Maybe in some cases, the "trial period" is not to see if a monogamous partner will like a polyamorous arrangement, but rather, to see if a monogamous partner and a polyamorous partner will want to remain partners to each other. Does that make sense?
I feel the same way.
I should clarify my remarks a bit. When I spoke about the 'threesome' thing, I wasn't suggesting that it *was* every guy's fantasy, but that it is *expected to be* every guy's fantasy. Another example would be if a guy gets drunk and a good-looking woman has sex with him, without his consent. How many guys would call that 'rape' and how many would say that he 'got lucky'? There is the societal stereotypical presumption that since guys like sex, they should automatically find such an event a positive thing.
Women prey on these stereotypes as well. I think it is not at all a coincidence for a woman (wife/partner) to approach her significant other and offer 'bisexual' as a means to 'soften him up'. Let's be honest here, it's infinitely less threatening for a man to hear his wife is interested in another woman, and not another man--even if she is interested in BOTH. It's unlikely she would ever admit that to him upfront, and instead just mention her desire for women. She knows that if she mentions a desire for other men to her partner that it would be a non-starter for almost every man.
No matter how you slice it, the real issue here is that when a monogamous couple get married, they are making a joint commitment to maintain a monogamous relationship. Just making a "I'm bisexual" declaration is not a defacto agreement that should require a male partner to try poly at some point. Either the couple marries as a monogamous couple, or they do not. Whether or not there are extra partners *at that time* is irrelevent. Either they made a monogamous commitment to one another, or they did not. If they did make a monogamous commitment to one another, that takes precedence over either partner's subsequent desire to 'go poly' later in the relationship.
However, it doesn't matter if it is a man or a woman that drops the poly 'bomb', the reality is that it is categorically unfair to their partner to do so. Why? Because the expectation is that if their partner "really loves them" that they will give it a 'try'. In reality they are asking their partner to 'buy'. As I noted above, once the poly door is open, you can't close it again. The double-standard comes slamming down, and it's a no-win scenario for the partner being asked to 'try'.
If the partner agrees to 'try' poly, and they don't like it, then they are supposedly 'being selfish' if they want to remain monogamous. Despite the fact that they BOTH agreed to a monogamous marriage, the fact that the dissenting partner wants to keep it that way is supposedly 'mean' and is "taking away their partner's freedom." If the dissenting partner is unfortunate enough to be a man, he automatically becomes a misogynist for wanting to keep the marriage the way it is. It was never 'try'. If it was 'try', the partner would respect if he is unable to go down that road. Instead, he is branded as trying to 'control her life', despite the fact that he never signed up for this when he got married.
Alternately, if the partner outright refuses to try poly, then they are decried as not respecting their partner's feelings and desires. Again we have the, "if you really loved me you would try" manipulation, which selfishly attempts to leverage and hold hostage their partner's love for the sake of a personal desire.
My position is that if the one who has poly desires "really loved their partner", then they would accept that they made a commitment to their partner, and that they can't always get what they want in life. Or, if their desire for poly is stronger than their love for their partner, they should end the relationship outright. If they knew their partner at all, they would know--without asking--whether they would be receptive to such an idea. If that is something that a person doesn't know about their partner, then perhaps they are in a superficial relationship. It should *not* be a surprise how a partner answers. They should have a very good idea how the partner will answer before they even ask.
'Asking' puts the partner in an emotional and mentally destructive dilemma, since there is no way out. No matter which way they go, they are the one made to look bad. Yet they weren't the one that brought up poly in the first place. They are being emotionally victimized by their partner.
I wonder what someone would say if their partner asked them to quit their job, leave their family, and move across the country because their significant other suddenly had a hankering to take a job there. That's a tall order and it is asking a LOT of a partner to make that kind of sacrifice and change to their life. It's no different to ask a partner to go poly. It's asking them to make a sacrifice and turning their life upside down. They should be able to say 'no' and not made to feel guilty about honoring the commitment they made when they got married.
In my opinion, asking a partner to 'try poly' is nothing more than an attempt to snare their partner in a Chinese finger trap.
