Polyamory: ‘Infidelity Without Betrayal’?
Literature Review
26/7/2010
Sophie Clark
Introduction
From BBC Radio Four to The American Spectator, Polyamory – a word that was coined (arguably) a mere 20 years ago (Taormino, 2008, UK Polyamory, 2010) to describe a lifestyle that has been around for as long as humanity (Veaux, 2009) – has hit the news. Polyamory has been described as ‘infidelity without betrayal’ (Leith, 2006); a lifestyle that means the individual is ‘unable to give up one crucial relationship in the past’ (Leader, 2005); and something that should spark a ‘culture war’ (Mehan III, 2010). But who is right? Are any of these notions of polyamory correct?
