Interview with The Ethical Slut authors at The Daily Beast
“We believe it’s OK to have sex with anybody you love,” Easton and Hardy write, “and we believe in loving everybody.”
By “slut,” you don’t mean someone who detaches sex from emotion, or who selfishly takes advantage of others; instead you urge readers to seek love—genuine emotional connections—in “abundance,” rejecting the notion that our affection is a pizza with only so many slices.
This idea started way back in the communal era in 1969 when I was in Haight-Ashbury. I said, “If I want to change my world in terms of how relationships are, and be non-monogamous forever in my own personal life, it should be about warmth and affection.” One of the very first things I learned was how to be affectionate toward many lovers, which is very hard to do coming from New York where things are very cool and detached.
There was no precedent but it worked; I could love them, be there for them, care for them—if someone was sick I’d bring them chicken soup—and be loyal in a new way that fit for a lot of people….
I have a whole bunch of lovers whom I have dates with once per year. We’re dear, dear friends… I have a primary partner—my life partner—whom I live with, and a secondary lover, and some playmates locally. Essentially what you are creating is a very complicated, interconnected family. It’s a community, and if someone has an illness or a breakup, everyone is there to offer support.
The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide
by Easton & Hardy
See also my post re Star Trek and Union.
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