1st Edition

The Lesbian Polyamory Reader Open Relationships, Non-Monogamy, and Casual Sex

By Marcia Munson, Judith Stelboum Copyright 1999
    260 Pages
    by Routledge

    260 Pages
    by Routledge

    In reading The Lesbian Polyamory Reader: Open Relationships, Non-Monogamy, and Casual Sex, you'll quickly discover that the steps toward love and happiness are as easy as 1, 2, 3, and maybe even 4 or 5. And you'll find that if your own lesbian relationship lies outside the “traditional monogamous couple” model, you're definitely not alone. You'll explore many multifaceted and multifarious love relationships, each one applicable to your own liking, if you so choose. You'll find successful models of relationship styles--regardless of your own orientation--from cover to cover, and you'll discover the pleasing polyphony in the many, many female voices of authorities on love and love relationships.

    Whereas other similar studies project the limited view of one or two authors, The Lesbian Polyamory Reader calls upon a broad scope of writers, professional women and academics alike. You'll see that outside the gay rights movement that currently pushes for a traditional, monogamous marriage model of gay couplehood, there lies pleasing multiplicity in the arms and hearts of lesbians worldwide. Specifically, this collection offers:

    • “first person” articles--stories that describe a variety of lesbian experiences relating to multiple lovers in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s
    • “how-to” articles--descriptions of the various polyamorous relationship configurations, including ways of dealing with jealousy
    • “theoretical” pieces--the history of multiple relationships, the social implications of practicing a love style other than monogamous coupling, and safer sex considerations
    Much, much more than a book on personal satisfaction, The Lesbian Polyamory Reader also focuses on the social implications of this love phenomenon, bringing it into a more inclusive circle of discussion for lesbians, educators, and students of sociology and sexology. You'll find satisfaction in seeing the love so many lesbian women have achieved by not mimicking the “marriage model” of living.

    Contents
    Foreword: Rhomboid Pegs for Oblong Hearts
    • Introduction: The Lesbian Polyamory Reader: Open Relationships, Non-Monogamy, and Casual Sex
    • Choosing Alternatives
    • The Polyamory Quilt: Life's Lessons
    • If This Is Tuesday, It Must Be Dee . . . Confessions of a Closet Polyamorist
    • Lesbians as Luvbians
    • Patriarchal Monogamy
    • Turning Down the Jezebel Decibels
    • Poly Wants a Lover
    • Poly-Friendships
    •  Seven Poems for Three
    • Adressee Unknown
    • Bad Friend Book
    • The Spontaneous Imaginative Life
    • Living the Dream
    • Matriarchal Village
    • A Boomer's View of Non-Monogamy
    • Impossible Body
    • Paradigms of Polyamory
    • If Love Is so Wonderful, What's so Scary About More?
    • A Long Journey Towards Polyamorous Bliss
    • So Many Women, So Little Time
    • Kitaka's Experiment; or Why I Started the Ecstasy Lounge
    • I'm Not Monogamous Anymore, But . . .
    • Dinah, Sam, Beth, and Jolyn Say . . .
    • Gays to Marry? Let's Not!
    • Canary in the Coal Mine
    • Safer Sex and the Polyamorous Lesbian
    • Models of Open Relationships
    • The Flexible House: A Fairy Tale
    • Index
    • Reference Notes Included

    Biography

    Authored by Munson, Marcia; Stelboum, Judith