Poll: The Harem Thread

[Katherine Kerensky]

Nope. No harem for me. Reverse or otherwise.
Too many people. I'm not good around people.
Edit: Been in a relationship with a couple of people for a couple of years. It was okay, but not some super great thing like fiction would have you believe. Well, in some cases, anyway. It was mainly me and the other girl trying to steal the guy to spend time with. That, on a full-blown harem scale? No. I mean, if I was just there for that one guy, and there were a bunch of other girls... no. I'd just give up and leave. The guy would have to be something supernaturally special for me not to. And I wouldn't want a bunch of guys or girls fighting over me.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Nope.

For one, having a harem of woman at my beck and call isn't even a sexual fantasy of mine.

For another, there's plenty of sexual fantasies I have that I know are best kept clear away from reality. Just because something is appealing as a fantasy, doesn't mean it'd work at all in reality. I really don't have any interest in having what would effectively be a polygamist relationship with women who're completely deferent to me. It's creepy, and I'd have a hard time having respect for any of them

EDIT:

Hold up! Is that a child in that guy's harem? If that's the case, I'm redoubling my nope.

Nope

Nope nope nope

 

[MeatMachine]

- We'll assume, for the sake of simplicity, that all the members of said harem agree/want it, and therefore there wouldn't be any in-fighting

As a man who struggles to entertain a very friendly house guest for longer than a few hours, I'd imagine living with multiple women who were infatuated with me would be an endless, heavy taxation on my already meager emotional resources. This is exacerbated by the declaration that they wouldn't even be able to entertain each other with some stirred up gossip and bickering. I don't like being depended upon like that.

- You're not allowed to anything that resembles pimping/prostitution with them

I don't think it had even occurred to me to whore out my wives as a financial resource. Good to know this is still frowned upon, but concerning that you even have to clarify it.

- You're not allowed to use them as slaves

Doubling down on the whole "dehumanization is wrong, guys" thing, I guess...

- You can have whatever arrangement you like; IE - working setups, whom you have sex with and when, etc.

I struggle to love myself. Loving another person is impossible - loving a gaggle of girls I probably can't even tell apart is beyond my comprehension.

- They're still autonomous human beings

I'd imagine.

Would you?

Absolutely not. I'm not that awesome.

 

[McElroy]

I really can't summon enough strength or reason to say no. At least for now they wouldn't even be in it for my money or influence since I have neither. Totally signing up.

 

[Kyrian007]

Narp. No way. The amount of work I would have to do to support a whole Harem, even with all my housework getting done for free, ain't worth it. Hell, just one who only helps out with a few housework jobs occasionally and supports herself and has her own apartment is barely worth the expense of all the gifts and dinners and nice cloths and body spray I wouldn't have to buy without just the one.

The potential ROI just isn't good enough.

 

[verdant monkai]

In today's world with all of its bills and mobile phones, where everyone believes they are special and owed something. No I don't think so.

If I was alive in the medieval world or any time prior to that then yes. Even then I think I'd settle with just the one when I got to thirty, give the rest of them a pension and a party bag.

 

[Hagi]

Erm... is my harem also interested in each other?

You'd probably wouldn't call it a harem I guess but I could see the fun and advantage of a sort of mutual harem thingy, as long as it's not too big, filled with magical people who love each other and feel no jealousy, lack of attention or insecurity over any of that. That'd be cool, completely unrealistic I'd say but still cool.

But just a whole group only interested in me and all depending only on me for their romantic needs, that sounds like a special place in hell. Hell no to that.

 

[Blacklight28]

Don't harem members usually hate each others guts? I don't know if I'd like to submit myself to be the focal point of a feud between a bunch of women.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well in the fantasy land where such a thing can happen I would also decree that it's only ever fun, yes I would very much like to spend time there.

In the real world however relationships always come in two parts, first there is fun and afterwards there is maintenance and that maintenance kills things for me every time, maintaining multiple people every single day... that would be pure torture.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Does it have to be sexual?

Like, if I'm on the run in a forest, I'd shack up with 7 dwarves if I had the option.

 

[Aerosteam]

Considering I have a specific type of girl I'm attracted to, having a wide line-up of girls with varying qualities is not for me - I'd just end up picking a favourite and sticking to her.

 

[Silvanus]

Like, if I'm on the run in a forest, I'd shack up with 7 dwarves if I had the option.

Is that the position you're coming at this question from?

If you're posting here, you can call for help, Thaluikhain!

