Publication Cover
Culture, Health & Sexuality
An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care
Volume 26, 2024 - Issue 4
227
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Articles

Swingers and swinging: a critical review of early and current literature and theory

ORCID Icon
Pages 483-496 | Received 08 Oct 2022, Accepted 13 Jun 2023, Published online: 04 Jul 2023

References

  • Andersson, N., J. Ejnestrand, Y. Lidgren, A. Allard, J. Boman, and E. Nylander. 2021. “Are Swedish Swingers a Risk Group for Sexually Transmitted Infections?” International Journal of STD & AIDS 32 (5): 427–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956462420973108
  • Barker, M., and D. Langdridge. 2010. “Whatever Happened to Non-Monogamies? Critical Reflections on Recent Research and Theory.” Sexualities 13 (6): 748–772. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460710384645
  • Bartell, G. D. 1971. Group Sex; An Eyewitness Report on the American Way of Swinging. New York: New American Library.
  • Bentzen, A. S., and B. Træen. 2014. “Swinging in Norway in the Context of Sexual Health.” Sexuality & Culture 18 (1): 132–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-013-9181-6
  • Bergstrand, C. R., and J. B. Sinski. 2010. Swinging in America: Love, Sex, and Marriage in the 21st Century. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
  • Cole, C. L., and G. B. Spanier. 1973. “Induction into Mate‐Swapping: A Review.” Family Process 12 (3): 279–290. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1973.00279.x
  • Conley, T. D., A. C. Moors, A. Ziegler, and C. Karathanasis. 2012. “Unfaithful Individuals Are Less Likely to Practice Safer Sex than Openly Nonmonogamous Individuals.” The Journal of Sexual Medicine 9 (6): 1559–1565. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02712.x
  • Conley, T. D., A. C. Moors, J. L. Matsick, and A. Ziegler. 2013. “The Fewer the Merrier?: Assessing Stigma Surrounding Consensually Non-Monogamous Romantic Relationships.” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 13 (1): 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-2415.2012.01286.x
  • De Visser, R., and D. McDonald. 2007. “Swings and Roundabouts: Management of Jealousy in Heterosexual ‘Swinging’ Couples.” The British Journal of Social Psychology 46 (Pt 2): 459–476. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466606X143153
  • Dixon, J. K. 1984. “The Commencement of Bisexual Activity in Swinging Married Women over Age Thirty.” Journal of Sex Research 20 (1): 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224498409551207
  • Dukers-Muijrers, N. H., A. M. Niekamp, E. E. Brouwers, and C. J. Hoebe. 2010. “Older and Swinging: Need to Identify Hidden and Emerging Risk Groups at STI Clinics.” Sexually Transmitted Infections 86 (4): 315–317. https://doi.org/10.1136/sti.2009.041954
  • Dukers-Muijrers, N. H., M. S. van Rooijen, A. Hogewoning, G. A. van Liere, M. Steenbakkers, and C. J. Hoebe. 2017. “Incidence of Repeat Testing and Diagnoses of Chlamydia Trachomatis and Neisseria Gonorrhea in Swingers, Homosexual and Heterosexual Men and Women at Two Large Dutch STI Clinics, 2006–2013.” Sexually Transmitted Infections 93 (6): 383–389. https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2016-052807
  • Easton, D., and J. W. Hardy. 2009. The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships and Other Adventures. 2nd ed. Millbrae, CA: Celestial Arts.
  • Fang, B. 1976. “Swinging: In Retrospect.” The Journal of Sex Research 12 (3): 220–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224497609550940
  • Fernandes, E. M., G. Gaither, and N. Wilson. 2020. “An Evaluation of the Rates of STIs and Safe Sex Practices among a Sample of Swingers.” Advance Online Publication. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Edward-Fernandes/publication/346660236
  • Frank, K. 2007. “Playcouples in Paradise: Touristic Sexuality and Lifestyle Travel.” In Love and Globalization: Transformations of Intimacy in the Contemporary World, edited by M. B. Padilla, J. S. Hirsch, M. Muñoz-Laboy, R. Sember, and R. G. Parker, 163–185. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
  • Frank, K. 2008. “‘Not Gay, but Not Homophobic’: Male Sexuality and Homophobia in the Lifestyle.” Sexualities 11 (4): 435–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460708091743
