Discursive constructions of polyamory in mono-normative media culture

In previous publications (Ritchie & Barker, 2006; Barker & Ritchie, 2007) I have argued that the ‘sexual story’ (Plummer, 1995) of polyamory is having its ‘time’ to be told. In 2006, for example, the word ‘polyamory’ entered the Oxford English dictionary, documenting its increasing cultural presence. Polyamory also has a developing media presence and in this chapter I explore the emergence of the ‘story’ of polyamory being told in the British press,1 arguing that a specific and particular narrative of polyamory is being told (and retold).