supermonogamy en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈs(j)upɚməˈnɑɡəmi/ (General-American)
- (US) audio
Etymology
Coined in 2004 by Elizabeth Emens from super- + monogamy.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The ideal that a person should or will only have one sexual/romantic partner in their lifetime.
Going back to our theory about happiness, it might be fair to say that supermonogamy has made "perfect the enemy of the good." If people are not happy they feel comfortable or entitled to look elsewhere; they no longer feel constrained by an initial choice.
2017, Mark Goldfeder, Legalizing Plural Marriage: The Next Frontier in Family Law, Lebanon, NH: Brandeis University Press, →ISBN, page 60:The notion of soulmates reinforces the myth of supermonogamy.
Indeed, whether the mainstream idealizes "supermonogamy" and practices "serial monogamy," there is a parallel system of "pretend monogamy" based on secret affairs outside the official monogamous union that are occurring concurrently.
2010, Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, Border Sexualities, Border Families in Schools, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 11:Plato's tale colorfully captures the potent fantasy of absolute monogamy, of supermonogamy, the vision of a unique and permanent bond between two individuals.
2004, Elizabeth F. Emens, “Monogamy's Law: Compulsory Monogamy and Polyamorous Existence”, in New York University Review of Law & Social Change, volume 29, →DOI, page 294: