 Re: Is Swinging Poly?
Interesting points.
Swinging is basically a social activity. People can easily enjoy sharing an activity without being committed friends - for example "bowling buddies". These kind of relationships can be rewarding, satisfying, even meaningful, but are limited to the specific shared activity. "Sex buddies" are pretty much the same thing. Emotional attachments are generally unwelcome in swingerdom. The idea of "no strings attached" is as ubiquitous as "no drama", or "drug & disease free". Typically, couples swing to enhance their sex-life together, and decidedly not to upset the applecart of their relationship.
The vast majority of swingers have no intention of falling in love with their play partners, but many are open to friendship. Is friendship a kind of love? Is "friends with benefits" a mild version of polyamory? Depends on what we mean by friendship. Does the friendship include commitment? If we answer yes, we have to entertain the idea of "friends with benefits" as being a version of polyandry. (i.e. multiple partners in a committed sexual relationship.)
How deep does the commitment have to be for a sexual relationship to be thought of as poly? It really isn't for anyone outside the relationship to say, since polyamory is a relationship negotiated and defined by the participants.
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