From: woodhous@latcs2.lat.oz.au (Joe P Woodhouse)
Newsgroups: alt.polyamory
Subject: Re: Monogamy manifestos
Date: 17 Aug 92 00:39:06 GMT
Organization: Comp Sci, La Trobe Uni, Australia

webber@world.std.com (Robert D Webber) writes:
>woodhous@latcs2.lat.oz.au (Joe P Woodhouse) writes:
>>[worried about being Poly-supremist]
>I don't think you've ever posted anything to this group that could honestly
>be said to be "poly-supremist."  "Choice-supremist" or "Option-supremist"
>maybe, and perhaps tinged with, "This works for me, I wish more people
>would try it," but I can't imagine you behind people prodding them
>along the Poly-path with your, er, pitch-fork against their wills.

   Heh heh. 8->


>The culture we're immersed in from birth is pretty much Mono-supremist,
>isn't it?  (Incidentally, if you're bisexual and polyamorous, doesn't
>that make you stereo-sexual or something?)

   Oooh. Sometimes I shudder to think of the many stereotypes I must be
furthering. I mean, I'm Bi, I'm Poly, I'm Promiscuous, I'm a Slut. All
fine with me, but it confuses many issues for a lot of people. And (for
example) Bi people who *aren't* (for example) Poly get annoyed.


>Even people who examine
>their assumptions about these things may find themselves reacting with,
>"Oh, I could never try that!  It just wouldn't work for me!"  For some,
>that's probably not true, but polyamorousness is linked to scare words
>and hate words like "slut" and "adultery" and "family values."

   Heh heh. When I out myself as Poly to someone, you should see them 
fall all over themselves to hastily say "Well, it's alright for others,
but I'm *much* to possessive for that!", all the while staring nervously
at me to see if I've gotten the point...heh heh...

   And BTW - I'm currently reclaiming the word "slut". I'm here, I'm a
slut, get used to it! 8->


>>   It would make a bit more sense if the person the partner "cheated" with
>>was the one murdered, but usually it's the "cheating" one. And once again,
>>very few people question the sanity of murdering the one you love in the
>>name (supposedly) of love.
>
>I think it's not supposed to be sane, just an understandable insanity.
>Sort of like, "I had to mug that person, I was raised a disadvantaged
>youth."

   I don't know - the feeling I've gotten many times is that it's "very
understandable". It's like wife-killers claiming their masculinity was
insulted by something - generally the legal scene just nods along, of
course that's reasonable, who can fault them for that?

   But I was more sort of commenting on the prevalence of the idea. It's
such a common media and fiction theme - monogamy -> jealousy -> murder
(or other Bad Things). That's something I throw back in anti-Poly people's
faces - their stance is directly responsible for the deaths of many
people who's only real crime was perhaps breaking the monogamy contract
a bit insensitively. (But where are they supposed to learn how to do it
sensitively? There aren't any classes in How To Have Affaires, or How To
Be Safely And Nicely Poly).

Joe.

  / Joe Woodhouse        / I'm just a sweet bisexual...   / Hello, there.
 / Latrobe University   /    (think - Rocky Horror)      / Threesomes are fun.
/ Melbourne, Australia / Music. Magic. Mathematics. Me. / I like cats! (miaow!)
Newsgroups: alt.polyamory