puella -> RE: Maybe not so simple a question...... (4/17/2006 1:53:05 PM)
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Let me preface my post by saying... I am by no means an expert on Poly. I would never have sought out a Poly relationship, but did end up in one. Again I will go back to my mantra that what labels are given are probably of little importance as compared to what happens in the way your life is lived out, who you actually are, and who you feel you most honestly are. In my situation, there were no 'titles'. But I believe there will always be some sort of hierarchy. It is impossible to avoid. For instance... who does he have history with, perhaps a very long history?.. Never discount the importance of that. Who do the people who know him outside of the relationship, oftentimes very important people, IE family, friends, people in the work place, etc view as his partner, and why? (Even if the Poly is an acknowledged one, there is usually one who will be, in one form or another, the legitimate partner and the other who is... the other girl, the added girl, and the implications of that can be quite harmful to some.) What if one of the 'servile women' is really legally his partner, being a joint owner of the home, or lease signer, joint owner of the car, sharing the bank account, etc... Those might seem like trivial things.. but what if the women do not get along terribly well ( I am not saying hissing cat fits, it doesn't even have to be that dramatic to be a huge problem)? When one can legitimately say... this is my house, this is my car, this is my money, this is my family.... what does that leave the other but a sort of secondary and much lesser (and much more vulnerable) creature. I know I failed the most important person in my life by not being able to deal with these circumstances. The fact that there were no labels as to alpha and beta made no difference what so ever. Sometimes, the labels do not come in the form of a title, I suppose. Again, I really can not provide any definitive answers, especially as an acknowledged failure. I suppose I can only provide caution and an example of what not to do or become. Poly, in my opinion, is a very tricky sort of relationship to handle, especially with emotions that run so very very deep. Good luck in navigating it.
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