The Polyamorist Next Door

I suppose, given Americans’ fondness for postmodern taboo-breaking, it was inevitable that polyamory would go mainstream. Recently, it’s been the subject of lifestyle articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, The New Yorker, and More, a buzzy memoir by Park Slope wife and mother, Molly Roden Winter. Rudy Giuliani’s daughter, Caroline, came out of the closet in Vanity Fair, raving about polyamory as a “creative and expansive way of loving … about deep connection, committed partnerships, reliable family, and supportive community,” and Tik Tok is crowded with posts by young poly folk. In fact, according to a 2023 Pew Research study, the majority of Gen Z-ers have given the practice a Good Housekeeping seal of approval: 51% of adults younger than 30 agree that open marriage is cool. The dating apps Feeld and Ok Cupid have introduced non-monogamy into their filtering systems; can other dating sites be far behind?