I've seen the same thing. It's particularly harsh because the culture pathologizes ordinary human responses (anxiety, jealousy, loneliness) as if they're deviant. This seems to drive underground the kind of useful conflict - in which issues get addressed and incremental improvements made - that are standard operating procedure for high functioning monogamous relationships. I'm sure some people can do polyamory well, but it's not for many, and certainly not for most.
In my experience being poly, anxiety and jealousy aren't treated as deviant, they're treated as natural feelings to be communicated about and validated.
I'm glad to hear it. My exposure is pretty limited, so the handful of people I know who are tackling polyamory may not be all that representative. Come to think of it, that's at least part of the point Scott is making above.
I've seen the same thing. It's particularly harsh because the culture pathologizes ordinary human responses (anxiety, jealousy, loneliness) as if they're deviant. This seems to drive underground the kind of useful conflict - in which issues get addressed and incremental improvements made - that are standard operating procedure for high functioning monogamous relationships. I'm sure some people can do polyamory well, but it's not for many, and certainly not for most.
In my experience being poly, anxiety and jealousy aren't treated as deviant, they're treated as natural feelings to be communicated about and validated.
I'm glad to hear it. My exposure is pretty limited, so the handful of people I know who are tackling polyamory may not be all that representative. Come to think of it, that's at least part of the point Scott is making above.
Exactly