“Why are you even talking about politics? Stick to the polyamory!”
Sorry to break it to you, but politics is all about relationships.
Politics can be generally summed up in two questions:
Who gets what resources?
Who gets to decide who gets what?
By its very nature, politics is all about relationships between people (individuals and groups)
Relationships do not exist in a vacuum. They are all impacted by social pressures, laws, and policies.
CONFORMING TO THE NORM
Many have the privilege to not have to think about the political ramifications and contexts of their relationships because they fit well enough under systematically defined and enforced norms.
Examples of norms:
Heteronormativity: a legitimate relationship is between a man and
a woman
Amatanormativity: romantic love is more legitimate than all other types of love
Mononormativity: a legitimate romantic relationship structure is made up of no more than two people
STATUS QUO OR BUST
While fitting into these categories is not automatically regressive - not all human connection has to be a radical statement - there are many people and relationship structures who are not afforded the comfortable shade of the status quo.
And they have no real choice but to be seen as radical, unconventional, and less deserving of resources for merely existing as who they are.
IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS
To separate non-monogamy from its political contexts is to turn relationships into a project of the individual rather than of the collective.
It ignores patterns and root issues that connect us all, specifically keeping the most marginalized pinned under an inequitable status quo that ultimately serves and gives power to a minority of people, holding us back from fostering autonomy, more robust networks of support, and liberation for all.
Relationship questions that are political questions:
Who do we desire?
Who are we desired by?
Who is seen as a fully autonomous person?
Who is seen as an object?
Whose voices and needs get heard?
Whose needs are prioritized and are actually met?
Who gets to participate?
What barriers exist?
Who is more likely to be harmed?
Who gets to live?
THRIVING VS. SURVIVING
Even for those who can function within the current relationship norms, how well are these rules actually serving you and those you love?
And how much of yourself have you had to conceal or shave off in order to survive?
