Graduate Journal of Social Science

Articles

• Care in Consensually Non-Monogamous Relationship Networks: Aspirations and Practices in a Contradictory Field

  Michael Raab

  • Abstract

    The paper discusses the question whether currently emerging, new forms of non-monogamous intimate relationships generate new class and gender relations. Parts of the polyamory movement propagate that breaking with hegemonic norms in relationships opens up the possibility for replacing internalized patriarchal and capitalistically structured norms and behaviour patterns with ones that are to a higher degree self-reflexive and self-determined. Parts of the research about polyamory agree that there is emancipatory potential and stress the possibility of these relationships to break with heteronormative and sexist power struc-tures and to initiate social change in various domains. However, it is just as feasible that poly-amory is a relationship form that aids in managing the demands of a highly flexible, project-oriented capitalist system. The paper outlines my qualitative method of research – a triangulation of intersectional multi-level analysis and network analysis – as well as my ideas for a care-theoretical approach to understanding polyamorous practices. Based on preliminary results of my doctoral research the paper leads to the conclusion that emancipatory aspirations are especially likely to succeed when they are supported by structural measures like collec-tive housekeeping or obligatory modes of communication.

    Keywords

    Social inequality, non-monogamies, care, gendered division of work, intimate partner violence; counselling; help-seeking behaviour; masculinity; relationship abuse; qualitative research

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  • pp. 10–27

• Compulsory Monogamy and Polyamorous Existence

  Leehee Rothschild

  • Abstract

    This article examines the construction of monogamy as a social institution through various discursive fields. It shows how religion, sexology, psychology, law and popular science all play a part in the normalisation and naturalisation of monogamy as the only normal, healthy and moral way to maintain a romantic relationship. It goes to further show how a traditional gender binary and a sexual double standard are constructed as a part of this mononormativity in each and every one of those discursive fields. Following that, the article looks into polyamory through a queer and feminist lens, and explores its theoretical potential in subverting these patriarchal conceptions. It then suggests the idea of the ‘polyamorous continuum’ and the ‘polyamorous existence’ as an alternative paradigm to the institution of monogamy. It is a paradigm that allows for a broader spectrum of relationship formations, including ones that feature elements of sexual and/or romantic exclusivity, which are bereft of the patriarchal elements of mononormativity.

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  • pp. 28–56

• “We’re Not Cheaters”: Polyamory, Mixed-Orientation Marriage and the Construction of Radical Honesty

  Jingshu Zhu

  • Abstract

    Through self-reflexive ethnography, this paper discusses the notion of radical honesty and an assembly of issues around it, including gay closet, bisexual erasure, marital fidelity, polyamory and the research ethics. Three phenomena in different contexts converge in the author’s academic and intimate life: polyamorists’ dissociation with ‘cheating’ by valuing ‘responsible/ethical non-monogamy’, the denunciation of Chinese same-sex-attracted men for ‘deceiving’ their straight wives (tongqis), and the pressure on the researcher to disclose certain privacies in order to obtain “informed consent” in her fieldwork. This paper shows how ‘cheating’ is Othered in hetero-monogamous marriage, Chinese gay communities, tongqi groups, polyamorists and the academia in different yet interconnected ways. It contextualizes and problematizes the individualistic tendencies and the exclusionary effects in the rising discourse of radical honesty. It also questions the universality of the values of authenticity, transparency and verbal communication in these situations. In the conclusion, this paper suggests several possibilities to rethink radical honesty.

    Keywords

    Mixed-orientation Marriage, Polyamory, Radical Honesty, Research Ethics, Informed Consent

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  • pp. 57–78

• “Three (Is Not a Crowd)”: An Analysis of Tom Tykwer’s Polyamorous Film Three

  Nataša Pivec

  • Abstract

    Many contemporary films about non-monogamies still depict them as adultery or side-notes of an ‘unconventional lifestyle’, but Tom Tykwer’s Three manages to be a trailblazer for a more realistic and mature portrayal of polyamorous relationships in cinema. Centred on an upper-middle class, childless, hetero couple in their early 40s who get romantically and sexually involved with the same man, the film narrative follows the transformation from a monogamous to a polyamorous relationship. This paper uses critical discursive analysis (CDA) for the analysis and finds that Three, besides dismantling monogamy as a futile intimate arrangement, also addresses social issues, such as mononormative adultery, male bisexuality, changes of emotional and sexual selfhood, ageism, childlessness, pregnancy and body image, and new familial forms

    Keywords

    Polyamory, film, CDA, sociology

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  • pp. 79–99

• Metamour Connections as the Underpinning of the Fabric of Polyamory

  Joanna Iwanowska

  • Abstract

    This paper has a double purpose. Firstly, it is meant to present an intellectual tool for analyzing the possibilities in the way relationships evolve; I call this tool the tree model of proximity. The tree model of proximity is a tool for modeling interpersonal closeness and understanding how closeness arises via consensual decisions. Secondly, this paper is an attempt to apply the tool to analyze a specific kind of relationship within the polyamorous conceptual framework: a metamour relationship, meaning a non-romantic bond between persons x and z, who are both romantic partners of person y. By focusing my analysis on metamour relationships, I wish to draw attention to them. I claim that although romantic bonds typically rouse more interest when discussing and defining polyamory, we should not underestimate the importance of non-romantic connections within the polyamorous network. Though less visible, these bonds are significant and constitutive of polyamory.

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  • pp. 100–128