Monogamy Who? My Adventures in Ethically Non-Monogamous Relationships

Hi everyone! I’m Hannah Mace, and currently I’m interning here at Revolution in Athens, Georgia. As part of my final project for my class, I will be posting here on Revolution’s blog page, advocating and presenting information on their social media pages, and also doing a presentation for One Night Stand on July 19th.  Join me along for the ride!

Future Goals:

I am a 4th year Human Development and Family Science major, and I will be graduating in December. After graduation, I plan to thru-hike (go through from Georgia to Maine) the Appalachian Trail. I have always wanted to go backpacking, and when I got the chance to go with The Umbrella Project, I fell in love. I am so grateful I was able to go to Maryland, have wonderful trail guides, grief guides, and an organization that aims at providing eco-therapy for grieving young adults.

After I finish that, I would like to apply to get my Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), so that I can specialize in sex therapy. I think sex is interesting as a concept. I love relationships and how people change in response to the people around them romantically, platonically, in families and from communities. I think a lot of social rules are a bit odd, and I love watching people interact. We all impact each other in some way, and I think sex is a culmination of that in relationships. Also, I do not think we talk about sex constructively enough or have a good enough basis on the topic of sex. I would like to change that in my efforts to be a sex educator, and I want to support those efforts in therapy as well. I am so lucky that I have gotten the opportunity to intern at Revolution, as the world of sexual acceptance and normalcy is opening up my eyes and helping me break down barriers and fears I have in my own head.

Personal Life:

I have personally been trying to find myself as an adult in the world. In the summer of 2023, I had a lot of life changing events happen. Since then, figuring myself out has become a lot more difficult and a lot easier with a blank slate. I had been thinking about non-monogamy as a possibility for relationships, as monogamy was extremely difficult for me. (That was part of the reason why my relationship ended). Going forward, I knew I could truly figure out if it was the path I wanted to take. It is, and how it looks changes and will continue to change as it already has in the past year.

My non-monogamy pathway.

It started off as an interest from a sexual perspective, as I wanted more sexual relationships. I first looked up "is monogamy right for me" and "what is non-monogamy." I then realized it expanded to more than that, and it included some romantic bonds as well. From the start, I have more securely understood that I would like a primary partner, but also the option to explore the bonds I have with other people, whatever those may be, without restrictions. I like people, and only being able to have an interest of attraction to one person does not fit in how I view the world. Thankfully, I was able to talk to my mom about all of this, and she shared that she had been non-monogamous for a while with her current partner. This opened my eyes and showed me it was possible to live a life, be happy, and be real.

This journey has inspired my talk at One Night Stand to present Monogamy Who? Non-Monogamy 101. I want others who are monogamous to understand more about what non-monogamy is, as there are still many misconceptions as well as stigma. I want those that are non-monogamous to understand, like I was able to in my community, that there is a possibility for them to have the kind of relationship they want. I want everyone to live the way they feel most comfortable, and talking more about different styles of relationships can help achieve that goal.  I will cover resources, communities, sex, love, challenges, and benefits to these types of relationships. Join us on July 19th and read along in my blogs to learn more!