In my experience, the polyamorous community generally includes more women than men, and the women are frequently higher status. Most books on polyamory have been written by women, and they’re much more involved in high-level activism than women usually are in other communities; this seems to support your hypothesis.
Most books on polyamory have been written by women
That would depend on whether you include the PUA literature, which uses the term “MLTR” (Multiple Long-Term Relationships) to describe more or less the same concept.
Of course, this still might be relevant to the “high-status men might gain most” hypothesis, since the concept of “MLTR” might be a higher status indicator (because it emphasizes the man’s choice to have multiple partners) than an interest in “polyamory” (which emphasizes the options of both partners).
While I’m not terribly familiar with the PUA literature, based on your description I would say that most definitions of polyamory exclude it. There’s a great deal of scorn in the poly community for relationships with a “one-penis policy,” as well as a general emphasis on egalitarianism.
While I’m not terribly familiar with the PUA literature, based on your description I would say that most definitions of polyamory exclude it. There’s a great deal of scorn in the poly community for relationships with a “one-penis policy,” as well as a general emphasis on egalitarianism.
Actually, PUA discussions of MLTR (at least the few I’ve seen) seem to completely ignore the question of whether the women involved have other partners or not, although I suppose that is not strong evidence in either direction.
Perhaps the authors assume that “of course” exclusives are the default (and thus don’t mention it), or perhaps they assume that “of course” things should be egalitarian by default (and thus don’t mention it).
(And of course, there may be discussions I haven’t seen, since my limited study of the PUA field is focused mainly on personal development and in-relationship applications, and limited to free materials almost exclusively.)
In my experience, the polyamorous community generally includes more women than men, and the women are frequently higher status. Most books on polyamory have been written by women, and they’re much more involved in high-level activism than women usually are in other communities; this seems to support your hypothesis.
That would depend on whether you include the PUA literature, which uses the term “MLTR” (Multiple Long-Term Relationships) to describe more or less the same concept.
Of course, this still might be relevant to the “high-status men might gain most” hypothesis, since the concept of “MLTR” might be a higher status indicator (because it emphasizes the man’s choice to have multiple partners) than an interest in “polyamory” (which emphasizes the options of both partners).
While I’m not terribly familiar with the PUA literature, based on your description I would say that most definitions of polyamory exclude it. There’s a great deal of scorn in the poly community for relationships with a “one-penis policy,” as well as a general emphasis on egalitarianism.
Actually, PUA discussions of MLTR (at least the few I’ve seen) seem to completely ignore the question of whether the women involved have other partners or not, although I suppose that is not strong evidence in either direction.
Perhaps the authors assume that “of course” exclusives are the default (and thus don’t mention it), or perhaps they assume that “of course” things should be egalitarian by default (and thus don’t mention it).
(And of course, there may be discussions I haven’t seen, since my limited study of the PUA field is focused mainly on personal development and in-relationship applications, and limited to free materials almost exclusively.)