Wednesday, October 16, 2019

“Polyamory vs. Free Love” (South Bay Polys #282 - September 2019)


I thought I would reprise this topic once more.  Of course, some people don’t quibble about definitions.  I remember many years ago, in the early days of South Bay Poly, posting something on an online Bulletin Board and getting the response:  “Why don’t you just admit that what you really want is lots of sex?”

I replied, of course, that I wasn’t after “lots of sex.”  I was interested in loving, caring, supportive relationships. I doubt the other person believed me.

How could he, not knowing me, tell if I wanted love or sex?  Wanting sex was always the cliché, especially for men.  If I have lots of friends and become involved with some of them, how can someone outside the relationship tell whether it is about sex or about love (or both)?  Is the sex casual?  Is the sex shallow?  Is the “relationship” just a one-night stand? Well, someone might be able to tell that!

The thing is, polyamory supposes that we have the freedom to become involved with more than one person.  In that sense our love is free!  But it isn’t shallow; it isn’t a one-night stand.

Some would disagree.  Some would say that polyamory can include casual encounters.  Well—a polyamorous person can have shallow encounters, in addition to more meaningful, long-term ones.  Just like a person who believes in monogamy can have lots of wild, brief flings before, after, or in between their marriages.

My polyamory quest, however, is for love—though sex can be a part of it.

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