Is Monogamy a More Sustainable Relationship Style than Polyamory Research Paper

Is Monogamy a More Sustainable Relationship Style than Polyamory - Research Paper Example However, the circumstances are rapidly changing and the institution of marriage has been brought into great disrepute by the rising number of divorces worldwide. This has raised the question of whether monogamy is still relevant in the modern times or people should instead embrace the various forms of non-monogamous relationship styles such as polyamory (Barker, 2005). On this backdrop, this paper seeks to determine whether monogamy is a more sustainable relationship style than polyamory. The paper proposes and roots for polyamory and more specifically egalitarian polyamory as the most sustainable relationship style in the prevailing circumstances. Monogamy is the relationship style where a person has one spouse. For so long, monogamy has been upheld by the Western culture as the ideal and the right relationship style (Gourdreau, 2012). Strassberg (2003) asserts that the most significant benefit of monogamy is fidelity. The partners in the relationship uphold sexual faithfulness. Sexual fidelity implies that neither spouse could get into a sexual interaction that potentially makes the other partner feel uncomfortable (Goudreau, 2012). The emphasis is thus on sexual, emotional and spiritual exclusivity with the spouse. Monogamy has, however, come under close scrutiny in the recent past due to the increased cases of divorce. It is estimated that around 53% of marriages in the US end up in divorce before the fifth year of marriage (Mitchell, Bartholomew and Cobb, 2014). According to Ashbee (2007), a significant percentage of these divorces are grounded on sexual infidelity. Furthermore, incidences of cheating scandals among celebrities, political and power elites have also increased remarkably. Monogamy has, thus, showed that it is less sustainable in contemporary times where people are demanding to get their needs satisfied be it by a single or multiple partners. Given the evident