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Difference between revisions of "Polyamorous Relationships"
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Polyamorous Relationships (view source)
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Polyamorous relationships vary in terms of people's expectations of commitment, interdependence, and sexual and emotional fidelity. An 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 pair or polyamorous relationship that is committed and enduring, while one or more members of that relationship maintain 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 vary in terms of people's expectations of commitment, interdependence, and sexual and emotional fidelity. An 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 pair or polyamorous relationship that is committed and enduring, while one or more members of that relationship maintain 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 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 more Canadians identify as polyamorous today than ever before. | ||
Family law is relevant to people in polyamorous relationships just as it's relevant to people in other kinds of family relationship. If there are children, parenting and child support may be an issue. If an adult is dependent on others, spousal support may be an issue. If property has been purchased or debt incurred, the identification of property rights may be an issue. However, you'll remember the discussion earlier in this chapter about how the rights and responsibilities family law talks about depend on how people fit into terms like ''spouse'', ''common-law partner'', ''parent'', ''guardian'' and ''child''. That's where things get difficult for people in polyamorous relationships. British Columbia's ''[[Family Law Act]]'', the federal ''[[Divorce Act]]'', and the family law legislation of the other provinces and territories are all written on the assumption that adult relationships only come in pairs, and figuring out how the square peg of polyamorous relationships fits into the round hole of pair relationships can be tricky. | |||
===Bigamous and polygamous relationships=== | |||
Bigamy means being married to more than one person at the same time, and is an offence under section 290 of the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/7vf2 Criminal Code]''. Polygamy means being married to more than two other people at the same time, and is a criminal offence under section 293 of the ''Code''. (''Polyandry'', incidentally, means a marriage involving more than one man, while ''polygyny'' means a marriage involving more than one woman. The relationships you see on television in shows like ''Big Love'' and ''Sister Wives'' are polygynous marriages.) | |||
Polyamorous relationships don't involve the marriage of the people involved, and aren't captured by either section 290 or 293 of the ''Criminal Code''. While pairs of adults in a polyamorous relationship may be married to each other, no one person is married to more than one other person at a time. | |||
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