RedFem

Episode 59: Polyamory Is Not Real


Listen Later

This episode discusses polyamory and makes the claim it is ultimately not a real relationship formation by any measure, representing instead a lack of boundaries and disorganised attachment styles, subsequently making it a performance attractive to sexual losers i.e those considered to be 'low-value' within the sexual marketplace. We begin with the early radical feminist critique of monogamy and marriage, before turning to the present day to consider how it is chiefly the absence of sexual ethics on the Left that created a vacuum to be filled by the dominant ideology i.e neoliberalism. This can be seen in how those claiming to by polyamorous treat their sexual partners as consumer products, exchangeable commodities, or purely use-value objects. 

Existing as a kind of accelerationist infantile utopianism, there's a pretence in the performance of polyamory that the bedroom can somehow by free of ideological chains (it cannot) and that the psychosocial world we are constituted by somehow evaporates in the hallway of our homes. Infantile leftists believe polyamorous arrangements to be 'revolutionary' simply because it differs from trad marriage and the nuclear family (the unit that emerged through the development of capitalism). Polyamory, if it were real, would, like polygamy, be the relationship scenario that is the least equal, least likely to engender trust among participants, and be far less mutual than traditional monogamous marriage. We share some anecdotes of polyamory from our own leftwing circles that demonstrate the attempt to do polyamorous arrangements tends to end quickly and badly, often in violence or humiliation (typically of a woman).

We conclude that pretending to be polyamorous is about signalling to anyone and everyone that you are sexually available and desperate for sexual validation, whilst also not being up to the adult task of commitment and all of the responsibility and limitations on freedom that entails. That reality, of not being emotionally mature enough to find and maintain a committed relationship is offered an illustrious cover story by claiming to be doing polyamory, as if existing on a more sophisticated or higher sexual plane, when in actuality it means not being able to manage commitment, or find it from someone worth investing in.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

RedFemBy Hannah & Jen

  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1

4.1

108 ratings


More shows like RedFem

View all
The spiked podcast by The spiked podcast

The spiked podcast

204 Listeners

TRIGGERnometry by TRIGGERnometry

TRIGGERnometry

2,275 Listeners

The Brendan O'Neill Show by The Brendan O'Neill Show

The Brendan O'Neill Show

374 Listeners

Quillette Podcast by Quillette

Quillette Podcast

796 Listeners

Poetry Unbound by On Being Studios

Poetry Unbound

3,618 Listeners

Blocked and Reported by Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal

Blocked and Reported

3,833 Listeners

heretics. by Andrew Gold

heretics.

637 Listeners

The Unspeakeasy With Meghan Daum by Meghan Daum

The Unspeakeasy With Meghan Daum

805 Listeners

UnHerd with Freddie Sayers by UnHerd

UnHerd with Freddie Sayers

221 Listeners

Heterodorx by Corinna Cohn

Heterodorx

239 Listeners

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry by Louise Perry

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry

292 Listeners

The Rest Is Entertainment by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Entertainment

907 Listeners

The Lesbian Project Podcast by The Lesbian Project Podcast

The Lesbian Project Podcast

55 Listeners

Beyond Gender by Stella O'Malley, Mia Hughes, Bret Alderman

Beyond Gender

58 Listeners

This Isn’t Working by Tanya de Grunwald

This Isn’t Working

4 Listeners