Mo'nique's Open Marriage

**Justice44** · 06-04-10, 02:10 AM

On Oprah, Oscar nominee Mo’nique mentioned that she had an open marriage. Some of the moral outrage toward her decision inspired me to write the following comment:

If open marriage is innately immoral because it violates sexual fidelity, one should conclude that sexual fidelity implies monogamy. If one is faithful to their spouse, they are also having sex with their spouse. The frequency of their sexual interaction may be negotiated between the couple, but they agree to have sex with only one another. It’s amazing that opponents of open marriage rebuke open marriage but accept marriages where there is no sex. They only focus on the part of fidelity that requires abstinence outside of marriage. If sexual fidelity is their moral construct, couples who permit extramarital sex and couples who decline to have sex in their marriages should receive the same degree of moral outrage. After all, they are both not monogamous.

What do you think about open marriage? Do you think it is immoral because it is not monogamous? Do you have the same moral outrage toward marriages which are sexless?

**Justice44** · 06-04-10, 02:17 AM

My additional comment will hopefully further explain why I do not think sexual fidelity should be intrinsically important to all marriages. Here it is:

I do not understand why sexual fidelity is necessary in marriages if the marriage is happy without sexual fidelity. For instance, if swinging couple is in a 10 plus year open marriage which as a level of happiness that is equal to the level of happiness in a “closed” marriage, why should they be monogamous or abstinent outside of marriage? According to them, simply respecting the rule of sexual abstinence because it is simply a rule makes no sense. If there are members of this forum who could offer a reason why I should think otherwise, I will listen to their views.