This form of sexual identity is clearly outside the norm, and pushes the envelope as to what most 'normal' couples would consider acceptable.

'To swingers, physical acts of sexual pleasure with someone you respect, just for pleasure, and making love to one's lifetime partner are two distinctly different things'. Sex is therefore a very small part of the Swinging relationship. These are further necessitated when it comes to acting out such fantasies within pre- agreed boundaries. The core of a solid swinging relationship is the openness, communication and trust that are required from both partners to be able to discuss matters such as fantasies and desires openly. Swingers are couples (both straight and gay) who have made a conscious, consensual decision to partake in a committed relationship that allows the exploration of recreational sex with other couples and individuals. Swingers take an alternate route the above, however it is one that can engender more trust and honesty than traditional monogamous relationships do. The traditional modality of a relationship entails the promise to be faithful and sexually exclusive to a single partner for the duration of the relationship. To the majority of people brought up in western societies in the last century, a couple engaged in a relationship that does not espouse monogamy is an oxymoron at best, hypocritical at worst.