Sex. Sex. Sex.

A while back, TLC was talking about sex.  All night. “Anatomy of Sex” was followed by “Mother Knows Sex” which was topped off by “My Husband’s Three Wives.” I discovered the reason why they call it The Learning Channel.

The latter of the three specials was the one that got my mind rolling.

Brian Wachtendorf lives in Texas working as a psychologist. Convinced that monogamy is the number one cause of divorce, he has committed himself to polygamy… the legal way. (Side note: they claim to practice no religion: no Mormonism, no LDS. Whether they’re on LSD, however, is debatable.)

(Side note number 2: side note number one is debatable in regards to the whole “we don’t practice a freaky polygamy religion” given the fact that this family lives and loves in Texas, the Buckle of the Bible Belt)

Brian married his first wife legally. Years later, he falls for his second great love and “marries” her, by way of a “spiritual” union. Years after that, he meets lovely lady number 3, she moves in and the wedding hoopla starts all over again.

Did I mention that Brian also juggles 6 kids, two of whom are named Winter and Summer?

The point of watching this?

First of all, I’m a sucker for reality television, and it’s just a bonus that TLC is home to the freaks and geeks of the world and enjoys exploiting the disabled, insane, criminal, and just plain fucked up. But I still have respect for the whole channel, if only because they feed my atrocious addiction.

But most importantly, this whole thing was almost another freaky affirmation of my thought that maybe monogamy is impossible… maybe this man has something going right here. In his interviews, Brian Wachtendorf looks straight at the camera and very seriously yet simply explains how he loved his first and legal wife, but he met the second and was able to share his love with her and how the relationship between the three of them is healthy because it’s all about sharing and communication and love.

Now, I’m not saying that I’m going to run out and picket for polygamy with the Mormons, but the concept makes me think. Brian found his first wife and fell in love with her, but then his second wife had something else to offer him, so he chose to add her to the mix. And the same went for the third. The fact that he “married” these two other people is a little wierd, but essentially, the concept was that he was in relationships with multiple women, and it was working. It’s like dating without exculsivity. Everyone’s allowed to be free to sleep with whomever and talk to whomever and have whatever kind of relationship they want with whomever they want, be it different with every person. (I will note, however, that I’m not ignoring the fact that this man gets everything he wants from his three wives while they aren’t necessarily running between multiple husbands, getting what they want. But I’ll channel my inner feminist and bitch about that another day.)

Like I said, I’m not going to be playing Mormon Mommy anytime soon, but the concept is simple, and it’s…. interesting.

If, however, you are looking to dabble in polygamy, I suggest you look at this. My Google search “My Husband’s Three Wives” turned up the following website first – a blog on Polygamy in the media.

Who would have thought?

A million thank you’s to Kid, who has graciously allowed me free reign to write what I will call ‘social commentary’ pieces (in order to sound legitimate) but are in fact a forum for sharing my knowledge on the insane, idiotic, brilliant, and asinine – be those people, events, or just things.

This week we’ll be focusing on the People of Walmart – a fascinating breed. The blog-by-photos features daily updates of secretly snapped pictures of Walmart shoppers – the insane, idiotic, brilliant and asinine.

Exhibit A: The Stone Cold fan

Category: Insane

The shirt is funny enough, but look carefully at what he’s toting in each arm: motor oil and Depends. If I hadn’t felt that my time could be better spent, I might have been tempted to try to figure out what exactly this man’s story was.

Exhibit B: The Pick-Pick Up Truck

Category: Brilliant

What else can I say, but brilliance… of the red-neck variety. Whoever owns this ride is either a legend or a loner. Personally, I would be tempted to ride shotgun if the opportunity arose. I’d be the only one of my friends to have ridden in a “Pickup limo” – it could be my claim to fame.

Exhibit C:  Hate Mail

Category: A quadruple-threat

[from James]

“Hello. I’m English, from England, where deep class divisions linger on unnoticed, like Chlamydia.”

Somehow I get the feeling that if James went into Walmart, he would make a pretty picture himself.

The rest of the hate mail ranges from expletive-ridden rants to intellectual discussions, and that’s where the psychologist and sociologist in me comes out. The entire point of a site like this is to give people a forum to not necessarily channel their inner bully, but to be the website that educates others on some of the kinds of people who not only shop at Walmart, but simply who exist along with the rest of us. All jokes aside, it’s really something when you take a minute to study the pictures and think of who these people really are. Yes, some of them are probably certifiably insane or mentally handicapped, but some of them are just, well, people. Who would have really thought that they were out there with the rest of us, in the next aisle over, even?

That said, I can’t say I agree with the haters who wag their fingers and chastise us for laughing at the personal choices of others, because we know we all do it – out loud or in our heads. I truly believe it’s impossible not to. We laugh at what we find funny, we cry at what we find sad… who gives a fuck what it is that makes us feel that way? At this point, with People of Walmart, it’s all in good fun… and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t agree that’s what we could all use more of right about now.