I samband med samhällsförändringarna från traditionella samhällen till moderna ställs individer inför möjligheten att välja vilka liv de ska leva. Denna valmöjlighet är ett kännetecken för moderniteten och avspeglas även i människors kärleksliv. Teoretiker menar att intima relationer inte längre grundas på kvinnors ekonomiska beroende av män, utan ingås av fri vilja. Till följd av kärleksrelationens omvandling ämnar denna uppsats empiriskt illustrera hur unga vuxna kan uppfatta och uppleva kärleksrelationer. Syftet behandlas genom att undersöka varför informanterna önskar ingå kärleksrelationer, vilken funktion kärleksrelationer fyller i deras liv och varför kärleksrelationer tar slut. Studiens metodologiska ansats består av fenomenologisk forskningsstrategi och har en abduktiv utgångspunkt. Materialet utgörs av 10 semistrukturerade intervjuer med informanter i åldrarna 21-32 år. Undersökningen behandlar heterosexuella kärleksrelationer. För att förstå varför unga vuxna önskar ingå kärleksrelationer används teorier om kärleksrelationers idealisering, identitetsskapande samt stigmatisering. Kärleksrelationers funktion studeras med stöd från intimitetsteorier om trygghet och otrygghet. Uppbrott undersöks med teorier om valfrihet och framtidsplanering. Undersökningen visar att informanterna uppfattar ensamhet som en negativ upplevelse och ser det som rationellt eftersträvansvärt att ingå kärleksrelationer. Kärleksrelationer upplevs både som en möjlighet till trygghet, men även otrygghet. Att ha olika förväntningar på framtiden och valfrihet kan orsaka uppbrott.

<p>Poly, to live in several loving and intimate relationships at the same time, is one alternative to the mono norm. In Sweden polygamy is illegal yet in recent years poly has slowly started to enter the hetero normative political agenda and raise debate in the media. But what does poly mean, and how do those who identify with this type of relationship describe it in contrast to mono? The theoretical framework is based on a structural viewpoint of the changes in the organisation of the family and the growing de-traditionalism of society. Amongst other I use a Foucauldian perspective to explain the structural shift (yet not replacement) between an Alliance pattern and a Sexuality pattern. Other theories in use are that of the emerging ideal of The Pure Relationship and Queer Tendencies. The essay draws its empirical results from seven e-mail and/or face interviews with individuals who identify with poly. The results show that if poly and mono are both understood as expression of the pure relationship they are potentially not so different. Yet the stigma and the lack of role models show that there is much needed public debate about it to unleash it from old discourses that still seem to uphold the equation that love equals two partners. Drawing attention to queer mechanism and the initiated process of the decentralisation of the heterosexual norm, I speculate that in the future polygamy must not be a foreign concept in Swedish society.</p>

Poly, to live in several loving and intimate relationships at the same time, is one alternative to the mono norm. In Sweden polygamy is illegal yet in recent years poly has slowly started to enter the hetero normative political agenda and raise debate in the media. But what does poly mean, and how do those who identify with this type of relationship describe it in contrast to mono? The theoretical framework is based on a structural viewpoint of the changes in the organisation of the family and the growing de-traditionalism of society. Amongst other I use a Foucauldian perspective to explain the structural shift (yet not replacement) between an Alliance pattern and a Sexuality pattern. Other theories in use are that of the emerging ideal of The Pure Relationship and Queer Tendencies. The essay draws its empirical results from seven e-mail and/or face interviews with individuals who identify with poly. The results show that if poly and mono are both understood as expression of the pure relationship they are potentially not so different. Yet the stigma and the lack of role models show that there is much needed public debate about it to unleash it from old discourses that still seem to uphold the equation that love equals two partners. Drawing attention to queer mechanism and the initiated process of the decentralisation of the heterosexual norm, I speculate that in the future polygamy must not be a foreign concept in Swedish society.