  • Frank, K. 2019. “Rethinking Risk, Culture, and Intervention in Collective Sex Environments.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 48 (1): 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1153-3
  • Fulcher, K., L. Shumka, E. Roth, and N. Lachowsky. 2019. “Pleasure, Risk Perception and Consent among Group Sex Party Attendees in a Small Canadian Urban Centre.” Culture, Health & Sexuality 21 (6): 650–665. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2018.1508749
  • Gould, T. 1999. The Lifestyle: A Look at the Erotic Rites of Swingers. Richmond Hill, Ontario: Firefly Books.
  • Grunt-Mejer, K., and C. Campbell. 2016. “Around Consensual Nonmonogamies: Assessing Attitudes toward Nonexclusive Relationships.” Journal of Sex Research 53 (1): 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2015.1010193
  • Harviainen, T. J., and K. Frank. 2018. “Group Sex as Play: Games and Transgression in Shared Non-Monogamy.” Games and Culture 13 (3): 220–239. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412016659835
  • Hutzler, K. T., T. A. Giuliano, J. R. Herselman, and S. M. Johnson. 2016. “Three’s a Crowd: Public Awareness and (Mis) perceptions of Polyamory.” Psychology & Sexuality 7 (2): 69–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2015.1004102
  • Jenks, R. J. 1985. “A Comparative Study of Swingers and Nonswingers: Attitudes and Beliefs.” Lifestyles 8 (1): 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01435911
  • Jenks, R. J. 1998. “Swinging: A Review of the Literature.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 27 (5): 507–521. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1018708730945
  • Haywood, C. 2022. “Sex Clubs in the UK: Recreational Sex, Erotic Diversity and Geographies of Desire.” International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure 5 (3): 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-022-00108-8
  • Henshel, A. M. 1973. “Swinging: A Study of Decision Making in Marriage.” American Journal of Sociology (78) (4): 885–891. https://doi.org/10.1086/225408
  • Kimberly, C. 2016. “Permission to Cheat: Ethnography of a Swingers’ Convention.” Sexuality & Culture 20 (1): 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9309-y
  • Kimberly, C., and J. D. Hans. 2017. “From Fantasy to Reality: A Grounded Theory of Experiences in the Swinging Lifestyle.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 46 (3): 789–799. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0621-2
  • Kreston, B. 2014. “Refusing a Spoiled Identity: How the Swinger Community Represents on the Web.” PhD diss., Old Dominion University.
  • Loevinger, J. 1976. Ego Development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  • Matsick, J. L., T. D. Conley, A. Ziegler, A. C. Moors, and J. D. Rubin. 2014. “Love and Sex: Polyamorous Relationships Are Perceived More Favourably than Swinging and Open Relationships.” Psychology & Sexuality 5 (4): 339–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2013.832934
  • McDonald, D. 2010. “Swinging: Pushing the Boundaries of Monogamy?.” In Understanding Non-Monogamies, edited by M. Barker, and D. Landridge, 82–93. New York: Routledge.
  • Moors, A. C., J. L. Matsick, A. Ziegler, J. D. Rubin, and T. D. Conley. 2013. “Stigma Toward Individuals Engaged in Consensual Nonmonogamy: Robust and Worthy of Additional Research.” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 13 (1): 52–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.12020
  • Niekamp, A. M., L. A. Mercken, C. J. Hoebe, and N. H. Dukers-Muijrers. 2013. “A Sexual Affiliation Network of Swingers, Heterosexuals Practicing Risk Behaviours that Potentiate the Spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Two-Mode Approach.” Social Networks 35 (2): 223–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2013.02.006
  • O’Byrne, P., and J. A. Watts. 2011. “Exploring Sexual Networks: A Pilot Study of Swingers’ Sexual Behaviour and Health-Care-Seeking Practices.” The Canadian Journal of Nursing Research = Revue Canadienne de Recherche en Sciences Infirmieres 43 (1): 80–97.
  • O’Neill, G. C., and N. O’Neill. 1970. “Patterns in Group Sexual Activity.” The Journal of Sex Research 6 (2): 101–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224497009550654
  • Palson, C., and R. Palson. 1972. “Swinging in Wedlock.” Society 9 (4): 28–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02695912
