We all know that non-polys have misconceptions about polys. When I came out to my Unitarian Universalist congregation ten years ago, one of the reactions I got was: “Polyamory is obviously just a code word for Promiscuity.”
Even non-polys who know polys still sometimes assert that polyamory is “just about sex.” There is a sense among many non-polys that polyamorists are simply folks who engage in a lot of casual sex.
Then there’s the confusion of polyamory with other types of non-monogamy. For example, the idea that polyamory is the same thing as swinging. Or that, when we talk about polyamory, we are talking about Mormon-style polygamy.
Then the idea that polyamory is something that mostly interests men; that it is a practice of men who exploit women. Actually, we usually have more women at our meetings.
There are other misconceptions that I could guess people might have.
The idea that polys aren’t interested in long term relationships; that they aren’t interested in commited relationships. The idea that they are obsessed with sex. The idea that they aren’t interested in starting families, raising children, etc.
The idea that polys are not religious. The idea that polys are never Christians.
Does the Bible mandate monogamy? This is an interesting question. Many current fundamentalists talk about Biblical families. They certain don’t mean the families we read about in the Torah…do they?
There are many “misconceptions” we might talk about. Join us on the 19th if you can. This will be our last meeting of the year (we always skip December for “the holidays”.
Then we’ll be back in January (on the 21st?) – “somewhere”.
Thanks to the Lucks for hosting us these many years! Let’s find a nice new location for 2006 (it can be several locations, if we care to “rotate”). Let me know if you are interested in hosting one or several of our 2006 meetings.