SO, WHAT IS SWINGING?
Swinging, sometimes referred to in North America as the swinging lifestyle or simply The Lifestyle (although this simplified term is also used
by people into Leather and BDSM), includes a wide range of mutually consenting sexual activities conducted between three or more people.
More traditionally, Swinging refers to married couples that engage in consensual sex with other married couples or singles.
Historically, it has not been uncommon to find societies that have advocated having a lifestyle with multiple sexual partners.
Furthermore both royalty and nobility in many cultures had consorts and concubines. Ancient Rome has been notable (if not infamous) for its enthusiastic
acceptance of orgies and alternative sexual practices. However, though contemporary swingers celebrate those ideals, the actual practice of
swinging in the 20th century began differently (paragraph written by Paul C).
In 1998, in an article from the Canadian magazine Saturday Night, the author, Terry Gould posed the question “Can family values survive sexual adventure?” Gould was referring to what he reported was the steady rise of “swinging” among the North American population. He suggested in his article that swinging, a process by which married individuals engage in consensual sexual interactions with other persons (co-marital sex), was becoming part of the fabric of social interactions (Gould, 1998). Gould went on to posit that this behaviour was perceived by a large part of the population as a moral threat to mainstream heterosexual behaviour and even a possible threat to the institution of marriage and the fabric of the family unit (Gould, 1998). Gould’s consequent investigation of swinging, he discovered that swingers seemed to have strong, loving, and committed relationships and lived traditional family lives with traditional values. Moreover,
Gould claimed that swingers had found a happy alternative to adultery and sexual boredom (Gould, 1998). However, the assertions made by Gould were anecdotal at best and reflective of his interviews with a small number of swingers; this was by no means the product of a studious and rigorous process of scientific inquiry.
