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WHAT IS POLYAMORY AND WHAT IS IT DOING TO AMERICA?
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A version of this article appears in the first chapter of Fifty Years of Polyamory in America: A Guided Tour of a Growing Movement by Glen W. Olson and Terry Lee Brussel-Rogers, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Coach and Author
Most of us are familiar with the term monogamy
Often connected with marriage or other committed relationship, it is a contract between two people who agree that they will have sex only with each other. It is the most prevalent form of emotional/sexual relationship between two people in our western cultures and is believed to be sanctioned by all modern Judeo/Christian religions.
But that is not the only sexual/relationship choice people can make
Polyamory is a term coined in 1990 by Morning Glory Zell in an article (1) she wrote to address the ethical problems that can often occur in multiply committed relationships, that is to say, a situation where one person has two or more acknowledged sexual relationships at the same time.
Dr. Deborah Anapol embraced the term (2) and used it to teach about relationships that could include, but did not necessarily include, a marriage. In its broadest…
