Two professional dominatrixes interviewed by David Shankbone about the psychological aspects of some of their stranger requests. Go
here for the full transcript.
Female Top with whip, handcuffs, bondage cuffs and other equipment.
A non-representative survey on the sexual behavior of American students published in 1997 and based on questionnaires had a response rate of about 8–9%. It results showed 15% of openly homosexual males, 21% of openly lesbian and female bisexual students, 11% of heterosexual males and 9% of female heterosexual students committed to BDSM related fantasies.[44]
In all groups the level of practical BDSM experiences varied about 6%. Within the group of openly female bisexuals and lesbians the quote was significantly higher, at 21%. Independent of their sexual orientation, about 12% of all questioned students, 16% of the outed female lesbians and bisexuals and 8% of the male heterosexuals articulated an interest in spanking. Experience with this sexual behavior was indicated by 30% of male heterosexuals, 33% of female bisexuals and lesbians, and 24% of the male gay and bisexual men and female heterosexual women.[44]
Even if this study were not considered representative, other surveys indicate similar dimensions in a differing target groups.[62]
[63]
[64]
In a representative study published in 1999 by the German Institut für rationale Psychologie, about two thirds of the interviewed women stated a desire to be at the mercy of their sexual partners from time to time. 69% admitted to fantasies dealing with sexual submissiveness, 42% stated interest in explicit BDSM techniques, 25% in bondage.[65]
A 1976 study in the general U.S. population suggests three percent have had positive experiences with Bondage or master-slave role playing. Overall 12% of the interviewed females and 18% of the males were willing to try it.[66]
[67]
A 1990 Kinsey Institute
report stated that 5% to 10% of Americans occasionally engage in sexual activities related to BDSM. 11% of men and 17% of women reported trying bondage.[68]
[69]
Some elements of BDSM have been popularized through increased media coverage since the middle 1990s. Thus both black leather clothing, sexual jewellery such as chains and dominance role play appear increasingly outside of BDSM contexts.
According to a 2005 survey of 317,000 people in 41 countries, about 20% of the surveyed people have at least once used masks, blindfolds or other bondage utilities, and 5% explicitly connected themselves with BDSM.[70]
In 2004, 19% mentioned spanking as one of their practices and 22% confirmed the use of blindfolds and/or handcuffs.[71]
Some BDSM accessories, like the Ring of O, have been integrated into the jewelry collections of internationally well known designers like Calvin Klein
.
[edit
] Psychological categorization
In the past, many activities and fantasies related to BDSM were generally attributed to sadism or masochism
and were regarded by psychiatrists
as an illness. Following the International Classification of Diseases
(ICD-10) sadomasochism is categorized a "Disorder of sexual preference" (F65.5
) and described as follows: "A preference for sexual activity which involves the infliction of pain or humiliation, or bondage. If the subject prefers to be the recipient of such stimulation this is called masochism; if the provider, sadism. Often an individual obtains sexual excitement from both sadistic and masochistic activities."[72]
With the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-IV) in 1994 new criteria of diagnosis were available describing BDSM clearly not as disorders of sexual preferences. They are now not regarded as illnesses in and of themselves. The DSM-IV asserts that "The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors" must "cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning" in order for sexual sadism or masochism
to be considered a disorder. The manuals' latest edition (DSM-IV-TR) requires that the activity must be the sole means of sexual gratification for a period of six (6) months, and either cause "clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning" or involve a violation of "Consent
" to be diagnosed as a paraphilia.[73]
Overlays of sexual preference disorders and the practice of BDSM practices can occur, however.
In Europe, an organization called ReviseF65
has worked towards this purpose in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).[74]
In 1995, Denmark became the first European Union
country to have completely removed sadomasochism from its national classification of diseases. This was followed by Sweden in 2009 and Norway in 2010.[75]
[76]
Recent surveys[which?
