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Permission To Cheat: Ethnography of a Swingers’ Convention

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Abstract

Although some research has been done on the communicative practices among swingers, none has taken a holistic approach to investigating the formation of sexual scripts within the swinging community. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to analyze the communicative techniques being used to initiate conversation about engaging in sexual interactions with those outside of a primary romantic relationship. During a four-day swingers’ convention held in the United States, field notes were taken and cultural artifacts were reviewed. In addition, 32 formal interviews were conducted with married spouses who participated in this lifestyle after the convention concluded. An aggregation of the observed social behaviors and resulting communicative scripts has been organized into three chronological themes: introductions, noting of interest, and invitation to engage in sexual relations.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.

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  1. University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive #5035, Hattiesburg, MS, 39406, USA

    Claire Kimberly

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  1. Claire Kimberly
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Correspondence to Claire Kimberly.

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Kimberly, C. Permission To Cheat: Ethnography of a Swingers’ Convention. Sexuality & Culture 20, 56–68 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9309-y

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