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EmeraldSlave2 -> RE: Poly vs. Leather Family (9/6/2005 8:26:47 AM)
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Polyamory simply means "having intimate relationships with more than one person at the same time" (That's my definition, not THE definition)
A "Leather Family" is a structure of bonds between people in leather/bdsm who feel a close familial attachment, there is often some sort of definitive heirarchy between the members and may or may not include intimate relationships between any two members.
Remember, a majority of poly people out there are NOT into leather/kink.
A poly relationship can be a V, one dom, two subs, or two doms and one sub, or it can be an extended family, with each person having their own independent partners or mixing between partners, or any number of things.
A leather family is similar in that its structure can be formed a zillion ways, but there is a definite heirarchy to it, usually with a matriarch/patriarch and the people in the relationships attach themselves through familial bonds, like brother/sister, cousin, etc, rather than simply "partners."
Becoming a member of a leather family usually takes some initiation and consensus from the family at whole, certainly from the matriarch/patriarch. You can be a sexual/bdsm partner of someone in a family and not be considered family yourself. As well, you can be in a leather family withsomeone and have no sex or really emotional attachment to them, other than upholding the loyalty and respect of the family at large.
Essentially, poly is simply multiple intimate attachments, while a leather family has a specific purpose and structure to it based in bdsm.
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