Conservatives - "Swinging" In(to) Action?

I was born in Pakistan, a conservative country if ever there was one. But, I am always amazed at how in the USA, our great land of the free, land of freedom of speech and expression, that prudishness reigns supreme.

I had a chuckle when I read the news story about some people getting all bent out of shape because they were at a hotel that also had a "swingers ball" type party going on. Darn, I should make a mental note of the location of the hotel. OK, seriously, I am not in that "lifestyle" but this hotel needs all the support they can get. :-)

Apparently, there were some people dancing (legal), showing some skin (legal), wearing sexy outfits (legal) and changing couples as they danced (legal). It would be obvious that there was no public sex and swinging (changing sexual partners) going on (or they would all be arrested).

So, a group of conservative parents complained that it had put him in a tough spot, and one said he had to have a talk with his kids and had to explain to them about what "swingers" do.

But, my question is, WHY did the issue of SWINGING have to come up with the parent's talk with his kid? Did they see swingers actually SWINGING (i.e. people have sex, moving on to change partners and then having some more sex)? Probably not. (If they did, I would be curious as to how long these people actually stood there, watching WHILE being offended!).

So, the question is, why did the parent have to go into discussing swinging? If they only saw somewhat sexily dressed people dancing, then, guess what, swinging is not the issue, nudity or the human body is. If that is a problem, then these people should avoid trips to Europe at all costs. They should also consider moving to Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia.

The complainants also expressed shock that the hotel had conservative guests AND guests of the swinging kind.

As far as this STUPID complaint that two kinds of people are being hosted in the same hotel... I do not drink or smoke or do drugs or use prostitutes. But, when I check into a hotel room, I have no way of knowing, controlling or complaining if the person in the next room is getting drunk, having sex or watching a porno movie (as long as he is not banging the walls and noisy enough to keep me awake. :-) ).

A good point was also made by a person on a Yahoo discussion board about how, in the same hotel, and with these same type of parents, it would be OK for kids to play violent video games, showing ripping heads off human bodies, but heaven forbid if a breast is seen in a see-through dress..... Where's Janet Jackson's wardrobe when you need it?

Is that the sound of all hell breaking loose? Nope, just the thunder of running feet as oglers line up to see the swingers in action. :-)

Your comments are welcome.

Imran

PS One of my regular readers Imran Farooq made some good observations below, which I am addressing in this note added on January 10, 2006:

Yes. I can understand a parent's concern if someone actually does expose their child to blatant or criminal sexual behaviour.

The problem is that these people are asking for a level of political correctness and pandering to different groups' whims. So what if they saw a thong. It is LEGAL to wear a thong WITHOUT pants on in Florida so why did this thong bother these parents? Do they refuse to go to the beach because people wear thong bikinis there? Now, if any of these swingers exposed kids to specifically sexual situations, that is a different story.

But, what do we want, every time we call a hotel to make a booking we have to be read a list of all the types of guests who have booked there? So if a group does not like Blacks or Muslims or gays or big busted women, can they require a hotel to have to provide details of every "type" of guest? How would we like to be typecast in a "group" so that others can decide if they want to be in the hotel when we are there or not? Do guests have to declare on a form if they are going to have sex, wear a thong bikini, watch a porno movie, get drunk in their room, or whatever LEGAL thing they want to do, just to placate some groups? That big picture is what I am speaking for. Thanks.