Strollerderby : open marriage

Jon & Kate Plus 8 Premiere Snags 9.8 Million Viewers

Brett Singer — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

So you know this Kate Gosselin we've been hearing so much about? Mother, reality show star, husband may or may not be cheating on her? Lots of backlash against her?

After all the sturm und drang that the Gosselins have generated in recent weeks, you might think that would hurt their ratings. But you would be wrong.

The season premiere of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" was watched by 9.8 million people. That's not only the largest audience for a cable show on Monday. It was the largest audience for ANY show that evening.

People, negativity sells. Big time.

Yes, it was Memorial Day. But "Jon & Kate" isn't even on a network. It's on cable. Which means that not everyone -- most people, but not everyone -- can see the show. To me, this was an astonishing feat.

I have a confession to make. I don't watch "Jon & Kate Plus 8." I don't watch any reality shows regularly, which isn't a judgment on those of you that do. It's just not my thing. (If they could make a reality show with superheroes in it, that I might watch.) But all of the tabloid news has been oddly fascinating to me. I read the People Magazine article. Someone left a copy of US Weekly in my house and I read the "Jon & Kate" article. (Well, I started it. But I'll finish it.) And I have to admit that I might just check out a few minutes of the show.

Did you watch the "JK8" premiere? Did the recent scandals surrounding the couple make you more interested in the show?

Source: Hartford Courant

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Will Smith is Open to Open Marriage

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Will Smith is all about honesty—not only with his wife of 11 years, but also apparently with celebrity reporters about said wife. He recently opened up to the UK magazine NOW about the possibility that he and Jada Pinkett Smith will engage in an open marriage.

Will says one of the keys to the happiness and mutual devotion of his long marriage is complete transparency. “I’m not going to say anything to my buddies that’s any different than what I say to my wife,” he said, which means that he has no problem admitting to Jada when he feels attracted to other women. “Our perspective is, you don’t avoid what’s natural and you’re going to be attracted to people,” he said.

For now, neither Will or Jada has acted on these “natural” impulses, but if either of them wanted to sleep with someone else, they would seek the other's approval first. Perhaps this openness is part of the reason that neither has felt what Will called the “need” to sleep around. When an affair is no longer taboo, but rather a possible reality to be carefully considered, it loses some of its appeal.

What do you married and partnered folks think? Is it better to keep fleeting attractions to yourself, so as to avoid making your partner jealous, or better to be open about your extramarital desires?

Photo: People

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I Have Four Parents!

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:42:00 GMT

Actually, I personally don’t have four parents, but this guy does. Or at least he used to before the cozy foursome decided to pair off, with his biological parents splitting up. If this all sounds rather complicated, you clearly did not grow up in a polyamorous environment like Salon writer Laird Harrison.

It all started when Laird was nine-years-old and his family went camping with another family. He noticed that his mom was in a tent with the other family’s dad, and his dad was in a tent with the other family’s mom. Soon thereafter, the two families moved in together.

Interestingly, the only part of Laird’s unusual upbringing that he found traumatic was his parents’ divorce, which happened a few years later. And although he has opted for the two-parent family himself, he understands the appeal of a larger family. After all, the U.S. is home to one of few cultures in which it’s rare for large extended families to live in the same neighborhood and share parenting duties and social activities.

Image: Salon.com