ZAPoly Discussion Topic : Relationship Agreements
Being able to figure out what works
for you and then doing it is one of the beauties of polyamory. You
don't have to accept society's norms and traditions, you negotiate your
own. You do what makes everyone involved most happy.
This is where rules come in. Rules are relationship agreements you and
your partners work out amongst yourselves.
The
idea behind relationship agreements in a polyamorous context is that we
are rejecting the dominant relationship paradigm and all its implicit
assumptions about how relationships are supposed to work. We are
finding out for ourselves what works and what doesn't work, in an
ethical and consensual way. Since we throw out the default rulebook, we
get to negotiate our own - individual to each relationship we forge. It
is often a process of trial and error, and not all rules work. Some are
good, some are bad.
We don't _have_ to start out in the
wilderness, though. Poly people have been communicating and figuring
out best practises about relationship rules since, well, there have
been poly people.
As time goes by with a particular partner you
might find you need fewer rules - depending on how compatible your
communication styles are, and how well your goals and opinions mesh,
but when you're first venturing into new territory, having rules can
make people feel safer.
"When
I’m dating someone new, even if we don’t come up with a lot of hard and
fast rules, the process of talking things over helps me a lot. I’ve
found that drawing up relationship agreements is less helpful for the
rules themselves but because it helps me make sure we’ve covered pretty
much what I want to know going into something new. And that increases
the chances that we have a shared understanding of roughly how we want
our relationship to unfold.” --Page Turner
Some Bad Poly Rules
1. Don't ask. Don't tell.
Have you ever met people who have successfully used "don't ask. don't
tell"?
Laura: nope
Laura:
I've heard of people using it, but it has always ended in 2 ways, as
far as I know, the relationship ends, or the poly ends, and the
relationship is damaged.
2. Don't fall in love.
3. Package deals. To date me you have to date my partner. To have sex
with me you have to have sex with my partner.
4. Your feelings may go up to this line on the measuring cup, then you
have to stop.
Guidelines on making good rules
Concentrate on the "why" behind the rules when you set them up.
It
could be that instead of, or in addition to, the rule, the why (e.g. ,
because I'm afraid you'll leave me.... , because I want to be
in
control of everyone and everything etc) might need addressing.
Some of those needs could use further intervention besides the making
of rules.
Never make rules that are impossible to follow. Never AGREE to a rule
like that, either.
Sometimes
people agree to anything because they are all revved up for poly or for
a particular partner, but poly is NOT a case where it is better to get
forgiveness than permission.
Don't try to legislate emotion - legislate behavior instead.
Don't make a rule that the rules can't change. People change.
Boundaries shift. Comfort levels rise.
Its is a good idea to build in some rules about renegotiation and
relationship maintenance.
Rules
should be simple and easy. If you are arguing about
a lot
of details, then often it's doomed to failure. Adhere to the spirit of
the rule in addition to the letter of the rule.
Some people do
rules/agreements verbally. Other people have terrible memories and need
something written down to jar their memory. Some people make an
occasion of re-reading their rules together periodically.
Treat people with respect and compassion.
Rules
about what people can't do are usually better than what people must do,
especially when the people specified are not the ones originally
involved in making the rule.
Don't forget to have very specific relationship agreements
about safer sex.
------------------------------------------------
Tacit's thoughts on relationship agreements (from the forums
at http://www.polymatchmaker.com)
Tuesday October 31, 2006 11:39:02 AM EDT
In my experience, the thing that is most important in any relationship
arrangement, rule-based or not, is not the specific agreements
themselves, but the reason behind those agreements.
There are
many different ways to put together a polyamorous relationship and many
different approaches to rules and agreements. However, in my
experience, the relationships that succeed have certain things in
common, and one of the biggest things they have in common is the
recognition that rules and agreements can not stop jealousy or
insecurity and can not make bad feelings go away.
I think that
many people, especially people new to polyamory, often make
relationship agreements for the wrong reasons, and are then taken by
surprise when the relationships don't work. In order to succeed, any
rule or agreement has to have two basic things: first, it must
accomplish the task it is intended to accomplish, and second, it must
have a clear path to success.
Rules that work
Some
examples of rules that do generally work well and that are positive ad
healthy are rules designed for a specific purpose, particularly a
purpose with practical, quantifiable, real-world effects. For example:
-
Rules about safe sex, sexual health, and sexually transmitted disease.
These are always a good idea in any relationship that is not sexually
monogamous. Unfortunately, many people seem to feel that as long as
they use condoms, it's all good--no need to worry about anything.
Condoms are a good idea, but they are not enough; for example, condoms
provide poor protection against HPV and herpes.
- Rules designed
to protect personal tangible property and financial matters. For
example, rules which say that all the people who live in a particular
house must contribute to the upkeep and maintenance of the house are
effective at preventing people from feeling taken advantage of. (This
does not necessarily mean everyone pays an equal share of the mortgage
or anything like that; not everyone has the same economic means, and in
any event there are ways to contribute other than by taking out a
checkbook.)
- Rules designed to protect people from legal
liability, or to protect the health and safety of the people involved.
For example, "no illegal drug use in the house," "no selling guns from
the house." Careful selection of partners will do a lot to take care of
these concerns and make these rules unnecessary, in my experience.
Rules that do not work
Often,
many people feel that they can make jealousy or insecurity go away by
passing rules designed to manipulate their partners' behavior around
their own insecurities. The problem is that there is a difference
between the trigger of an insecurity and the real CAUSE of the
insecurity; rules can address triggers but can never solve the root
cause. And establishing rules around insecurity merely makes the
insecurity stronger, and establishes a precedent that the way to deal
with insecurity isn't to do the hard and uncomfortable work to
understand it, but rather just to patch around it. For example:
-
"No having sex with the other person when I am not there." Most often,
this rule (a very common one among newcomers, by the way) is rooted in
fear of abandonment, fear of being replaced, or fear of losing a
partner's affection. Rules will not make these fears go away. Only
careful self-analysis, systematic effort to understand the fear, and
deliberate restructuring of one's life to make this fear go away will
do that. Passing a rule merely sweeps the fear under the carpet, where
it grows and festers into an open sore.
- "We always date
together as a couple, and anyone involved with one of us must love us
both 'equally.'" This is a rule you'll see right here in this Web site
often. It's rooted in the naive belief that if your partner dates the
same person you date, then you will not feel jealous, because your
partner is not getting anything you're not. I've seen quite a number of
people who genuinely believe this, and are genuinely astonished when
they find that Hot Bi Babe and are jealous nonetheless.Jealousy is not
rational; it is rooted in insecurity, fear of loss, and similar
emotions. Dating as a couple will not make an insecure person into a
secure person. Dating as a couple will not make someone who is afraid
into someone who is confident.
Alan from Poly in the Media's "six sound agreements":
http://polyinthemedia.blogspot.com/2007/11/poly-rules-couples-use.html
• Communicate everything all around that might be important to the
relationship.
• If you're afraid to say it, that means you should say it (tip o' the
hat to Marcia Baczynski).
• Listening is to be done in a respectful way that encourages further
divulging.
• Any agreement that is in effect is not to be broken, period.
•
Any agreement can be opened for rediscussion at any time. (And the
agreements should be reviewed periodically — at the start of every
even-numbered month? — regardless.)
• Anyone may end an agreement unilaterally by leaving the relationship.
(This is simple reality, but good to spotlight upfront.)
• Take notes — and save them where all parties can find and reread them
in a pinch.
Some useful URL's:
-- South African Polyamory http://www.polyamory.co.za
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