Perhaps the most profound change in 2021’s romantic storylines was the re-coding of jealousy. In traditional monogamous drama, jealousy is a righteous emotion, a signal of true love and a justification for dramatic confrontation (the “jealous lover” trope). In the open-relationship narratives of 2021, jealousy is recast as what polyamory advocates call a “secondary emotion”—a signal masking deeper fears of inadequacy, abandonment, or unmet needs.
For decades, the cultural script for love was simple, linear, and unwavering: you meet someone, you fall in love, you commit exclusively, and you live happily ever after—or you don’t, in which case the story ends. But 2021 was a watershed year for dismantling that script. Emerging from the isolation of 2020, a collective psychological shift occurred. People emerged from lockdown not just with a renewed appreciation for human touch, but with a radical reevaluation of what honesty, autonomy, and intimacy actually mean.
Pick 1, 2, or describe what you mean and I’ll produce the feature.