A Non-Monogamous Manifesto
​In her poem “Wild Nights” Emily Dickinson describes a scene shrouded in mystery. As a woman, Dickinson understood the repression of female sexuality all too well. This poem starts with an elated and enthusiastic cry of “Wild nights – Wild nights!” in reference to a mysterious other that is never clarified. If the words, images and symbols of her poem were to be interpreted in a certain lens, it may give this poem more meaning and clarity. I took this poem to be about repressed sexual desire. Wild nights are never completely described in full detail, but only a hint at something that is not being fulfilled for the narrator. There is also a sense of exasperation in the poem with words such as “futile” and the repetition of “done” throughout two lines. Dickinson’s trademark use of the hyphen can be used in different ways, but in this poem it seems to indicate a longing breath or silence between the words that highlights its dramatic effect. There is a wish for an abolishing of rules, especially with the commands to do away with a compass or a chart; it is as if Dickinson wants to lose herself in this moment of ecstasy. Lastly, the image of mooring, or docking a ship into land, specifically a blessed paradise in Eden, seem to be a yearning for intimacy. Mooring has been known to be a euphemism for coupling, and I enjoyed seeing Dickinson use it in a form of gender reversal. In general, I think this poem excelled in its use of vague symbols, and in its playful structuring and imagery.
​I chose the Futurist Manifesto of Lust as my model of the manifesto that I would write largely because of the way it interacts with Dickinson’s poem. The poem seems to express a sexual desire whereas the Manifesto explicitly demands the presence of lust, and transforming it from a sin into something of a right. The Manifesto then makes the bold claim that rape is the logical conclusion of lust, especially in times of warfare, when the weary soldiers are in need of sex. There is a clumsy analogy trying to be made here between lust being a force of creation, and war being a force of destruction and death, whereas Dickinson’s poem was masterful in obscuring her sexual intent. The Futurist Manifesto speaks to an entitled masculine sexual desire, one that has continued in various forms to this day; it is not that the manifesto disgusts me, but that its principles are indeed followed in some respect. When the author of the manifesto uses “we” to address others, it is a “we” entirely engrained in the male world. This “we” does not include women, but speaks solely for men. Lust is described and reasoned through biblical imagery, through biological necessity, and lastly a need for contact with the sacred female image, which is then contradicted by a willingness to rape and conquer the female body. Though written persuasively, the Manifesto falls victim to a clamoring for male sexual fulfillment at the expense of others.
Manifesto on Non Monogamy
A non monogamous relationship is the culmination of free will and trust within a relationship, a willingness to explore the boundaries of love by sharing the body with others, and not holding our mutual lover in the confines of a monogamous relationship.
A monogamous relationship is bound in the conventions of patriarchal institutions which dictated the norms and means of female sexuality, and condemned the sexual desire both sexes or genders have for people of other sexes and genders.
A non monogamous relationship functions on the trust and open communication between both partners in order to illustrate that life is more than just one other person, and that we are not the sum of all, or omnipotent in our ability to love.
A monogamous relationship relies on insecurities about ourselves, perpetuated via masculine-fueled concepts of owning women, and a presumption that being in a relationship allows ownership over another body foreign to our own.
For these reasons and edicts, a non monogamous relationship, built on pillars of truth and communication, is the only declaration of love that can aspire for both partners to be sexual equals.
​I formatted this manifesto over the declarative form of the Futurist Manifesto on Lust, with its logical reasoning and abstract imagery. I made sure to repeat some of the necessary language as I had seen happen in the Futurist Manifesto, but I wanted to advocate for the principle of sexual equality. I made sure to include a reasonable structure that would give three lines to each of the five miniature paragraphs, and I wanted to have my final paragraph be a firm statement on the way that my manifesto will enact change.