RELATIONSHIPS | MONOGAMY
Why Monogamy Is Still the Gold Standard
Times are changing, and with these changes come all the different ways love and relationships can evolve.
In fact, there’s one modern take on an old practice that has seen its fair share of controversy, and it has to do with challenging the concept of monogamy.
You’ve got all sorts of terms for it, too: “swinging”, “polyamory”, even the wordy but rather descriptive “ethical non-monogamy”. All these labels point to the same thing, and that’s a setup where partners aren’t exclusive with each other, and where every once in a while, they can take other lovers inside or outside their relationship.
But for all the excitement that kind of arrangement brings, it’s important to remember that there’s still a lot of great things that a committed, single-partner dynamic can bring to the table.
After all, there’s got to be a basis why the search for “one true love” has stood the test of time, right?
It’s practical.
One of the reasons for people no longer wanting monogamy is that open relationships can apparently be more useful for those who just aren’t interested in traditional partnerships.
They can explore their sexuality, avoid breaking a lover’s trust by cheating, and enjoy thrilling hookups while still being in a committed relationship.
However, what some tend to forget is that monogamy is, in fact, a lot easier to approach and maintain. It’s the baseline, the template upon which other types of relationships refer to.
If you’re a busy person, it’s more convenient to have a single lover — only one person to communicate with, one set of likes and dislikes to recall, and just one person to be mad at you if you mess something up.
Having multiple arrangements with different people can sound fun, but it can be very tiresome when you start mixing up when or which one is for whom.
It’s stable.
At the end of the day, monogamy still has the higher chance of providing couples and individuals with stability and security.
Not only is there less risk of emotional turmoil and uncertainties over the knowledge that your partner is entertaining other people, there’s also a lot of benefits that can come from trusting yourself and someone you love that you’re both committed to each other and to your relationship.
In a monogamous partnership, it’s also easier to build a promising future — where both sides can confidently invest in shared dreams and long-term goals.
It’s fulfilling.
For classic romantics, there’s just something very special about being a person’s one and only.
No matter how many cynics would argue against it, there’s still a place for old-school love even in modern relationships. There’s no reason to fix what isn’t broken, remember?
Couples are able to forge deeper emotional connections because of the time and devotion afforded to them by being exclusive with each other. There’s only so many hours in a day, after all, and by having just one lover at a time, you’re much more able to organically create strong foundations for trust and loyalty.
While monogamy has the risk of putting all your eggs in a single basket — that is, all the love you’ve invested going away if your partner decides to end things — it’s a risk worth taking. Yes, you need to be much more responsible and dedicated than in an open or casual arrangement, but that’s just par for the course.
Isn’t that what everybody keeps telling you when you’re trying to weigh the odds, that “anything with having is worth working for”?
