Psychology of Swinging (The Lifestyle) | |
by Sam Vaknin | |
Thumbnail | |
Download | |
Web page | |
Everything You Need to Know about Narcissists, | |
Psychopaths, and Abuse - click on this link: | |
http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/faq1.html | |
The psychological background of swinging (The Lifestyle, | |
wife-swapping, wife-sharing, group sex) is not clear and | |
has never been studied in depth. Still, thousands of | |
online chats between active and wannabe adherents and | |
fans in various forums reveal 10 psychodynamic strands: | |
1. Latent and overt bisexuality and homosexuality: both | |
men and women adopt swinging as a way to sample same-sex | |
experiences in a tolerant, at times anonymous, and | |
permissive environment; | |
2. The Slut-Madonna Complex: to be sexually attracted to | |
their spouses, some men need to "debase" and "humiliate" | |
them by witnessing their "sluttish" conduct with others. | |
These men find it difficult to have regular, intimate sex | |
with women to whom they are emotionally attached and | |
whose probity is beyond doubt. Sex is "dirty" and | |
demeaning, so it should be mechanical, the preserve of | |
whorish and promiscuous partners; | |
3. Voyeurism and exhibitionism are both rampant in and | |
satisfied by swinging. Oftentimes, those who partake in | |
the Lifestyle document their exploits on video and share | |
photos and saucy verbal descriptions. Amateur porn and | |
public sex ("dogging") are fixtures of swinging; | |
4. Vicarious gratification. "Cuckolds" are (typically | |
male) swingers who masturbate to the sight of their | |
partner having sex with another, usually without actually | |
joining the fray. They derive gratification from and are | |
sexually aroused by the evident pleasure experienced by | |
their significant other: her vocalizations, body | |
language, body fluids, enraptured movements, and orgasm | |
and abandon; | |
5. Masochism is a prime motive for a minority of | |
swingers. They relish in their own agony as they watch | |
their spouse hooking up with others: envy, pain, anxiety, | |
a sense of humiliation, an overpowering feeling of | |
worthlessness and inadequacy, sinfulness, debauchery, | |
depravity, and decadence all conspire to thrill the | |
masochist and delight him; | |
6. Swinging is also a form of legitimized cheating. It | |
spices up the stale sex lives of the players and | |
neutralized the emotional and financial risks and threats | |
associated with furtive extramarital escapades. Many | |
swingers adopt the Lifestyle in order to alleviate | |
boredom, counter routine, feel desirable and attarctive | |
again, learn new techniques, and cope with discrepancies | |
in sex drive. They insist: "swinging saved my marriage"; | |
7. Some swingers use the Lifestyle to "display" or | |
"exhibit" their partners, casting them as desired and | |
desirable trophies, or status symbols. Others present may | |
sexually "sample the wife" but never own her, a form of | |
restricted access which causes her suitors much envy and | |
frustration. "I am the one who ends up going home with | |
her" -- these swingers brag, thus reaffirming their own | |
irresistibility and attractiveness; | |
8. The Lifestyle is a rollercoaster of serial | |
relationships, mostly with strangers. It is, therefore, | |
thrilling, risky, and exciting and provokes anxiety, | |
romantic jealousy, and guilt (for having dragged the | |
partner into the Lifestyle, or for not having restrained | |
her). There is also a recurrent fear of losing the | |
partner owing to a growing emotional or sexual bond with | |
one of her casual "F-buddies" or "friends with benefits". | |
Swinging results in an adrenaline rush, a high, and in | |
addictive periods of calm after these self-inflicted | |
psychosexual storms; | |
9. Swinging calls for the objectification of sexual | |
partners. Many swingers prefer to remain anonymous in | |
settings like Lifestyle retreats or group sex and orgies. | |
They are thus reduced to genitalia and erogenous zones | |
enmeshed in auto-erotic and narcissistic acts of | |
masturbatory gratification with other people's bodies as | |
mere props. Other practitioners actually prefer to swing | |
only with close friends, using sex as a form of intimacy- | |
enhancing recreation; | |
10.Nudity has a pronounced aesthetic dimension and when | |
multiple naked bodies intertwine, the combination can | |
amount to a work of art, a flesh-and-blood throbbing | |
sculpture. Many swingers find sex to be the most supreme | |
form of artistic experience, an interconnectedness that | |
enhances empathy and communication and provides extreme | |
sensual pleasure. It is also great fun: the ultimate in | |
entertainment, where novelty and familiarity merge to | |
yield a unique journey with each new entrant. | |
(From the book "Malignant Self-love: Narcissism | |
Revisited" by Sam Vaknin - Click on this link to purchase | |
the print book, or 16 e-books, or 3 DVDs with 16 hours of | |
video lectures on narcissists, psychopaths, and abuse in | |
relationships: http://www.narcissistic- | |
abuse.com/thebook.html) | |
Date Published: 2013-11-15 12:51:39 | |
Identifier: PsychologyOfSwingingtheLifestyle | |
Item Size: 662985074 | |
Language: English | |
Media Type: movies | |
# Topics | |
swinging; the lifestyle; sexuality; n... | |
# Collections | |
opensource_movies | |
community | |
# Uploaded by | |
@samvaknin | |
# Similar Items | |
View similar items | |
PHAROS | |