] on the spread of BDSM fantasies and practices show strong variations in the range of their results. Nevertheless it can be stated that the vast majority of the researchers assume 5 to 25 percent of the population showing sexual behavior related to joyfully experienced pain or dominance and submission. The population with related fantasies is considered even higher.[77]
There are only a few studies researching the psychological aspects of BDSM using modern scientific standards. A pivotal survey on the subject was published by US-American psychotherapist Charles Moser in 1988 in the Journal of Social Work and Human Sexuality.[53]
His conclusion was that while there is a general lack of data on the psychological problems of BDSM practitioners, some fundamental results are obvious. He emphasizes that there is no evidence for the theory that BDSM has common symptoms or any common psychopathology; Clinical literature, though does not give a consistent picture of BDSM practitioners. Moser emphasizes that there is no evidence at all supporting the theory of BDSM practitioners having any special psychiatric problems or even problems based solely on their preferences.
Moser's results were supported by data presented to the 2007 World Congress of Sexology
by Juliet Richters, Richard De Visser, Andrew Grulich, and Christropher Rissel
. The researchers found that BDSM practitioners were no more likely to have experienced sexual assault than the control group, and were not more likely to feel unhappy or anxious. The BDSM males reported higher levels of psychological well-being than the controls. It was concluded that "BDSM is simply a sexual interest attractive to a minority, not a pathological symptom of past abuse or difficulty with normal sex."[78]
Problems do sometimes occur in the area of self classification by the person concerned. During the phase of the "coming-out", self questioning related to one's own "normality" is quite common. According to Moser, the discovery of BDSM preferences can result in fear of the current non-BDSM relationship's destruction. This, combined with the fear of discrimination in everyday life, leads in some cases to a double life which can be highly burdensome. At the same time, the denial of BDSM preferences can induce stress and dissatisfaction with one's own "vanilla"-lifestyle, feeding the apprehension of finding no partner. Moser states that BDSM practitioners having problems finding BDSM partners would probably have problems in finding a non-BDSM partner as well. The wish to remove BDSM preferences is another possible reason for psychological problems since it is not possible in most cases. Finally, the scientist states that BDSM practitioners seldom commit violent crimes. From his point of view, crimes of BDSM practitioners usually have no connection with the BDSM components existing in their life. Moser's study comes to the conclusion that there is no scientific evidence, which could give reason to refuse members of this group work- or safety certificates, adoption possibilities, custody or other social rights or privileges. The Swiss psychoanalyst Fritz Morgenthaler shares a similar perspective in his book, Homosexuality, Heterosexuality, Perversion (1988). He states that possible problems result not necessarily from the non-normative behavior, but in most cases primarily from the real or feared reactions of the social environment towards the own preferences.[79]
In 1940 psychoanalyst Theodor Reik
reached implicitly the same conclusion in his standard work Aus Leiden Freuden. Masochismus und Gesellschaft.[80]
[edit
] History
[edit
] Origins
Tomba della Fustigazione (Flogging Grave), latter sixth century b.c..
Copper engraving, about 1780.
The historical origins of BDSM are obscure. During the ninth century BC, ritual flagellations
were performed in Artemis Orthia
, one of the most important religious areas of ancient Sparta
, where the Cult of Orthia
, a preolympic
religion, was practiced. Here ritual flagellation called diamastigosis took place on a regular basis. One of the oldest graphical proofs of sadomasochistic activities is found in an Etruscan
burial site in Tarquinia
. Inside the Tomba della Fustigazione
(Flogging grave), in the latter sixth century B.C., two men are portrayed flagellating a woman with a cane and a hand during an erotic situation.[81]
Another reference related to flagellation is to be found in the sixth book of the Satires of the ancient Roman Poet Juvenal
(1st–2nd century A.D.),[82]
further reference can be found in Petronius
's Satyricon
where a delinquent is whipped for sexual arousal.[83]
Anecdotal narratives related to humans who have had themselves voluntary bound, flagellated or whipped as a substitute for sex or as part of foreplay reach back to the third and fourth century.
