Radical Relating A Queer and PolyamoryInformed Guide to Love Beyond the Myth of Monogamy

<b>A provocative, trauma-informed guide to post-monogamy—how to build liberated relationships rooted in empowerment, equity, and authenticity<br> <br>With practical somatic exercises, reflection prompts and a relational toolkit—also includes a glossary of polyamory, non-monogamy, and alternative relationship terms</b><br><br><i>This book is for polyamorists who want to practice their non-monogamy with more feminism, more queerness, and more community building. It’s for monogamists who don’t want to do relationships on autopilot. It’s for everyone who dearly believes a better way to love and live exists. It’s for change makers who aspire to re-wild the ways we love.</i><br><br>An empowering guide to imagining (and living) better relationships, <i>Radical Relating</i> pushes back on the monogamy mandate. Author, somatic educator, and relationship coach Mel Cassidy explodes the often-unquestioned mainstream myths about the nuclear family structure: those that tell us <i>your soulmate must be your sole mate</i>. That sex is the only yardstick of relational success. That self-sacrifice and self-denial are necessary trade-offs for security and partnership. That we need to ride the relationship escalator all the way up, or we’ll die alone.<br><br>In four sections, Cassidy explains the <b>why</b>, <b>what</b>, <b>how</b>, and <b>where</b> of the <b>Radical Relating </b>model. They:<br><ul><li><b>Lay out clear-eyed analysis about why monogamy isn’t working</b> and explain the harms of unquestioned internalized mono-normativity<br></li><li><b>Offer Reflective Journaling prompts, Somatic Pauses</b>, and practical wisdom for assembling your Relational Toolkit<br></li><li><b>Explain the trauma-informed pillars of Radical Relating</b>: Orientation, Resilience, Resolution, and Engagement<br></li><li><b>Help you reorient to a new map</b> for relating that’s queer, anarchist, and somatically integrated<br></li><li><b>Help you build skills</b> to understand and navigate your relationship landscape<br></li><li><b>Explore the intersections of monogamy, colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism </b>and illuminate how monogamous relationship structures emerged with one goal in mind: to consolidate capital<br></li></ul><br>Most books on non-monogamy focus on top-level logistics and play into beliefs that can inadvertently replicate oppressive structures. Radical Relating is different: it speaks to readers who want not only to open up their relationships or expand their sexual experiences, but claim a new and liberating ways to relate to each other, fulfill our authentic needs, and build true communities of care beyond monogamy.