@shinyraichu
I guess both! haha
well, I do think that the people in the relationship think the polyamorous relationships are genuine, but it creates a multidimensional power struggle. There is a dominant person, whether we are talking a same-sex or bi-gender situation. In most cases there are three people. The two other people in the relationship that are less dominant either do not date each other, or they simultaneously share the dominant person. What this reminds me of is a situation like the Bachelor, Bachelorette, Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, ect. It's a constant competition, in which there are multiple people vying for the affection of the same person, in which case impedes upon the intimacy of any of the relationships. A three-way relationship cannot be lump-summed; it's a relationship between person 1 and 2, person 1 and 3, and person 2 and 3. It is a lot to invest yourself into one person, let along two at a close intimate level. What happens if you are 1, and 2 and 3 start to resent each other. The stability of their relationships depend on the stability of someone elses relationship. The success rate of these types of arrangements is abysmal, there is just too much jealousy, power struggles, impediment of intimate relationships, and etc than that of a healthy monogamous relationship.
Open relationships are pretty much the same, except that the individuals do not get to live with their competition. What is the point of making a commitment if you are going to be open?
I know for myself one of these arrangements would never work. For others, it is possible, but not likely to work in the long-run, and most likely does not have as much potential to develop as close as a bond as a monogamous relationship's potential. I am not saying that all monogamous relationship are healthy, but what I am saying is that the vast majority of polyamorous relationships are not healthy.
Oh, and the sister-wives-polygamy-thing is even worse. It is a clear division of power, and the father of each wife's children would have to split his time among more children and wives, leaving a very distant and detached relationship among several families rather than a strong relationship among one family.
What do you guys think of polygamy and open-relationships?
@ CarefulPaint, Thanks! I don't know, something just puts me off about the word "morals"; I don't know why ;p
I guess I know that it's best for me to be more conservative (crap, I hate the connotations for that word too!).
My decisions have a lot to do with my true desires. A lot of people express mixed emotions; they want a fling, but they also want a relationship, and they often are not able to achieve their desires, since they are clashing. If I want to have a substantial relationship, why would I have random flings or enter into a dynamic of a relationship that I don't think is best? I admit, I think that I am more attracted to a 30 year-old guy than a 20 year-old guy, but if I date someone around my age, I know that if things work-out, then he will age to 30 (assuming that he lives to 30 :p) Also, it's the idea that I like, of being in a mature monogamous relationship; it's where I want to end up, but I am not 30, and I don't think that I would truly be compatible with someone more than 10 years my senior. Also, as I said before, it becomes a weird dynamic when a partner is also a father-figure, in the way that he might be more dominant, set most of the boundaries, be the guardian, basically have the ability to ground me; I don't want to date someone who is an authority figure -at all!!! ...unless he is dressed up like a cop or firefighter ;)