The Kama Sutra
describes four different kinds of hitting during lovemaking, the allowed regions of the human body to target and different kinds
of joyful "cries of pain" practiced by bottoms. The collection of historic texts related to sensuous experiences explicitly emphasizes that impact play
, biting and pinching during sexual activities should only be performed consensually since only some women consider such behavior to be joyful. From this perspective the Kama Sutra can be considered as one of the first written resources dealing with sadomasochistic activities and safety rules. Further texts with sadomasochistic connotation appear worldwide during the following centuries on a regular basis.[84]
There are anecdotal reports of people willingly being bound or whipped, as a prelude to or substitute for sex, during the fourteenth century. The medisee Etymology
). There are reports of brothels specializing in flagellation as early as 1769, and John Cleland's novel Fanny Hill
, published in 1749, mentions a flagellation scene.[87]
Other sources give a broader definition, citing BDSM-like behavior in earlier times and other cultures, such as the medifrom 1928), "American Fetish" (from 1934), and "Gay Leather" (from 1950).[91]
Another source are the sexual games
played in brothels
, which go back into the nineteenth century if not earlier. Irving Klaw
, during the 1950s and 1960s, produced some of the first commercial film and photography with a BDSM theme (most notably with Bettie Page
) and published comics by the now-iconic bondage artists John Willie
and Eric Stanton
.
Stanton's model Bettie Page became at the same time one of the first successful models in the area of fetish photography and one of the most famous pin-up girls
of American mainstream culture. Italian author and designer Guido Crepax
was deeply influenced by him, coining the style and development of European adult comics in the second half of the twentieth century. The artists Helmut Newton
and Robert Mapplethorpe
are the most prominent examples of the increasing use of BDSM-related motives in modern photography and the public discussions still resulting from this.[92]
[edit
] Leather movement
Much of the BDSM ethos can be traced back to the gay male leather culture
, which formalized itself out of the group of men who were soldiers returning home after World War II
(1939–1945).[93]
This subculture is epitomized by the Leatherman's Handbook by Larry Townsend, published in 1972, which dscribes in detail the practices and culture of gay male sadomasochists in the late 1960s and early 1970s. [94]
[95]
In 1981, however, the publication of Coming to Power
by lesbian-feminist group Samois
led to a greater knowledge and acceptance of BDSM in the lesbian community.[96]
They got into conflict with fundamentalist part of the feminist movement which considered BDSM to be the base of misogyny and violent porn.
Today the Leather Movement is generally seen as a part of the BDSM-culture instead as a development deriving from gay subculture, even if a huge part of the BDSM-subculture was gay in the past. In the 1990s the so called New Guard
leather subculture
evolved. This new orientation started to integrate psychological aspects into their play.
[edit
] Internet
In the mid-nineties, the Internet
provided a way of finding people with specialized interests around the world as well as on a local level, and communicating with them anonymously.[9]
[97]
This brought about an explosion of interest and knowledge of BDSM, particularly on the usenet
group alt.sex.bondage
. When that group became too cluttered with spam
, the focus moved to soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm
.
In addition to traditional sex shops, which sell sex paraphernalia, there has also been an explosive growth of online adult toy
companies that specialize in leather/latex gear and BDSM toys. Once a very niche market
, there are now very few sex toy
companies that do not offer some sort of BDSM or fetish
gear in their catalog. Kinky elements seem to have worked their way into "vanilla
" markets. The former niche expanded to an important pillar of the business with adult accessories.[98]
Today practically all suppliers of sex toys do offer items which originally found usage in the BDSM subculture. Padded handcuffs, latex and leather garments, as well as more exotic items like soft whips for fondling and TENS for erotic electro stimulation can be found in catalog aiming on classical vanilla target groups, indicating that former boundaries increasingly seem to shift.
