Swingers: Lifestyle More Common Than Most Think
 

This is something that will be the norm in years from now, here in NY we got a few big swing clubs and in prissy long island towns private swing parties are becomming very popular

http://www.news4jax.com/news/1096761...0425&qs=1;bp=t

Swingers: Lifestyle More Common Than Most Think
Mental Health Counselor Sees Problems With Swinging Lifestyle

POSTED: 11:13 pm EST February 8, 2007
UPDATED: 12:29 am EST February 9, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Some couples in Jacksonville who are married but also sexually active with other couples -- swingers -- said the lifestyle may be more common than many people think.

They said everyday couples are swapping partners. In the River City, there are clubs, magazines and even fliers that are dedicated to promoting what's called "the lifestyle."

Channel 4's Emily Pantelides talked to Jacksonville couples who swap partners. All of them asked that their identities be concealed and that the voices be altered.

"It's not embarrassing. It's just a part of our life we would rather not share," said one husband.

He and his wife said they are like every other married couple in Jacksonville. They have kids, normal jobs and a normal sex life together.

"She never has to worry about me cheating on her," he said.

However, the self-proclaimed normal couple is living the swingers' lifestyle. They keep it a secret and said thousands of others in Jacksonville do the same.

"There're more people than you would think," one husband said. "You go, meet a couple, y'all dance, have drinks. If everything works out and everybody likes everybody, you take it to the next level and you go back and you all four have sex."

Another man, who has been married for eight years, told Channel 4 he is also a Jacksonville swinger and that he and his wife swap partners regularly.

"Me and my wife meet other people online, or sometimes we will go out to regular clubs around town. Another couple catches your eye and ... yeah," he said.

He said to think that swinging is not happening is naïve and that people from all walks of life, from mechanics to doctors to senators and celebrity couples, are swingers.

He said he does not feel like he has been cheating on his wife because he has her permission.

"When you see your husband with somebody else do you ever get jealous?" Pantelides asked.

"At first, sometimes. It just depends on who it is," the wife said.

The swingers said the lifestyle is fun, and they also said they swing to save their marriages.

"It actually keeps marriages together," said one husband. "It just enhances your sex life."

Ann Hawthorne, a licensed mental health counselor who has provided therapy for regular couples and couples who swing, said she disagrees that the lifestyle actually keeps marriages together.

"To watch your partner in a compromising position of intimacy with a third or fourth party really does ruin respect for each other," Hawthorne said. "I think any marriage that needs that type of enhancement is in trouble to begin with."

She said the main problem she sees is a difference in what each partner wants when he or she swing.

"Some partners get jealous because their partners are actually enjoying it more than with them," Hawthorne said.

One of the couples said some of the things Hawthorne stated are true.

"That's true, but with us it's different," said one husband.

He said he's met people who were unhappy living the swinging lifestyle.

"Absolutely. The girls are being forced, or the guy's not happy. Those are the ones we don't hang out with. If you do it right, it's good," he said.

Pantelides also reported that a major part of the swinging lifestyle is protection, saying the people with whom she spoke told her protection goes without saying.

Copyright 2007 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

wow, i had no idea swinging was so mainstream :P