A review by wordfey
The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple-Partner Relationships and Families by Elisabeth Sheff
3.0
Pros: research on children; polyaffectivity as a concept
Cons: almost everyone interviewed is allocishet, white, and lives in the U.S.
Yay for academic focus on the subject. The dense reporting style was fine for what it was, though I'd have liked to see the places where the author starts to get a voice, especially in the conclusion re: polyaffectivity as a counter for toxic masculinity, expanded.
The allocishet white focus was unnecessary. If the author had been willing to consider polyaffective behaviors, rather than just survey people who identified as the word "polyamorous," she would have had a broader set of people from whom to draw, including more queer and racially diverse options. And I'm not even certain about her argument that only allocishet white people identify as such--a simple Twitter search finds more diverse representation than this book.
Cons: almost everyone interviewed is allocishet, white, and lives in the U.S.
Yay for academic focus on the subject. The dense reporting style was fine for what it was, though I'd have liked to see the places where the author starts to get a voice, especially in the conclusion re: polyaffectivity as a counter for toxic masculinity, expanded.
The allocishet white focus was unnecessary. If the author had been willing to consider polyaffective behaviors, rather than just survey people who identified as the word "polyamorous," she would have had a broader set of people from whom to draw, including more queer and racially diverse options. And I'm not even certain about her argument that only allocishet white people identify as such--a simple Twitter search finds more diverse representation than this book.