During the last years the Internet also provides a central platform for networking among individuals who are interested in the subject. Besides countless private and commercial choices there is an increasing number of local networks and support groups emerging. These groups often offer comprehensive background and health related information for people who have been unwillingly outed as well as contact lists with information on psychologists
, physicians
and lawyers
who are familiar with BDSM related topics.[99]
[edit
] Etymology
The terms "Sadism" and "Masochism" are derived from the names of the Marquis de Sade
and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
, based on the content of the authors' works. In 1843 the Hungarian physician Heinrich Kaan published Psychopathia sexualis ("Psychopathy of Sex"), a writing in which he converts the sin conceptions of Christianity into medical diagnoses. With his work the originally theological terms "perversion", "aberration" and "deviation" became part of the scientific terminology for the first time. The German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft Ebing
introduced the terms "Sadism" and "Masochism" into the medical terminology in his work Neue Forschungen auf dem Gebiet der Psychopathia sexualis ("New research in the area of Psychopathy of Sex") in 1890.[100]
In 1905 Sigmund Freud
described "Sadism" and "Masochism" in his Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie ("Three papers on Sexualtheory") as diseases developing from an incorrect development of the child psyche and laid the groundwork for the scientific perspective on the subject in the following decades. This lead to the first time use of the compound term Sado-Masochism (German "Sado-Masochismus")) by the Viennese Psychoanalytic Isidor Isaak Sadger
in its work Über den sado-masochistischen Komplex ("Regarding the sadomasochistic complex") in 1913.[101]
In the past BDSM activists turned repeatedly against these conceptual models, originally deriving from singular historical figures and implying a clear pathological
connotation. They argued that there is no common sense in attributing a phenomenon as complex as BDSM to two individual humans, as well one might speak of "Leonardism
" instead of Homosexuality
. The BDSM scene tried to distinguish themselves with the expression "B&D" for bondage and discipline from the sometimes pejorative connotations of the term "S&M". The abbreviation BDSM itself was probably coined in the early 1990s in the subculture connected with the Usenet
newsgroup alt.sex.bondage
. The earliest posting with the term which is now preserved in Google Groups dates from June 1991. Later the dominance and submission dimension was integrated into the connotation of BDSM, creating the multilevel acronym
common today.
[edit
] Legal status
A
bit gag used in BDSM made of leather, steel and wood
It is entirely dependent on the legal situation in individual countries whether the practice of BDSM has any criminal relevance or legal consequences. Criminalization of consensually implemented BDSM practices is usually not with explicit reference to BDSM, but results from the fact that such behavior as spanking or cuffing someone could be considered a breach of personal rights, which in principle constitutes a criminal offense. In Germany
, Netherlands
, Japan
and Scandinavia
, such behavior is legal in principle. In Austria
the legal status is not clear, while in Switzerland
some BDSM practices can be considered criminal. Spectacular incidents like the US-American scandal of People v. Jovanovic
and the British Operation Spanner
demonstrate the degree to which difficult grey areas can pose a problem for the individuals and authorities involved. It is very important to learn the legal status of the right of consent in the judicial statue of the country of resident for the practitioners of BDSM.
[edit
] Germany
The practice of BDSM is not generally penalized in Germany if it is conducted with the mutual consent of the partners involved.
The following sections of the criminal code may be relevant in certain instances for BDSM practices:
In order to fulfill the charge of coercion, the use of violence or the threat of a "severe mistreatment" must involve an endangerment to life and limb. In cases where the continued application of the treatment could be ended through the use of a safeword
, neither coercion nor sexual coercion may be charged. In the case of charges of sexual abuse of people incapable of resistance, similar principles apply. In this case, taking advantage of a person's inability to resist in order to perform sexual acts on that person is considered punishable. The potential use of the safeword is considered to be sufficient possibility for resistance, since this would lead to the cessation of the act, and so a true inability to resist is not considered to be in effect. The charge of insult (slander) can only be prosecuted if the defamed person chooses to press charges, according to §194. False imprisonment can be charged if the victim—when applying an objective view—can be considered to be impaired in his or her rights of free movement.
