Polyamory, Monogamy, and American Dreams

Polyamory, Monogamy, and American Dreams
Author: Mimi Schippers
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2019-10-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351717111

This book introduces "the poly gaze" as a cultural tool to examine how representations of polyamory and poly lives reflect or challenge cultural hegemonies of race, class, gender, and nation. What role does monogamy play in American Identity, the American dream, and U.S. exceptionalism? How do the stories we tell about intimate relationships do cultural and ideological work to maintain and legitimize social inequalities along the lines of race, ethnicity, nation, religion, class, gender and sexuality? How might the introduction of polyamory or consensually non-monogamous relationships in the stories we tell about intimacy confound, disrupt or shift the meaning of what constitutes a good, American life? These are the questions that Mimi Schippers focuses on in this original and engaging study. As she develops the poly gaze, Schippers argues for a sociologically informed and cultivated lens with which anyone, regardless of their experiences with polyamory or consensual non-monogamy, can read culture, media images, and texts against hegemony. This will be a key text for researchers and students in Gender Studies, Queer Studies, Cultural Studies, Critical Race Studies, Media Studies, American Studies and Sociology. This book is accessible and indispensable reading for undergraduate student and postgraduates wanting to gain greater understanding of debates around the key concept of heteronormativity.

Beyond Monogamy

Beyond Monogamy
Author: Mimi Schippers
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2016-08-16
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1479801593

Through an investigation of sexual interactions and relationship forms that include more than two people, from polyamory, to threesomes, to the complexity of the "down-low" Schippers explores the queer, feminist, and anti-racist potential of multipartnered sex and relationships

Love and Freedom

Love and Freedom
Author: Jorge N. Ferrer
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2021-06-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 153815658X

In Love and Freedom, Jorge Ferrer proposes a paradigm shift in how romantic relationships are conceptualized, a step forward in the evolution of modern relationships. In the same way that the transgender movement surmounted the gender binary, Ferrer defines how a parallel step can—and should—be taken with the relational style binary. This book offers the first systematic discussion of relationship modes beyond monogamy and polyamory, as well as introduces the notion of “relational freedom” as the capability to choose one’s relational style free from biological, psychological, and sociocultural conditionings. To achieve these goals, Ferrer first discusses a number of critical categories—specifically, monopride/polyphobia, and polypride/monophobia—that mediate the contemporary “mono–poly wars,” that is, the predicament of mutual competition among monogamists and polyamorists. The ideological nature of these “mono–poly wars” is demonstrated through a review of available empirical literature on the psychological health and relationship quality of monogamous and polyamorous individuals and couples. Then, after showing how monogamy and polyamory ultimately reinforce each other, Ferrer articulates three relational pathways to living in-between, through, and beyond the mono/poly binary: fluidity, hybridity, and transcendence. Moving beyond that binary opens a fuzzy, liminal, and multivocal relational space that Ferrer calls novogamy. In this groundbreaking book, readers will learn practical tools to not only transform jealousy, but also enhance their relational freedom while being aware of key issues of diversity and social justice. They will also learn novel criteria to evaluate the success of their intimate relationships, and be introduced to a transformed vision of romantic love beyond both monocentrism and emerging polynormativities.

Contemporary Voices on Individuation

Contemporary Voices on Individuation
Author: Giorgio Tricarico
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2024-11-28
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1040225950

This new collection of essays by a range of Jungian analysts and scholars seeks to address the concept of individuation in contemporary times, and reflects on its meaning within the 21st century. The concept of individuation is at the core of Analytical Psychology, and can be considered the main legacy of C.G. Jung’s body of work. And yet, in the collective culture, Jung seems to be mostly associated with the concepts of archetypes, collective unconscious and psychological types. Opening with a compelling conversation on the topic with Professor Sonu Shamdasani, the authors within this volume will delve into the concept of individuation and explore it in conjunction with clinical processes, synchronicities, the geopolitics of psychology and decolonial reciprocity, traditional healers and the Grail Legend, homosexuality and identity politics, polyamory and co-individuation, and with temporality and mortality. Featuring a wide range of perspectives from an international cast of authors, this volume will be of great interest to Jungian analysts, students and scholars interested in depth psychology and Jungian theory and anyone wanting to learn more about individuation.

