Underground Sex, Irish Style

The Irish Independent published a rather wonderful little story on Sunday. The paper reported that elite swinging clubs among professional classes - costing thousands of euro to join - are now operating in Ireland, according to an undercover documentary maker. The VIP clubs - which 'swingers' describe as akin to a 'freemason' society where members swear under oath not to reveal the identities or details of those involved - are one of the groups that have been unearthed as part of an investigation into Ireland's secret sex lives.

 The documentary also involves talking to doggers and also 'fetishists'. Screened on Monday, the documentary can also be viewed via the TV3 catch-up service (yes it works for those of us in the UK!). Check the documentary out here and read the full Irish Independent piece here.

Swinging and the Sexual Liberation Myth

It's tempting to think that we live in sexually liberated and progressive times (at least as far as western Europe is concerned) but it doesn't take much to prick this myth.  The North East newspaper, Sunderland Echo reports this evening on plans to open a swingers club in the city.  Have they turned to one of the numerous academics in the city who might have welcomed the move?  No.  They turned to a Catholic Priest for comment who (much surprise all round) thinks it's a terrible time.  Yes, a man who is celibate thinks sex is a bad thing.

The paper stated that: 'Father Chris Jackson, parish priest of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, in Penshaw, said: “Our society is broken, sick. That’s what people said after the riots. “To mend and heal society we need to find ways of making families stronger. “That’s why a ‘swingers’ club’ is the last thing Sunderland needs. “You can kid yourself that this is just a bit of fun for consenting adults. There lies the danger – sex is one of God’s good gifts to us in marriage. “Making it trivial or using it to make money is part of the attack on marriage and family life.”'

Seriously? This is twenty first century journalism?  The paper also randomly states:

'Whilst brothels are illegal, there is no suggestion sex is being sold at Secrets, which is why it is not breaking the law.'

Why? Nobody mentioned brothels except the Echo in this paragraph.  This sort of smearing journalism is grim indeed.  There are arguments for and against swingers but this is not even an attempt to address the complex issues - it's instead a piece that wouldn't have looked out of place in a paper 100 hundred years ago.

Read the full story here.

"Mullas of chaste nudity"

The Sunday Times carries a fascinating story about what it calls 'France's nudist mullahs at war with swingers'. The story relates to the Cap d'Agde which is marketed as one of Europe's best known naturist tourist resorts. Interestingly, mounting tensions, apparently resulting in arson have been breaking out between swingers and naturists. In contrast to the nudist tourist site linked above, other sites such as this states: 'No swinger should die without experiencing Cap D'Agde. Tens of thousands of sexual adventurers migrate there from all over Europe every summer for wonderful weeks of sunbathing and sex. There is nowhere like it in the world, by day a naked city focused on a fantastic beach, by night a constellation of swinging clubs thronged by cosmopolitan libertines. '

These sites are attracting increasing numbers of swingers to the region. Whilst swingers and naturists may be 'lumped together' by the media, they remain very distinct groups. This particular swinging site only allows people who are thin and under 40 to it's parties so not that libertine really.

It seems to me that such a commercialisation of swinging creates additional tensions in a group, already misunderstood and often sneered at by so-called 'mainstream' society. If the young, thin, sexy and affluent swingers are siphoned off, the swinging group becomes more atomised and the tensions between naturists (and the values espoused by naturists in contrast to the elitist commercialisation of swinging venues) are exacerbated. It is also interesting to note that whilst the Sunday Times does not refer to these commercial swinging venues, Fever, the site linked above, does refer to the Times, quoting them at the top of their page as saying 'Fever is high class and high style'.

According to the ST, the fires in Cap d'Agde have been attributed to "mullahs of chaste nudity" but the real source remains unknown. This is an important story but such is our view of swingers and naturists that it is not receiving the coverage in the 'mainstream' media it surely deserves.