Open relationships arise among college students

 

 

Is monogamy dead, and can it be saved? Should it be saved?

For countless centuries, human societies have practiced monogamy.

It has always been a social norm for most of the world, but in this Lady Gaga era, we are seeing more and more people who would much rather have an open relationship or just have casual sex.

My good friend, to whom we will refer to as “Monica”, said to me while discussing the idea of marriage and long-term relationships:

“Love is okay, but I do love sex.”

She then went on to make the point that more people of our age are realizing that there is a difference between love and sex, and sex can be a recreational activity.

We are not the first generation to have individuals who think in this way. The 1970’s were the years of the swingers; open marriages were not unheard of among 20-somethings. However, most swingers were married and went through many steps in order to keep their actions hidden.

A massive group of people in our generation does not plan to get married and are less concerned with what other people think of them.

The term “whore” has almost lost its insulting connotation. Not all of us have time for a committed relationship.

Sex takes one hour tops, and with some relationships, sex with that one person gets pretty boring. So, why not bring someone else into the relationship in order to save the relationship? This is the opinion of some college kids.

But how can we save monogamy? The opinion that I have is that you cannot save monogamy for someone else.

As much as the angry preachers who stand outside of the Student Center yelling hellfire out at us would like us to all wait until marriage for sex and then only have sex with the person we married with only the intent to have offspring, in the end, there is only one person who can choose for you.

I am not in defense or in opposition to monogamy. I myself only have sex with people with whom I am in a long-term relationship.

For everyone else, I give these words, “be good, or be good at it, and always be safe and use a condom.”