"How Many's a Crowd?"

The Diamondback
(University of Maryland)

A student newspaper features polyamory on campus with a big graphic on the top of its front page today:

By KRISTI TOUSIGNANT
March 26, 2008

...A growing relationship type among university students, polyamory is the practice of intimately and openly dating several people at once. Different from an open relationship, polyamory is not just about sex, nor is it about playing the field, say students involved in the practice. Instead, it’s about caring for several people at the same time — just in different ways.

“We are just trying to be open and honest about our ability to love more than one person at a time,” Marly Davidson, an event organizer for the Chesapeake Polyamory Network, said.

...“I’m so busy,” Rock said. “I kind of feel bad not giving the person enough attention as they deserve. In polyamory, it’s easier for the person to get the attention they need when I can’t provide it.”

...“I pretty much can do what I’m used to doing,” Moser said. “If I meet someone, I don’t have to be like ‘Oh my God, will my boyfriend not like me talking to this guy?’ I am able to not have to worry about the jealousy factor.”

Read the whole article. It was followed in a few days by this letter to the editor:

...What truly baffled me was that some of the statements made in the article do not promote polyamory, but instead take a critical stab at those of us who find a monogamous relationship completely satisfying.

Marly Davidson, an event organizer for a local polyamory network, is quoted as saying, "The whole idea of one person meeting all of their needs for the rest of their lives is very silly. It's not realistic." I personally found this assumption to be very silly and unrealistic, as it ultimately considers all people in a monogamous relationship to be secretly unhappy or in denial of their unfulfilled needs....