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Are Polyamorous Relationships the New Sexual Revolution?
There’s data to suggest they’re better at navigating sex and love
Over the last five years or so, there has been an increase in media coverage of polyamory and how it seems to be growing in a revolutionary way, particularly among millennials. After being largely ignored outside of blogs and message boards, people who participate in polyamorous relationships now have more opportunities to share their stories in the mainstream. In 2014, The Atlantic shared personal stories of polyamorous people and referenced research that, among other things, suggested polyamorous people are better at navigating relationship challenges than monogamous people.
In 2018, Quartz reported on a study that found one in five people has participated in ethical nonmonogamy while also noting a decrease in polyamory activism over the last generation. And in 2019, NPR did a segment on the new “sexual revolution” driven largely by people opting for polyamory and ethical nonmonogamy over traditional monogamy. This is all fine and good but the biggest issue I’ve noticed in mainstream coverage is that it is still pretty White.
Sex-positive research, advocacy, and activism dates back several decades and most of it has focused primarily on White people and their sexual habits. If you’re conducting research about sex and sexuality and aren’t including a significant number of people of color, are you really capturing the whole picture?
Part of why I began my own work as a sex-positive feminist was because of the lack of Black women’s inclusion in conversations about sexual agency and liberation. I fully understand that sexual conservatism in Black communities is real and is often rooted in religious beliefs and the result of historical sexual trauma. I also know that people of color do have robust and diverse sexual experiences and the nuances of our sexual activity and participation in alternative sexual lifestyles like polyamory must be included in larger discussions about sex and sexuality.
Fortunately, the internet has been a vital tool in drawing people of color out of their sexual shadows and giving voice to those who have long been erased from mainstream narratives. Websites that…