  • Phillips, S. 2010. “There Were Three in the Bed: Discursive Desire and the Sex Lives of Swingers.” In Understanding Non-Monogamies, edited by M. Barker, and D. Landridge, 94–98. New York: Routledge.
  • Popplewell, M. 2006. “Women in the Lifestyle: A Qualitative Look at the Perceptions, Attitudes and Experiences of Women who Swing.” Master’s thesis, Western Kentucky University.
  • Ritchie, A., and M. Barker. 2006. “There Aren’t Words for What We Do or How We Feel so We Have to Make Them Up’: Constructing Polyamorous Languages in a Culture of Compulsory Monogamy.” Sexualities 9 (5): 584–601. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460706069987
  • Rubin, R. H. 2001. “Alternative Lifestyles Revisited, or Whatever Happened to Swingers, Group Marriages, and Communes?” Journal of Family Issues 22 (6): 711–726. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251301022006003
  • Scoats, R., and E. Anderson. 2019. “My Partner was Just All over Her’: Jealousy, Communication and Rules in Mixed-Sex Threesomes.” Culture, Health & Sexuality 21 (2): 134–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2018.1453088
  • Serina, A. T., M. Hall, D. Ciambrone, and V. C. Phua. 2013. “Swinging around Stigma: Gendered Marketing of Swingers’ Websites.” Sexuality & Culture 17 (2): 348–359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-012-9153-2
  • Sheff, E. 2006. “Poly-Hegemonic Masculinities.” Sexualities 9 (5): 621–642. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460706070004
  • Sheff, E., and C. Hammers. 2011. “The Privilege of Perversities: Race, Class and Education among Polyamorists and Kinksters.” Psychology and Sexuality 2 (3): 198–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2010.537674
  • Simon, W., and J. H. Gagnon. 1986. “Sexual Scripts: Permanence and Change.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 15 (2): 97–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542219
  • Smith, J., and L. Smith. 1970. “Sex and the Sexual Freedom Co-Marital Movement.” The Journal of Sex Research 6 (2): 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224497009550656
  • Smith, L. G., and J. R. Smith. 1974. “Co-Marital Sex: The Incorporation of Extramarital Sex into the Marriage Relationship.” In Beyond Monogamy: Recent Studies of Sexual Alternatives in Marriage, edited by J. R. Smith, and L. G. Smith, 84–102. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Spauwen, L. W., A. Niekamp, C. J. Hoebe, and N. H. Dukers-Muijrers. 2015. “Drug Use, Sexual Risk Behaviour and Sexually Transmitted Infections among Swingers: A Cross-sectional Study in The Netherlands.” Sexually Transmitted Infections 91 (1): 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2014-051626
  • Vaillancourt, K. T., and A. L. Few-Demo. 2014. “Relational Dynamics of Swinging Relationships: An Exploratory Study.” The Family Journal 22 (3): 311–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480714529742
  • Van Liere, G. A., C. J. Hoebe, A. M. Niekamp, D. H. Femke, and N. H. Dukers-Muijrers. 2013. “Standard Symptom-and Sexual History–based Testing Misses Anorectal Chlamydia Trachomatis and Neisseria Gonorrhoeae Infections in Swingers and Men Who Have Sex with Men.” Sexually Transmitted Diseases 40 (4): 285–289. https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0b013e31828098f8
  • Varni, C. A. 1972. “An Exploratory Study of Spouse-Swapping.” The Pacific Sociological Review 15 (4): 507–522. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388267
  • Vaynman, M. J., and J. T. Harviainen. 2023a. “From the Ethnographers’ Side: Escaping Rocks and Pitfalls in Swinger Research.” Journal of Organizational Ethnography Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-03-2023-0007
  • Vaynman, M. J., and J. T. Harviainen. 2023b. “Speaking with Swingers in Spain and France: Strategies from the Swinger World.” Sexuality & Culture 27 (1): 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-10006-6
  • Wagner, B. 2009. “Becoming a Sexual Being: Overcoming Constraints on Female Sexuality.” Sexualities 12 (3): 289–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460709103892
  • Welzer-Lang, D. 2001. “L’échangisme: Une Multisexualité Commerciale à Forte Domination Masculine [Exchangism: A Commercial Multi-Sexuality based on Masculine Domination].” Sociétés Contemporaines 41-42 (1): 111–131. https://doi.org/10.3917/soco.041.0111

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.