Let’s say you’re in a long-term marriage, one that’s pretty satisfying. You love your spouse, your spouse loves you, but you have a lot of things on your plate — work and kids and other things — and you’ve lost your sexual mojo. Would you tell your spouse, “Please have sex with someone else?” That’s […]
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I’ve long been a fan of the writings of Meg-John Barker, a psychology lecturer and sex and gender therapist whose book, Rewriting the Rules, is a must-read for those who question the romantic love script most of us tend to follow as if it’s the only path available to us. So I was not surprised […]
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Recently, an old Modern Love piece appeared in my social media feed. It was about consensual non-monogamy so of course I had to click on it. I suppose it was a popular piece, as most Modern Love essays are, but this one — “When an Open Relationship Comes at a Price” — irked me a […]
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You’re in a long-term happy, sexually active marriage and one day you discover that your spouse has been cheating on you — basically since Day 1. How do you feel? You’d probably feel heart-broken and devastated, which is how a man writing to author, LGBTQ activist and columnist Dan Savage signed off as in his latest […]
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Posted in Cohabitation, Coupledom, Divorce, Expectations, Love, Marriage, Men, Relationships, Singles, Stereotypes, Women on Jun 21st, 2016
The cover of a recent Time magazine declared, “How to stay married (and why).” As you probably know, I am not against marriage or for it either despite the fact that I co-wrote a book about marriage. OK, yes, my co-author and I did say in the book that we were for marriage, but — […]
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Posted in Caregiving, Children, Coupledom, Expectations, Family, Gender, Love, Marriage, Mothers, Relationships, Wife, Work on Jun 14th, 2016
A few years ago a woman wrote to me out of the blue. She had been reading this blog and saw me as a woman who “got” it. What did I get? The right for women invest in their own life and not put a husband’s needs and wants over hers. A successful business- woman […]
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Why do you date? If you’re like most people, it’s most likely because you’re hoping to never have to date again — which means you find someone special to settle down with and be a committed, loving couple and perhaps even wed. What other purpose would there be to going through all the time, energy […]
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Posted in Caregiving, Children, Consensual nonmonogamy, Expectations, Family, Love, Parenting, Relationships, Sex, Stereotypes on May 10th, 2016
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that same-sex couples could marry no matter which state they lived in, many believed it would open the door to polyamorous marriage — marriage among three or more people. “I don’t think it’s going to be as far in the future as people think,” a confident Robyn […]
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This week, there were two stories that addressed the “happily-ever-after” version of marriage many of us expect, or at least want to believe. Actress Drew Barrymore and her third husband, art consultant Will Kopelman, are divorcing after two children and three years of marriage. At the same time, a Maine couple were being honored for […]
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Recently I read an article that stated that getting married is not an accomplishment. Natalie Brooke — who is engaged to be married — bemoans the fact that once she got a ring on her finger, that’s all people wanted to talk about — not the many real accomplishments (her education, career, etc.) she’s had. […]
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