What is swinging ?

What does swinging mean?

Swinging is generally thought of as enjoying a sexual relationship with other people as well as with your long term partner ( often they are married swingers). This is always done with the full consent and knowledge of your partner. Swingers tend to frown upon anything done without consent – that goes against the whole ethos of the open lifestyle. 

So it’s only something that happens in a relationship that likes to be quite open, in both thinking and lifestyle. Swingers are usually relaxed people, inwardly confident because this kind of lifestyle calls for a lot of good communication, and this makes them develop generally as people, and in their relationship.  

What is a swinger ?

First of all, let´s define the word swinger.

You can think of it like this. A swinger swings from one partner to another. It can be known as sharing or swapping partners.  As well as partner swapping, it’s also known as wife-swapping. This term has been hanging on since the 1970’s with its wife swapping parties – also known as key parties.  British mature swingers ( 50 plus ) will probably recognise this as ´keys in a bowl´ parties ( pick a random key… meaning pick a partner!). In those days, the story goes that anyone with a pampas grass in the garden was also a swinger ! It shows us how common swinging was, and still is, in the U.K.  Nowadays it´s not as random as that – we are all much more empowered and get to choose who we want, and what we want, and when we want it ! We also have the benefit of modern technology now with swingers websites such as SDC that help us to find what we want 24/7.

In fact, often the emphasis is still on the woman, the wife.  Why?  Because she is usually in charge! Swingers will tell you that even if the man has introduced the swinging, the woman most often takes over and directs what they do as the ´hobby´ develops.

Whilst we’re on the subject of wives, ´hotwife´ is another term. It’s used to describe a swinging couple where the man is just seeking to have his wife satisfied by another man. So, couples are not necessarily always wanting a full couple swap. There are so many terms for the different forms of swingers and swinging styles,  so you are bound to find what suits you when you need it.

Why do people swing ?

So, now you know what swingers are, you’re probably wondering why on earth become one ! Do they just have a huge sexual appetite? Could be, but not necessarily – sometimes it can be the opposite and swinging helps them keep a healthy sexual appetite. Sometimes its just a casual hobby, or a way for open people to meet other open people and actually they don’t have too much full on sex ! Basically it takes all sorts of people and they all fall into in many different ways for many different reasons. It’s a goodly portion of the world that does this, so people in the lifestyle are just like people not in the lifestyle ( except they are usually open in attitude and are non-judgemental, always smiling and happy and healthy ( yes they look after themselves inside and out !)  and enjoying life more in general.

People outside the swinging world also often think that swinging is done by couples who have some sort of problem in their relationship or a bad marriage / partnership. But the truth is far from that. There have been many studies on the swinging world and here are some of the results.

5 benefits of swinging – you won’t believe the last one !

1. Swinging couples are happier than non-swingers
2. Swingers have a “very good” sex life at home
3. Swingers are less stressed than other couples
4. Swinging couples have better communication between the two of them in comparison with non-swinging couples
5. Swingers are less likely to get an STI than other people.

If you ask any of us writing this site, it also means we have a whole new dimension of treats to give each other as birthday (or any day) sensual & romantic gifts. Dressing sexy, having a giggle trying out new toys, or just pushing our own boundaries ( checkout our beginners bondage gifts !) . It’s all possible, hugely appreciated, and you can chat about them among swinger friends too.