Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Polyamory

Recently I've restarted a relationship and I think I'm in love with someone else. However I am in love with my partner and they know how I feel about this other person. I guess I'm polyamorus in a mono-amorus relationship. To clarify what I mean by that I can love more that one person equaly and be in love with more that one person but I'm currently choosing "monogamy" as my relationship status.
I understand that there are many people out there, both religious and non, who will view this statement and polyamory in general, as a way that people can "have their cake and eat it". But it's not actualy that simple. Polyamory is more than an open relationship and it's more than a poligamus one. Poligamy is often a religiously institued relationship that treats women like chattle. It is, on the whole, about a patriarchal need to spread the seed as far as you can and have "good breeding stock", it is rarely about love or having a respectful relationship. Polyamory, on the other hand, is about having a loving, respectful relationship but recognising that you can have these relationships with more than one person. Polyamory takes into account the feelings of both partners and has rules and boundries. These are not set in stone for every polyamorus partnership but are fluid and as boundless as the human heart. My partner and I have talked about having a polyamorus relationship but thay have only known monogomy. This may or may not having a baring on the fact that we are still in a monogomus relationship but I think they feel that I might leave if I'm alowed another partner. However, although the polyamorus lifestyle may not suite us right now, we have deced to keep channels of comunication open and discuss it periodically and it might, in the end, be the reason we split up. It might also be the reason that we stay together who knows? The only reason I write this is because I know that there has been a lot of interest recently in the subject of polyamory and it was even put before our church that minister be alowed to conduct polyamorus blessings. I just wanted to show that polyamorus persons are not greedy, it's just an alternitive to the idea of monogomy.
Make of it what you will.

No comments: