Alternative Adult Lifestyle – Dating and Relationships with a Twist

Alternative lifestyle can be defined as a way of living or doing something that is not within accepted norms or values. The alternative lifestyle for adults is simply an unusual sexual lifestyle.

Some activities considered alternative lifestyles for adults include:

1. BDSM: This stands for Bondage and Discipline (B&D), Domination and Submission (D&S), and Sado-Masochism (S&M). As the definition suggests, BDSM involves bondage, that is, restraining or being restrained, dominance and submission, sadism (enjoying inflicting pain on another person), and masochism (enjoying being subjected to a certain degree of pain).

2. Swinging: This can be defined as a form of recreational social and sexual activity between consenting adults in which partner swapping is acceptable. Swinging is also known as “wife swapping” but this definition is inaccurate as it reduces the activity and makes it look like male dominance. “Swinging” may be a simpler but more accurate description.

3. Sexual fetishism: Arousal and/or gratification through some non-genital object or part of the body. Such an object or body part is called a fetish. Fetishes include, but are not limited to, shoes (boots or high heels), feet or toes, hair, undergarments or lingerie, body piercings, clothing (size, garment type or size), stockings, etc. .

4. Polyamory: This is the practice of having more than one intimate relationship at a time, with the full knowledge and consent of all involved. In polyamory there is no partner swapping, unlike partner swapping where swapping is the norm. Polyamorous relationships are usually serious and long-lasting.

Why do people pursue alternative adult lifestyles and relationships? The answers are as many as there are individuals. But one that tends to cross the board is, you guessed it, fun. Another reason is the fulfillment of sexual fantasies.

There are many more forms and variations of alternative sexual lifestyles than can fit in this article, as well as subsets of them. For example, Bondage as in the B in BDSM can be considered as a lifestyle in itself.

It is not common for alternative lifestyles to overlap. For example, at a swinger party (an alternative lifestyle), a person can get a body part pierced (a fetish), a man can get spanked while chained (BDSM) by a woman in leather and boots (dress or shoe fetish), while a polyamorous threesome (an alternative lifestyle) may be joined by another partner for sexual activity.

Thinking of exploring your alternative, fantasy or fetish? There are dating sites specifically dedicated to adult alternative lifestyle, where people with similar interests meet.