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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45865
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45865
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

This is something you need to be careful with. In popular Western culture, going back decades or further, jealousy is often seen as a positive trait. "His jealousy proves he loves me so much." Especially when it's a man jealous of interactions his female partner has with other men.

In reality, there's a very thin line between "cute" jealousy and controlling behavior. "He gets all worked up when I talk to other men" turns very quickly into "[I'm not allowed to be alone with other men at work](https://www.askamanager.org/2017/03/my-employee-is-refusing-to-travel-because-her-husband-said-she-cant.html)" or "[women in my company get left out because the men refuse to be alone with them](https://www.askamanager.org/2019/02/some-men-in-my-office-refuse-to-be-alone-with-women.html)."

Yeah, not so cute.

What you're looking for I think is not actual jealousy, but gentle teasing. As in bruglesco's example. People in a healthy relationship can crack jokes about these types of situations, without it turning into anxiety over someone's faithfulness (jealousy happens even in relationships where dating others is okay, because the underlying emotion is fear of being rejected or humiliated).

If you want things light, the couple needs to be secure in each other's affections. Outside people aren't a threat. Not to say that the couple believes cheating or breaking up is impossible (only fools believe that) but that it's not an everyday anxiety and, if it happens, it's not because some outsider was too tempting.

Original score: 30