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Swinging
probably dates back as far as the days of early Rome and
the well-known Roman orgies, if not evern further.
Over
the centuries it has taken many forms and names. In the
60's it was known as wife-swapping and tendeded to be
more the province of men who wanted to swap their wives
with other men.
In the modern day it has taken the name of swinging, originally
a term used in the 60's for the general attitude of open-sexuality
and freedom to enjoy oneself in different ways.
Nowadays
swinging seems to be more of an equal opportunity activity
for both men and women to enjoy and be pro-active in searching
out new partners and situations, gaining equal enjoyment
from the fulfilment of fantasies.
It
is rumoured that wife-swapping was started by military
husbands going off to War in the first world war. The
idea being that those husbands left behind would promise
that if anything happened to a soldier they would take
care of his wife's needs, including sexually.
This
later evolved in to key swapping parties where couples
would arrive together and the husband would deposit his
keys in a bowl. At the end of the night a woman would
choose a set of keys and go home with the keys owner,
hence the term wife-swapping.
Swinging
clubs started as house parties where groups of like minded
couples would meet at each other's homes. Some bars and
clubs started to see the potential for new business and
began catering to swingers.
In
1973 The Lifestyles Organization (USA) held the first
convention in Riverside California.
Since
then swinging has become increasingly well none and "open",
as it has continued to spread across the States and the
UK.
The
advent of the swinger magazine in the 70's and 80's made
it a lot easier for swingers to find other like-minded
people. Prior to that finding other swingers tended to
be limited to being introduced through people you knew.
The
arrival and growth of the interent since the late 80's
thas helped the lifestyle grow from anonymity. Bulltin
Boards became a popular not only for swingers to meet
but also to discuss the lifestyle with anybody who was
itnerested, helping to "de-mystify" the lifestyle
and make it more appealing to many more people.
These discussion boards, and dating forum's since, also
gave swingers a whole new way of meeting other swingers.
Swinging
has now become not just open but pretty much accepted
as just another lifestyle choice, resulting in people
who have been practicing swinging for years in secret,
"coming out" and encouraging even more people
to try it.
Swinging
is no longer seen as a lifestyle that is primarily peopled
by couples in their 40's and 50's, as more an more young
people join the lifestyle.
More
on the History of Swinging Can be found at the Erotic
University
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