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Difference between revisions of "Polyamorous Relationships"
From Clicklaw Wikibooks
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==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
Polyamorous relationships vary in terms of | The social expectations associated with marriage are rather predictable. Although some people have open marriages, where each spouse is free to have relationships with other people, most of the time — the vast majority of the time — marriages are monogamous. This expectation is so common that many married couples don't even talk about it. It's ''assumed'' that they'll be faithful to each other. We also expect that they'll provide emotional support for each other — in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health — and work together as true partners, each making sacrifices for the benefit of the whole. | ||
While the people involved in a polyamorous relationship may share these expectations of their partners, they may not. Polyamorous relationships vary in terms of participants' expectations of mutual commitment, interdependence, and sexual and emotional fidelity. A polyamorous individual may be simultaneously involved in two or more romantic relationships, without those people being in a relationship with each other, or significant, committed relationships may exist among everyone involved. An individual may be involved in a core relationship that is committed and enduring, while one or more members of that core relationship are involved in peripheral sexual relationships with others. Or, an individual may be involved in a number of concurrent relationships that are more sexual than romantic in nature and involve a lesser sense of interdependence. It's safe to say that no two polyamorous relationships are exactly alike. | |||
Polyamorous relationships have likely existed from the dawn of human history. Even though pair relationships have dominated Western culture since the days of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, polygamous marriages are permitted by law and remain important parts of the cultural fabric in many countries — particularly in western Africa and in nations governed by sharia law — and are socially accepted but neither legalized nor criminalized in others. Polyamorous relationships, the unmarried cousin of polygamous relationships, are growing in popularity in North America and in Europe, and it appears that more Canadians identify as polyamorous today than ever before. | Polyamorous relationships have likely existed from the dawn of human history. Even though pair relationships have dominated Western culture since the days of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, polygamous marriages are permitted by law and remain important parts of the cultural fabric in many countries — particularly in western Africa and in nations governed by sharia law — and are socially accepted but neither legalized nor criminalized in others. Polyamorous relationships, the unmarried cousin of polygamous relationships, are growing in popularity in North America and in Europe, and it appears that more Canadians identify as polyamorous today than ever before. | ||
