Polyamory in the News
. . . by Alan M.



January 12, 2008

More swinging in the news

Following up on my previous post....

A slick new online magazine for swingers has just appeared: Kasidie.com, based in Denver. This is from the publisher's press release:


...Kasidie.com is a total departure from what the general public might expect to find in an online swinger magazine. With no personal classified ads, chat rooms, or gratuitous pornographic material, Kasidie has taken an intellectual and creative approach to exploring the lifestyle of swingers. Through information, conversation and some sexy stimulation, Kasidie aspires to overturn prejudices and preconceived notions about sexuality and the modern swinging lifestyle.

"Most people hear the word "swinger" and they immediately focus on the sex," say Kasidie's publishers, Scott [Purcell] and [his wife] Nicoleta. "But the swinging lifestyle is really not about sex, it's about sexuality and it's about friendship....


Read the whole press release. Note: the Kasidie.com site has a porny look (despite the press release) and is Not Safe For Work.

The Denver Post and other papers ran an article (Jan. 8, 2008) about the magazine's launch and Scott Purcell, the web entrepreneur behind it. He brings real money and a track record to this venture, and the first issue is very professionally done. He says,


In five years I'd love to be the Playboy of the swinging world.


I admit to a little poly jealousy here (actually that would be envy) about how much bigger and better the swing world is able to do things than we can. So far.

Heck, it's big enough to support a line of designer swinger's watches, with Mary Carey promoting them. You can check out the SwappWatch at booth #68 at the upcoming Swingfest in Hollywood, Florida. "These elegant but playful watches aim to promote discreet connections among lifestyle couples by providing them a means of identifying each other easily and openly in social settings."

The poly equivalent would be infinity-heart pins and jewelry. (For instance, from Abzu Designs and PAARC.) I've worn a little infinity-heart lapel pin off and on for a couple years now, and never yet has someone spotted it and said "Omigod, do you know about poly?" Maybe someday....

Some swinger demographics: Gypsey Teague of Clemson University writes,


I just finished a project attempting to identify the percentage of swingers in [several states] and look for some form of comparison between red and blue states. What I didn't expect to find was there is no comparison. Within 4 tenths of a percent, all [seven sampled] states had 1.6% of their population swinging. It didn't matter whether the states were red or blue. The predominance of the population on the sites monitored were Boomers, not X, Y, or Millies....


No reference yet; her study is unpublished. 1.6% of the U.S. population would be 4.8 million people, which is more or less in line with other estimates.

Update March 5, 2008: There's a big article in the March Boston magazine, "Hooking Up with the Joneses," about the supposedly roaring swing scene here in the Boston suburbs. The most fascinating part to me, however, is the high-drama catfight going on in the article's comment section between local swingers and party organizers. Reminds me why I stay away from The Lifestyle. Poly Boston and Family Tree seem so gentle, kind, and civilized by comparison.

Update on "Swingtown," March 8, 2008: The CBS drama "Swingtown," about young suburban lifestylers in the 1970s, will debut on CBS May 29th at 10 p.m. Thursdays. 

What will it mean when this show appears on mainstream TV? Blogger Galahad predicts we'll have to do damage control. Read what he has to say about this and other portrayals of swinging and alt sex on network TV at The Sideshow Menagerie.

Labels:

2 Comments:

Blogger Kasidie said...

Our editor recently sat down and interviewed someone from the poly community; triggered by our February Unicorn of the Month, as she is both a swinger and in the poly lifestyle. It's amazing how we have misconceptions about each other! We hope to clear that up a bit when we publish the interview in our April issue.

Cheers,

Scott Purcell
Publisher
Kasidie Magazine

February 28, 2008 9:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice job of commenting and spamming the comments on the BostonMagazine article with your site as well as for being nice and condescending towards the swinging community by trying to think your "poly" lifestyle is in someway superior to swinging.

You can dress up Poly with whatever rose colored words you want, but it is still about sex, it's like calling a hooker an escort instead of a hooker.

although, if I were a betting man, I would be betting this comment never reaches the public eyes, such a shame you can't just accept open criticism and will censor those who speak out against you.

March 05, 2008 11:27 PM  

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