets you still have to creat a group on top of that....I would think partnering would be some form of that but alas it's just a name in a box

And for many others it's a commitment thing.

LOL is this REALLY a problem for you guys? LMAO I've seen so many profiles that have some kind of "back off ladies I'm taken" quote and it just makes me laugh every time. As a woman I've never had a problem with guys harassing me.....and I'm not partnered and I never intend to be. But, I don't know....I just gotta laugh that people actually feel the need to make that statement in their profile. (ok probably has something to do with places people hang out...I'm a loner by nature....guys don't really get the 'opportunity' to harass me lol)

Anyway....I gots no idea what the actual benefit of partnership is (SL or RL any more) except maybe sharing a mortgage.

It is if you're not interested in ladies, yet they still persist

Edited to add: It's nothing to do with where one hangs out, either. I've been with my partner in a skybox 500m up, and we've actually had an escort fly by, spot two guys inside, and *camsit* to get in and hawk her wares. Needless to say, the banlist gained an additional name.

Having a partners name on your profile does not stop you being hit on. Many people dont read profiles so it makes no difference what is in there also there are a lot of "attached" ppl who play about when their "partner" is not about

Lulz

Hit on is maybe not the right term , but I have had quite a few friendship requests from total strangers, always female avatars. So far I haven't felt the need to put anything in my profile about it, but a lack of something in a profile should not equate to 'available' any more than a lack of ring does in RL.

I've never used the partner box to represent a "Friend with Benefits". For me the partner box reflects who has decided to hare their SL with me for as long as we can tolerate each other - and so far after 18 months, it is a lot of tolerating (For her at least!).

I am from the school of thought that the partner box is for "matrimonial and binding relationships" as you said above. But people can of course use it for whatever. Just for me, it stands for more than a friend with 'benefits', it indicates who I love above all in SL and who i have dedicated myself to.

You would be surprised, especially when you are as good looking as I am. And it can happen just about anywhere from clubs to men's clothing stores.

As for being partnered, Feline and I were partnered before we put our names in the boxes. We decided to do that later as another symbol of our commitment.

I get IMs ALL THE TIME - and i am talking when i am shopping or at non-sex dance clubs.

It comes down to initial impulse caused by whatever feelings you stir in the people that see you i suppose. I look pretty wild and often dress fairly revealing so i get a variety of IMs from casual compliments to straight out sex requests - the worst IMs are the guys who start off with "i bet you are into...." which almost always ends in some descriptive act of overly aggressive sexual violence. Go figure...

And i even have a blurb in my profile picks about guys trying and that "i will shut you down". But they still fling themselves at the windshield.

Let me chime in... I'd like to know something about this. How do some of you who are married in RL, but have someone in SL that you date handle it? I mean, I'm fairly new to SL, and I've been approached by a few women and have became good friends with a few. I have one in particular that I really enjoy spending time with. So it's a balance for me to still persue the SL relationship and maintain my RL relationship. Anyway...

How do you all do it? What does your RL partner think? Do they know? Do they not know?

Thanks for any feedback.

No one ever flings themselves at my windshield. I never get that from men in sl. I get it from some men in real and then they say "being with you is hard work/dangerous/demanding/transatlantic/lonely coz you're never home etc etc"

Don' tell them - particularly if you are partnered to comeone as gorgeous and intelligent as me in SL. They'll just be jealous.

Wow, interesting viewpoint.


Just heartache at some point.

This is cuz you are HAWT, HAWT, HAWT.

It is about damn time we got headed towards another "is it cheating" conversation.

Hmm, thanks for the comment. However, I'm not sure if I was attempting to lead it to answer the question "is it cheating" or to suggest that a conversation should venture into that realm. I was just asking for some opinions and viewpoints of others.

I also get propositioned all the time even tho everyone can see that I'm collared & the people where I hang out know what that means. It only slows down a few. But if I get it bad wearing silks I can tell you that my Master gets it much worse as a handsome half naked Gorean warrior. He literally has women throwing themselves at his feet & spamming his IMs. The slaves all want to be collared by Him and the free women all want to be His companion. If I want to just talk with Him we stay home because out in public He's too busy answering IMs. And I know many other Gorean men have the same problem.

Part of the problem is too many women & not enough men. Another part of the problem is that Gorean men are just too hot!

To me, the partner field shows who I live with in SL, who I spend most of my time with in SL, and who I care the most about in SL. (was gonna add more to the list but decided to restrict it to SL..) Also, getting his name there shut up the ones who kept asking "when are you guys gonna get hitched??"