 

[Neverhoodian]

Not a chance, way too stressful. I'd feel constantly pressured to try and give equal time/treatment to all. Even if I managed that, I would probably find myself gravitating towards one particular woman, which would result in an onslaught of guilt.

...Wait a sec, is that a loli?

 

[GrumbleGrump]

I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle one woman being interested in me, let alone a harem of them.

So no.

 

[balladbird]

Harems, the way they're pictured in things like anime, are a fantasy concept. Life is more of a reality deal.

In my experience, any attempt to blend the fantastic with the realistic ends in misery.

As to whether I'd want one? Well, I see the appeal of the fantasy. It's reaffirming to have multiple people who accept you and find you desirable, after all, and a multitude of lovers stimulates the caveman portions of the psyche that associate sex with masculinity and power.

Still, there are a lot of real-world ramifications to the harem setup that feel like they would eventually end in tragedy. For one thing, aside from a little "shoujo-s" (uggh, I hate that concept) fanservice play between the members of a harem on occasion, they all invariably have eyes only for the main character to the exclusion of the rest of humanity. The main character, however, must remain non-commital for the harem format to work, giving teasing attentions to each girl without special thought to one above the others.

This is a non-equal level of devotion in the relationship, which means at some point or another hearts are gonna shatter.

On a less psychological level, when I first moved in with my girlfriend, the strain of living with someone new for the first time was already a bit of stress on the relationship until we got used to each other, and there was just one of her! the average harem has five members, daily life in that situation would be rough.

 

[happyninja42]

Well with all of those parameters in place, sure why not. It's all consensual, nobody is being coerced, and the attraction is both ways. So why wouldn't I? I personally have no qualms with a polygamous relationship, as the reasons our society is against it is basically religious, and fuck religion. So sure, bring on the harem. I would add a caveat of :

At least some of them have to share my hobbies and interests, so we can have fun doing other things besides nekked fun time. I mean, if they aren't fans of MST 3K, then we're gonna have problems.

 

[StormShaun]

Well, I'm sure my opinion is known when it comes to harems.
So, no. One hundred, one million times no.

Even if I was forced, it would only be a harem for half a episode before it turns into the horror genre. Actually, that would be an anime I would like to watch. All of the harem stuff going on in the first episode, and BAM, the protagonist turns out to be some kind of terrible psychopath. Then it turns into a survival horror. Or heck, maybe the opposite way around, the girls want to kill him, and the protagonist kills them in self defence.

Japan should get on this.

 

[Mister K]

I picked "maybe" option, because I don't know how I will react if something like this actually happens. However, I've pondered about this question a lot in the past and I came to a conclusion that, objectively speaking, harem has more downsides than upsides.

Firstly, the most obvious aspect, the physical one. If you have 2 women, then you'd want to have sex with both of them at the same time, otherwise what is the goddamn point? And I really REALLY doubt that I'd be able to sattisfy 2 women at the same time. This will probably lead to one of them being not sattisfied with the state of things.

Secondly, jokish argument. Whenever the time to make a deccision comes, their 2 votes will always outweight one yours. Eternal soapy romance movies hell awaits.

Thirdly, real talk. Even if they both are fine with it, you will probably not be able to pay equal amount of attention to both of them. This will lead to one of them feeling less significant, less loved. You don't want that to happen to your girl(s).

To conclude, I don't know how I will react to an actual opportunity, but I doubt that if I agree to this the three of us will have a happy ending.

 

[Elfgore]

Well, I'm sure my opinion is known when it comes to harems.
So, no. One hundred, one million times no.

Even if I was forced, it would only be a harem for half a episode before it turns into the horror genre. Actually, that would be an anime I would like to watch. All of the harem stuff going on in the first episode, and BAM, the protagonist turns out to be some kind of terrible psychopath. Then it turns into a survival horror. Or heck, maybe the opposite way around, the girls want to kill him, and the protagonist kills them in self defence.

Japan should get on this.

That is a thing(close enough thing), there is a manga for that. I can't speak for how well it's doing in Japan, but here we have barely 20 chapters translated. Can't even remember the name since I stopped reading it.

Protagonist feels nothing towards women yet he's build a harem of a stalker, serial killer, and various other freaks and psychopaths.

 

[StormShaun]

That is a thing(close enough thing), there is a manga for that. I can't speak for how well it's doing in Japan, but here we have barely 20 chapters translated. Can't even remember the name since I stopped reading it.

Protagonist feels nothing towards women yet he's build a harem of a stalker, serial killer, and various other freaks and psychopaths.

Sure, but does he start end up killing them?
Now that's the real question.