Hell Yeah Self-Care!

Hell Yeah Self-Care!
Author: Meg-John Barker
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2021-01-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1787752461

Take a moment to pause... Breathe... And ask yourself, what does self-care mean to you? Times are very tough-in a world that pushes us to go faster, be the best, and get ahead of others, we often forget to focus on ourselves, leaving us with anxiety, anger, burnout, stress, and trauma. In this creative workbook and journal leading mental health pioneers, Alex Iantaffi and Meg-John Barker, provide you with the tools to begin your self-care journey and develop sustainable self-care routines and rituals that work for you. Featuring a diverse range of experiential exercises, activities, and opportunities for reflection, while drawing upon a range of practices and approaches including systemic and existential therapies, Buddhist mindfulness, Pagan ritual, trauma-informed practice, intersectional feminism and more. This book explores self-care in all its forms and covers somatic self-care, plural selves, emotions and feelings, relationships, and care for others. Empowering, illuminating and written with authenticity and honesty throughout-this is a manual for everyone and will help you look after yourself on your path towards happiness and wellbeing.

The Ethical Slut

The Ethical Slut
Author: Dossie Easton
Publisher: Greenery Press (CA)
Total Pages: 334
Release: 1997
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities Beyond the often unrealistic ideal of lifetime monogamy lies an uncharted jungle of delightful options - everything from committed multi-partner relationships to friendly sex, casual sex, group sex, and more. In this groundbreaking volume, Bottoming Book' and 'Topping Book' authors provide a road map for exploring this sometimes difficult, often rewarding territory. Warm, informative detials about how to get your needs met, manage your jealousy, make agreements that...'

Polyamorous

Polyamorous
Author: Jenny Yuen
Publisher: Dundurn
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2018-11-17
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1459740424

A look at how people are giving themselves a choice to love another way. More people than ever are exploring the possibility of opening up their relationships — and not only that, they are fighting for their legal rights to love however and whomever they choose. In Polyamorous, reporter Jenny Yuen digs into how polyamory affects underrepresented communities, why these unions are becoming more normalized, and how relationships with multiple partners can be a practical alternative to monogamy and an intriguing expedition through uncharted emotional territory. Pairing off is no longer the default option for many. For some, polyamory is just a part of who they are.

Undoing Monogamy

Undoing Monogamy
Author: Angela Willey
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2016-04-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0822374218

In Undoing Monogamy Angela Willey offers a radically interdisciplinary exploration of the concept of monogamy in U.S. science and culture, propelled by queer feminist desires for new modes of conceptualization and new forms of belonging. She approaches the politics and materiality of monogamy as intertwined with one another such that disciplinary ways of knowing themselves become an object of critical inquiry. Refusing to answer the naturalization of monogamy with a naturalization of nonmonogamy, Willey demands a critical reorientation toward the monogamy question in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The book examines colonial sexual science, monogamous voles, polyamory, and the work of Alison Bechdel and Audre Lorde to show how challenging the lens through which human nature is seen as monogamous or nonmonogamous forces us to reconsider our investments in coupling and in disciplinary notions of biological bodies.

Building Open Relationships

Building Open Relationships
Author: Liz Powell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2018-07-03
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692151594

Have you read "that book" on non-monogamy and still wondered "But how do you actually DO this?" Are you totally great on the theory of open relationships, but feel like you don't know how it works in practice? Join Dr. Liz Powell, psychologist, speaker, and coach, as she draws from her education, research, and life experience to bring you Building Open Relationships. This new book is an all-inclusive guide to beginning and maintaining your non-monogamous life, no matter where you fall under the non-monogamous umbrella. Complete with worksheets, discussion starters, examples, and hard-won lessons (i.e. my mistakes), this book will give you all the tools you need to be more successful in non-monogamy.

Beyond Monogamy

Beyond Monogamy
Author: Mimi Schippers
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2016-08-16
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 147988622X

Through an investigation of sexual interactions and relationship forms that include more than two people, from polyamory, to threesomes, to the complexity of the "down-low" Schippers explores the queer, feminist, and anti-racist potential of multipartnered sex and relationships