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From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Just how far can friendship go?
Message-ID: <536@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Jul-85 16:31:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.536
Posted: Thu Jul 11 16:31:08 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 07:37:29 EDT
References: <317@azure.UUCP> <800@vax2.fluke.UUCP>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Distribution: net
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 32

In article <800@vax2.fluke.UUCP> cassidy@fluke.UUCP (Rion Cassidy) writes:
>First, I'm a little new to the net.singles group (possibly just naive) and
>am really not sure what 'SO' (as in SOship) stands for.  Could someone please
>clarify the term? I think its meaning through context is pretty obvious.

By now I'm sure Rion has been told that SO = Significant Other  more  times
than  enough.  The  underlying  question  of much of the current discussion
seems to  center  on  what  _is_  a  Significant  Other.  The  most  common
definitions implicitly put forth seem to define SO as someone with whom one
is both  romanticaly  and  sexually  inolved.  I  would  like  to  offer  a
different perspective.

From  a  psychological  view  SO  is  a  technical  term  with  a  specific
definition.  It  refers  to  _anyone_  who  has  an  immediate, significant
influence  on  a  person's  life.   Examples  include   parents,   friends,
relatives,  siblings, teachers, etc., etc.  Note that the relationship need
not include any romantic or sexual aspects.  Anyone the person cares  about
_for any reason_ is an SO.

From the above perspective the question of where friendship ends and SOship
begins  is  meaningless.  A  friend  _is_  an  SO, by definition.  The real
question then  becomes  one  of  how  much  romantic/sexual  involvement  a
friendship  can  stand or whether it's possible to be friends with a sexual
partner.  All of these conditions are subcategories of SOship.
---
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The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
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