Polyamory According to DeVore

I have a weird/frustrated/intriguing relationship with John DeVore’s “Mind of Man” column at The Frisky. Usually I just smack my forehead in annoyance and don’t finish the article. But his polyamory piece was unusually, well, honest. And his respect for polyamorists takes a lot of guts to write:

Here’s the truth: I actually have a lot of respect for polyamorists. They’re like sexual astronauts exploring the outer reaches of human intimacy. Polyamory directly confronts the great scourges of committed, contemporary relationships. The 800-pound gorilla being jealousy, which, I’ll remind you, is a vice for a reason. Jealousy inspires nothing positive; it’s a rot divorced from reason. A rapacious parasite. Jealousy is Othello worked into a murderous rage because of rumors and hearsay. Love is not possession. It does not seek to strangle or suffocate. Love lets it be. And then it’s up to he or she who has chosen to love to decide whether his or her heart can take it or not. Polyamory also addresses The Itch, that craving for fresh flesh, the thrill of the fox hunt. The solution offered is deceptively simple: out of sight, out of mind. If you’re happy, I’m happy, maybe don’t brag about it. This seems to fly in the face of human nature, but maybe human nature is overrated. After all, it’s responsible for warfare.

The rest of the piece is fun, but this little chunk was my favorite.