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Some middle-class, middle-aged couples like to get together on weekends for dinner parties, golf or barbecues. Others like to have group sex. Welcome to 'The Lifestyle', a 90s euphemism for what was formerly known as swingers' parties. Please leave your clothes, inhibitions and value judgements at the door.
By turns funny, touching and shocking, The Lifestyle is an eye-opening journey through a dozen swingers' pads, workplaces, conventions and parties. The Lifestyle has taken off in middle America to the point where one spokesman claims that if all the practising swingers in the US turned out for the next election, they alone would determine the next president.
In America, every state except North Dakota has at least one major swingers' club, and estimates put the membership as high as three million! Far from being a voyeuristic peep at a sexy subculture, The Lifestyle is a thoroughly researched and presented account of a phenomenon. Journalist and documentary filmmaker David Schisgall spent over three years getting to know members and leaders of The Lifestyle and documenting their lives. In spite of their exceptionally conservative suburban attitudes, these adults lead double lives. The result is a film that is prepared to reveal the bare facts. Still, nothing quite prepares the audience for one couples' anecdote: hearing the horrified cry of "Mum?! Dad?!!" coming from a darkened corner at a suburban orgy.