Ménage à trois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, see Ménage à Troi (TNG episode).
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For an article specifically on a sex act involving three people, see threesome.
A ménage à trois is the French term describing a relationship or domestic arrangement in which three people, often a married couple and another lover, share a sexual relationship, although the relationship might or might not involve all three persons having sexual relations with each other.[1] The French phrase literally translates as "household of three".
It is also used to refer to an arrangement where three people share sexual relations, and this has become the predominant definition. Some also use it to describe any sex act involving three people, otherwise known as a threesome. Ménage à trois, two women with one man, has become more common, perhaps due to its presentation in porn films. There are ménage à trois arrangements involving two men and one woman, and these are also becoming more common. Many males are discovering they enjoy watching their spouse being satisfied by another man.
Sometimes called Hot Wives; hot wife refers to a married woman who has sex with men other than her spouse, with the husband's consent. In most cases the husbands take a vicarious pleasure in their wives' enjoyment, or enjoy watching, hearing, or knowing about their wives' adventures. Husbands may also take part by engaging in threesomes, or arranging dates for their wives.
Also see Polyamory [2]
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[edit] Fictitious ménages à trois
The ménage à trois is a recurring theme in fiction and has been the subject of a number of books, plays, and films. Some notable examples which have this as a core theme include:
- Design for Living (1933)
- Jules et Jim by Henri-Pierre Roché, adapted and filmed in 1961 by François Truffaut.
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- Paint Your Wagon (1969) — In the film version (which is very different from the stage play) Ben (Lee Marvin) marries Elizabeth (Jean Seberg), but she falls in love with Partner (Clint Eastwood). The three decide that if a Mormon man can have two wives, then a wife can have two husbands.
- Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), directed by John Schlesinger, a movie about a threesome with a homosexual man, a heterosexual woman, and a bisexual man
- Summer Lovers (1982), a film with Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah, in which a vacation in Greece leads to a female-male-female relationship that is both emotional and sexual.
- Three of Hearts (1993), directed by Yurek Bogayevicz.
- Threesome (1994), about a love triangle of three college roommates, two men and a woman: the woman loves/lusts after the gay man, who loves/lusts after the straight man, who loves/lusts after the woman. The movie explores the complications of real friendship, jealousies and sexual relationships among students still discovering their own identities.
- Seinfeld (1995), in an episode titled "The Switch," Jerry (Seinfeld) wants to date his girlfriend's roommate. The foil character George encourages Jerry to suggest to his girlfriend that they participate in a threesome with her roommate to effect the plan. She agrees, but then Jerry decides he cannot go through with it. Another episode called "The Label Maker" sees George propose a ménage à trois to exit his relationship, but the plan backfires when the girlfriend's male roommate agrees to it.
- Kiss the Sky (1999) Aging married friends try to form a threesome while building an island retirement refuge. Though failing in both endevours they learn to accept their situation with the help of a western Buddhist monk.
- Y tu mamá también (2001), a somewhat controversial Mexican coming-of-age movie that focuses heavily on the sexual lives of the three characters, played by Maribel Verdú, Diego Luna, and Gael García Bernal. Features mixed jealousy, hedonism, and repressed bisexuality as major themes.
- Politics, a novel about a ménage à trois ("the socialist utopia of sex").
- Battlestar Galactica (2006), there is a ménage à trois between Dr. Gaius Baltar and the humanoid Cylons Number Three and Number Six, beginning in "Hero" and apparently ending in "The Eye of Jupiter".
- The Dreamers a film staring Eva Green shows a beautiful and functional Ménage à trois with a very unfortunate end.
- Cabaret (film) - Takes place in pre-WW2 Germany. Three characters Max, Sally and Brian become involved.
- Cold showers (2005)
[edit] Further reading
- Barbara Foster, Michael Foster, Letha Hadady. Three in Love: Ménages à trois from Ancient to Modern Times. ISBN 0595008070
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ For example, Evans v. Commissioner, 908 F.2d 369, 370 (8th Cir. 1990) refers to the relationship between Carolyn Cassady, Neal Cassady, and Jack Kerouac as a "ménage à trois" even though there appears to be no real evidence that Neal Cassady and Kerouac had sexual contact with each other.
- ^ Paget, Lou (November 6, 2003). 365 Days of Sensational Sex: Tantalizing Tips and Techniques to Keep the Fires Burning All Year Long. Gotham, 221-222. DOI:1-5924-0037X ISBN 1-5924-0037X.
