Friday, January 18, 2008

Is it Love, or a Mutual Strangulation Society?

Well, it's been too long since I posted here. I am inspired today by an excellent article published by CNN from Oprah.com titled the same as this blog entry. You can read it here.

What's fascinating about this article is that it tells the truth about the unhealthy expectations our society encourages us to adopt around our love relationships. Many of we polyfolk know this already; in many cases it accounts for why we reject the monogamous model outright and choose a different relationship path. Still, it's refreshing to see Oprah's mighty empire challenge the status quo.

That said, the article's author, life coach and Harvard Ph.D. Martha Beck apparently felt compelled to assure us that she is "a big fan of sexual monogamy." Interesting that she needed to make that clear. Could it be that she's trying to avoid the potential for attacks from the marriage movement? Maybe it's her Mormon origins. Wait!.... No, nevermind. Regardless, to Dr. Beck I say "Kudos!"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Martha Beck's excellent article. It seems a shame she chose to duck out of the polyamory issue, as it seems a natural extension of her core statements that sexual monogamy isn't necessary in a loving relationship.

I've created a link to your blog that I came across via Viviane's Carnival. Perhaps you could do the same?

Suzanne

Anita Wagner Illig said...

Thanks for your comment and invitation, Suzanne. Yes, I love the fabulous Viviane, she's who taught me all about blogging last year at Dark Odyssey.

I've added you to my blogroll, thanks for adding me to yours.

May said...

Excellent article! And blog for that matter!

Thank you for spreading the word :)

Unknown said...

This is a great article that shows the difference, I think, between the mature relationship and the "relationship of habit" that seems to be prevalent for a lot of Americans.