According to §228 of the German criminal code, a person inflicting a bodily injury on another person with that person's permission violates the law only in cases in which the deed can be considered to have violated good morals in spite of permission having been given. On 26 May 2004, the Criminal Panel #2 of the Bundesgerichtshof
(German Federal Court) ruled that sado-masochistically motivated physical injuries are not per se indecent and thus subject to §228.[102]
Still, this ruling makes the question of indecency dependent on the degree to which the bodily injury might be likely to impair the health of the receiving party. According to the BGH, the line of indecency
is definitively crossed when "under an objectively prescient consideration of all relevant circumstances the party granting consent could be brought into concrete danger of death by the act of bodily injury." In its ruling, the court overturned a verdict by the Provincial Court of Kassel, according to which a man who had choked his partner and thereby involuntarily strangled her, had been sentenced to probation for negligent manslaughter. The court had rejected a conviction on charges of bodily injury leading to death on the grounds that the victim had, in its opinion, consented to the act. Following cases in which sado-masochistic practices had been repeatedly used as pressure tactics against former partners in custody cases, the Appeals Court of Hamm
ruled in February 2006 that sexual inclinations toward sado-masochism are no indication of a lack of capabilities for successful childraising.[103]
[edit
] United Kingdom
British
law does not recognize the possibility of consenting to bodily injury. Such acts are illegal, even between consenting adults, and these laws are enforced.[104]
This leads to the situation that, while Great Britain and especially London are world centers of the closely-related fetish scene, there are only very private events for the BDSM scene which are in no way comparable to the German "Play party" scene.
Following Operation Spanner the European Court of Human Rights
ruled in January 1999 in Laskey, Jaggard and Brown v. United Kingdom
that no violation of Article 8
occurred because the amount of physical or psychological harm that the law allows between any two people, even consenting adults, is to be determined by the jurisdiction
the individuals live in, as it is the State's responsibility to balance the concerns of public health
and well-being with the amount of control a State should be allowed to exercise over its citizens. In the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill 2007, the British Government cited the Spanner case as justification for criminalizing images of consensual acts, as part of its proposed criminalization of possession of "extreme pornography
".[105]
For Italian law, BDSM is right on the border between crime and legality, and everything lies in the interpretation of the Code by the judge. This concept is that anyone willingly causing "injury" to another person is to be punished. In this context, though, "injury" is legally defined as "anything causing a condition of illness", and "illness" is ill-defined itself in two different legal ways. The first is "any anatomical or functional alteration of the organism" (thus technically including little scratches and bruises too); The second is "a significant worsening of a previous condition relevant to organic and relational processes, requiring any kind of therapy". This makes it somewhat risky to play with someone, as later the "victim" might call for foul play using any sort of little mark as evidence against the partner. Also, any injury requiring over 20 days of medical care must be denounced by the professional medic who discovers it, leading to automatic indictment of the person who caused it. BDSM play between nonconsenting adults or minors or in public is of course punished according to "normal" laws.[106]
[edit
] Austria
§90 of the criminal code declares bodily injury (§§ 83, 84) or the endangerment of physical security (§89) to not be subject to penalty in cases in which the "victim" has consented and the injury or endangerment does not offend moral sensibilities. Case law from the Austrian Supreme Court has consistently shown that bodily injury is only offensive to moral sensibilities (and thus punishable) when a "serious injury" (meaning a damage to health or an employment disability lasting more than 24 days) or the "death" of the "victim" results. A light injury is considered generally permissible when the "victim" has consented to it. In cases of threats to bodily well-being, the standard depends on the probability that an injury will actually occur. If serious injury or even death would be a likely result of a threat being carried out, then even the threat itself is considered punishable.[citation needed
]
[edit
] Switzerland
The age of consent in Switzerland is 16 years, which also applies for BDSM play. Children (i.e. those under 16) are not subject to punishment for BDSM play as long as the age difference between them is less than three years. Certain practices, however, require granting consent to light injuries and thus are only allowed for those over 18. Since Articles 135 and 197 of the Swiss Criminal Code were tightened, on 1 April 2002, ownership of "objects or demonstrations [...] which depict sexual acts with violent content" is punishable. This law amounts to a general criminalization of sado-masochists, since nearly every sado-masochist will have some kind of media which fulfill these criteria. Critics also object to the wording of the law, which puts sado-masochists in the same category as pedophiles
and pederasts
.[107]
[108]
[edit
] Nordic countries
In September 2010, a Swedish court ruled that a 32 year old man was acquitted of assault for engaging in consensual BDSM play with a 16 year old woman (the age of consent
in Sweden is 15).[109]
Norway's legal system has likewise taken a similar position[110]
, that safe and consensual BDSM play should not be subject to criminal prosecution. This parallels the stance of the mental health professions in the Nordic