Which is a good question. It does seem the onus is always on the mono partner to 'change'.I don't think that there's a caring human being on the planet that doesn't want their partner to be happy... At the same time, I don't think that it's unreasonable to assume that our partners want the same for us. And yes, in some relationships, there are stalemates.
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it goes without saying that some people change over the course of a long relationship/marriage. And it is important to recognize that. However, it's equally important to realize that many people do not change. Why is it perceived that more of the benefit should go to the ones who do change?
I do not know, not having read places like reddit etc but I would suspect the whole "poly is more evolved" comes from young people (or just immature people?) who have not much experience at relationships and/or feel a lot of societal push back and are trying to defend their lovestyle.
Which is a good question. It does seem the onus is always on the mono partner to 'change'.
In a situation where you have two people, one mono, and one (wanting) poly, it's clear that one of them won't get what they want. Of course we hear that if the mono partner loved their poly partner, they would 'try'. (Which as I've already established is defacto acceptance.)
Well why is it not that if the poly partner loved the mono partner that the poly partner would 'try' to live without poly, instead of the mono person living with poly? Is it not an equal sacrifice for *either* partner? Who determines that one sacrifice is 'more deserving' than the other? Is it, as you remarked, that only the person who wants 'change' is more deserving?
If I take the opposite side, about the only thing that even comes close to a justification for this would be something like, "you'll never know you like something unless you try." Now this is fair, but the problem is that it's an all-or-nothing gambit. It's extremely high risk, and the couple could very well be betting the future of their relationship on whether their gamble pays off. Meanwhile, keeping what they have now is a 'sure thing'.
I guess the question for the poly person in this example should be, "Am I willing to risk my relationship to satisfy my own personal desires?"
For some poly people they *have* been trying to be mono. Some for years and years. It is a different case for them, I imagine, than for someone who suddenly discovers they are in love with more than one person.
Leetah
To be honest, I don't know whether to argue one way or the other. It seems like I can see both sides.
Which is completely understandable. It seems to be a common theme among poly folk who come out to their mono partners. The problem from the other side, is that for all that time they're "trying mono", they usually never utter a word that they are. The plug along as though they're just fine in the mono relationship. And while, from there side, it could be a 5 or 10 year journey of discovery, their partners feel like their blind-sided with this information.
I can tell you from personal experience, that after nearly 17 years of marriage, not once was there even a hint that my wife had these inclinations. All this time, you feel that things are going well, and that both are on the same page in virtually every aspect. We agree on practically everything. And now, from out of left field, this news hits that she might rather "try" to engage in activities that were only something I thought could happen in my worst nightmare... But I'm (according to her friends) just shut up & accept the change?
CTF, I don't doubt that you were blindsided. I've read most of your posts. But, I'll be honest that while there may not have been indicators that your wife was poly, there were indicators that your wife wasn't as happy as you thought, regardless of whether you acknowledge them.
I'd also add that I really don't think most poly people realize that they're 'trying' mono. In our culture, mono is the accepted norm so much so that we buy into it...and then think there's something wrong with us when it doesn't work. But the truth is, lifelong monogamy doesn't work for the majority of people, even monogamists. This is why most monogamists are serial monogamists. The idea that poly people are doing this (whatever the nebulous 'this' is) to their monogamous partners is erroneous. Where the poly partner gets messed up, I think, is in assuming because poly makes sense/works for them, that it will for the mono partner. Where the mono partner gets messed up, I think, is in assuming because the poly person lived monogamously for x years, that he/she can continue to do so but is choosing instead to do this hurtful thing to the mono partner. This is why divorce is mentioned so frequently. People grow and change, and discover new things about themselves. We do not stay stagnate. Sometimes our partners and relationships grow in ways which can accommodate our changes, sometimes not. It doesn't mean there isn't love and it doesn't mean that it's a failure. It just is. From personal experience, I can say that hanging onto a relationship form that's no longer viable just kills the love between the people.
I think people might be surprised at the number of people ( members ) who have had a spouse make this poly declaration and had it destroy their marriage and then that partner ended up being mono with someone else.
It's ironic that 3 different poly members have such a varied opinion.
I guess I think of it more along a continuum of:
preference for mono--------------------------preference for poly
Some people who "discover" they are poly are on the preference for poly end. And some people who are only interested in monogamy are on the other end.