Partnerships

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 4 argues that polyamory emerged as a coherent set of ideas in the 1990s, as Nearing and Anapol united their efforts and established Loving More Magazine. During that time, their coalition expanded to included bisexual activists and liberal Christians. This chapter traces how its advocates framed polyamory as a superior system of sexual ethics, better suited to the emotional and financial perils of modern society than the traditional nuclear family. To do this, their polyamorous coalition embraced an array of alternative spiritualities, from New Age and neo-Pagan religion to liberal Christianity. They also prohibited casual sex. Despite attempts to garner respectability, polyamorists were castigated on television talk shows as out of touch spiritualists and sexual libertines from the bygone era of the 1960s. Furthermore, polyamory’s rejection of casual sex stoked internal dissention as some factions functioned as moral police and others struggled for greater freedom.