PSYCH 101
She’s been married to the same guy for 25 years, and now Elaine Viets, a columnist for United Feature Syndicate, takes a look at the subject in print.
* “Americans are very monogamous,” she writes, adding that last year 80% of adults said they had only one or no sex partners.
* “The boomers are the first generation to publicly reject monogamy. . . . After all, we have our pride. We came of age in the swinging ‘60s. We still see ourselves as bold bed hoppers. ‘Sex, drugs, and rock and roll’ was our generation’s motto.”
* “Any two reasonable people can live together for a while, as long as one of them doesn’t use all the hot water. The real test of monogamy is, do you want to die with this person.”
* A monogamous fight includes history: “You never used to forget our anniversary. . . . You always cut down my family. . . .”
* Reasons to remain monogamous: Affairs are time-consuming. It’s too much trouble to be nice to someone new. Affairs are also scary, wasteful and expensive.
--From “How to Commit Monogamy” (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1997).
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