Shailene Woodley on What’s Needed in Open Relationships
Shailene Woodley has never made it a secret about how much she loves love. The actor’s resume is filled with projects, like The Fault in our Stars, that center around romantic relationships. And even her action flicks, like Divergent, have a central relationship that provides the story with its emotional heartbeat.
Shailene Woodley has been engaged, in an open relationship, and in monogamous relationships
In her personal life, Woodley also seems to value love. In her adult life, she’s hinted at having some great, and not so great, relationships. Most recently, The Last Letter from Your Lover star was set to marry NFL player, Aaron Rodgers. However, she had two relationships prior to her engagement with the footballer, one of which was an open relationship. Woodley seems to be fully in support of those who wish to pursue nonmonogamous and polyamorous partnerships. However, she does think that some boundaries should be in place.
‘The O.C.’ alum reveals her rules for open relationships
While speaking with the New York Times, Woodley got candid about her romantic history. “Listen, I’m someone who has experienced both an open relationship and a deeply monogamous relationship in my life, and I think we’re in a day and age where there should be no rules except for the ones designed by two people in a partnership — or three people, whatever floats your boat!” she shared.
Though Woodley is all for open relationships, she shared that there are certain things that are necessary for open relationships to function well. These things are the same things that are needed in monogamous relationships.
“There has to be a level of responsibility in any relationship dynamic, and that responsibility is simply honesty and communication and trust,” Woodley added. “Apart from that, it’s really none of our business what people choose to do with their lives.”
Why Woodley also values being single
While Woodley values partnership, she seems to also really appreciate being single. She thinks it’s so important to learn who you are outside of a relationship. For this reason, she deliberately chose to be single for a long period of time prior to dating Rodgers. “We’re societally conditioned to assume that one person can be our end-all, be-all,” The Secret Life of the American Teenager actor explained.
Woodley also shared that she feels that relationships help people discover new facets of themselves and know themselves on a deeper level. “The idea of being with someone … is it only because you’ve fallen in love with that person, or because there’s a newness to understanding yourself because of what that person can offer you?” she questioned.
It seems that Woodley has given a fair bit of thought to both open relationships and monogamous relationships. No doubt she’ll continue to explore love through her upcoming acting projects.
