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Tessa Vaschel MA Thesis.pdf (647.08 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Happy Problems: Performativity of Consensual Nonmonogamous Relationships

Vaschel, Tessa
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510941420190496

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Theatre.
According to an April 2016 study published by the Kinsey Institute, one in five Americans has, at some point, been in a consensual nonmonogamous relationship. Consensual nonmonogamy, which includes polyamory, swinging, open relationships, and friends with benefits situations, is a relationship style wherein individuals have multiple romantic and/or sexual relationships with the knowing consent of everyone involved. This type of relationship has increased in both popularity and visibility in the fifty years since open marriages first entered the public sphere, and has veritably exploded in the last ten years. Popular culture and academia alike is rapidly expanding in its discussion and acceptance of nonmonogamous relationships between consenting adults. In this thesis, I use concepts of performativity and performance as a metaphor for social action to examine the ways that individuals in nonmonogamous relationships perform "relationship" to one another and to the outside world. Using ethnographic and autoethnographic research methods, I draw upon the lived experiences of people in nonmonogamous relationships to study the effects that these relationships have on individuals and on the larger culture. I first study impression management to examine the ways in which people in nonmonogamous relationships choose to conceal and portray certain aspects of their experiences. Following that, I discuss performances of “polynormativity” and examine the ways in which nonmonogamous relationships adhere to, alter, or reject the so-called “life script” wherein individuals are expected to “settle down,” usually with marriage and children. Finally, I use performance as metaphor to study the ways in which power and privilege affect jealousy within nonmonogamous relationships. With this study, I aim to expand existing scholarship in the growing fields of both performance studies and sexuality studies. By using performance studies to examine nontraditional intimate relationships, I hope to bring those individuals and relationships that are continually marginalized to the center of these disciplinary conversations.
Lesa Lockford, PhD (Advisor)
Angela Ahlgren, PhD (Committee Member)
Margaret McCubbin, MFA (Committee Member)
115 p.
Performing Arts; Personal Relationships; Theater
performativity; performance studies; polyamory; nonmonogamy; autoethnography; performative writing; queer studies; sexuality studies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Vaschel, T. (2017). Happy Problems: Performativity of Consensual Nonmonogamous Relationships [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510941420190496

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Vaschel, Tessa. Happy Problems: Performativity of Consensual Nonmonogamous Relationships. 2017. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510941420190496.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Vaschel, Tessa. "Happy Problems: Performativity of Consensual Nonmonogamous Relationships." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510941420190496

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1510941420190496
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.