Dr. Klein, Ph.D.:
Now monogamy is an interesting question. You know, human beings have been around for about 100,000 years and monogamy is a pretty new idea; just a few thousand years old. You know, from an evolutionary point of view, it is sort of wink of an eye and yet, today in western cultures monogamy is considered sort of a gold standard of sexual relationships, and unfortunately, there are many therapists who actually believe that people who are not interested in monogamy are people who have difficulty with it, there is something wrong with them. They have fear of intimacy or they are hostile towards men or hostile towards women or they have not grown up enough yet or something like that. You know, monogamy is still in the big historical picture, monogamy is still an experiment. So far, the experiment is not going very well. Lots of, lots of, lots of, lots of people are not getting this monogamy thing to work. Either they are having affairs or they are not having very much sex and so on. So, is difficulty with monogamy a problem, well I would have to talk to the individual or the couple to find out. I think that some people who have difficulty with monogamy, they have a problem, and other people, I think, they are healthy and they just do not find monogamy exciting or engaging or entertaining or that it fills your psychological needs. I think we have to be very careful about assuming that there is a one kind of sexual relationship that works for everybody. We really have not found such a form that works for everybody, and assuming that monogamy is going to be it, the data just does not support that idea.
About Dr. Klein:
Dr. Marty Klein has been a marriage counselor, sex therapist & author for 28 years. He focuses on helping people understand and accept their sexuality, calling attention to the family, religious, cultural, and political issues that keep so many of us feeling guilty, confused, scared, and hopeless about our sexual feelings and relationships.
Dr. Klein is also the host of a sexual health show called Ask Me Anything, which airs on the EmpowHer Network. Dr. Klein is the author of five books, including, "Ask Me Anything: Dr. Klein Answers the Sex Questions You'd Love to Ask."
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http://www.empowher.com/users/dr-marty-klein
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