Non-monogamous leanings in Kanye West lyrics

As polyamory becomes an increasingly more mainstream topic, I thought this article in The Atlantic was interesting: Two Views of Monogamy From Kanye West and Jay-Z on 'Watch the Throne'. The article is mostly a close examination of lyrical content; the writer eventually concludes that Jay-Z is more concerned with monogamy, while Kanye West is in favor of non-monogamy.

Some of the most interesting tidbits about Kanye West are excerpted below.

The only vision of domestic bliss we get is decidedly non-traditional: "I'm a freak, huh, rock star life / The second girl with us, that's our wife."

. . . To an ever-increasing extent, [Kanye West’s] rap fixates on the idea of sanctioned polyamory, in which sleeping around jibes with having a committed relationship . . . He's trying to establish a new order, to evangelize for Dan Savage-ordained good-giving-gameness between lovers -- an acceptance of kink that the outside world condemns. For Kanye, as for a lot of guys, that kink is having multiple partners. "Hell of a Life," off 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was about this; on it, he fantasized about being married to a permissive porn star who'd let him get with whomever he'd like.

. . . In Watch the Throne’s opening number "No Church in the Wild" -- a song about having the ability to write one's own rules -- he rhapsodizes about a new religion: "No sins as long as there's permission' / And deception is the only felony / So never fuck nobody without tellin' me." A few lines later, his mind drifts to a dream girl marked by two tattoos: "One read 'No Apologies' / The other said 'Love is Cursed by Monogamy.'"

Read the rest on The Atlantic.

Mockumentary web series questions monogamy

A newly-launched mockumentary web series called The Monogamy Experiment is offering a fun, off-the-cuff look at open relationships. The series is about a young couple who decide to dabble in non-monogamy for 30 days.

The series is written, co-produced, and directed by actress Amy Rider (known for her role in The Secret Life of the American Teenager). Various members of the cast are known for their roles on CharmedThe Big Bang Theory, and Heroes.

More info about the series:

The Monogamy Experiment combines the genres of documentary and romantic comedy into a naturalistic mockumentary. A "too-young-to-get-married-yet" 20-something experiments on herself and her boyfriend to find the truth about whether we are truly monogamous or not before they head to the altar. The world of The Monogamy Experiment has a light but grounded tone, while everything about the acting indicates this is nothing less then a true documentary, comedic situations abound.

The Monogamy Experiment is about the human condition -- whether or not we can be pegged into the hole of being the type of animals who are biologically monogamous or not... or whether human emotions blur any ability to peg us into any category at all.

Here's the first episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pPmatPfpy4

Episodes two and three can be found on YouTube, with more to come. The Monogamy Experiment can also be followed on Twitter and Facebook.

Margaret Cho on her open marriage

Comedian/actress Margaret Cho was a guest on CBS afternoon show "The Talk" this week. At one point, she was asked about her open marriage.

Cho says,

I think honesty is really important. And I plan to be married forever. I love my husband, and I feel that we have to be honest, and I think that, to me, monogamy is not an honest choice for myself. It is for some people, but not for me.

Poly Weekly podcast examines Charlie Sheen and reality TV

A recent episode of the Poly Weekly podcast tackled the theme of poly in the media. With all the hullabuloo about Charlie Sheen lately, along with the premiere of season two of Sister Wives, I found this topic very timely.

The podcast host, Cunning Minx, discusses whether the poly community should accept Charlie Sheen as one of their own, despite the fact that he is not "doing it terribly responsibly." She notes that in news reports surrounding Sheen's antics, the poly aspect of his life is sometimes "the smallest of his deviations from the standard," which could mean that polyamory is becoming more mainstream.

Cunning Minx also references this blog post about polyamory and Sheen, which has some advice for poly folks:

. . . we can set ourselves apart from this kind of thing [Charlie Sheen] by stressing at every opportunity the thoughtfulness, consideration, respect, communication, self-knowledge, and goodwill that are required to make polyamory work well. And by setting good examples.

The podcast also touches on the TLC reality show Sister Wives, which depicts one man and his four female partners.