andygoat

Male Dominant, 50, Dublin

Male Submissive, 38, New York City, New York

Male Submissive, 50, Houston, Texas

Today, everything in my journal will be BOLD! not because I am feeling bold, but because there is some gremlin in the system that wants my journal to be in bold. I am sure that there is a reasonable explanation for this, but I've no idea what it could be. A few minutes ago, I had something to say, but I've forgotten what it was. What I would like to see is people welcoming each other into this scene. I know there are a bazillion fakes and posers and wannabes and so on out there, but don't sweat them. They can't hurt you if you don't let them.

"From the beginning, starting with the girls at school, and the teachers in particular, I have looked at women in shops, on the street, in the bus, at parties, and wondered what it would be like to be with them, and what pleasures we might kindle. At school I would toss my pencil under the teacher?s desk in order to crawl underneath and examine her legs. The desultory nature of the education system enabled me to develop an enthusiastic interest in girls' skirts ? in the material and texture, and in whether they were billowy, loose or tight, and in which places. Skirts, like theatre curtains later, quickened my curiosity. I wanted to know what was under them. There was waiting, but there was possibility. The skirt was a transitional object; both a thing in itself and a means of getting somewhere else. This became my paradigm of important knowledge. The world is a skirt I want to lift up."                                 - Intimacy, Haneef Kureishi

Reading a lot of the threads, I see a lot of people feeling unaccepted or marginalized within the scene because of their preferences. I'm fairly new to the BDSM scene, but I've been around long enough to know that most scenes happen because people within it feel marginalized from the mainstream. Within those scenes you have some people who are happy to accept and be accepted. You also have people who just want a chance to be exclusive, to marginalize others, etc. These are people who want to turn the scene into a club for their clique. It happens everywhere, in every scene, it's just the nature of the animal I think. The thing is that if there are enough people accepting out there, you can pretty much ignore the cliquey ones. None of us are here because we are mainstream, so look at what you have in common with the other people in the scene, and let that bring you together. Instead of letting the differences keep you apart, let them be what makes you unique. If someone tells you that you aren't  enough, just remind them that the scene is big enough to include a wide variety of preferences. They probably won't listen, but the other people around you will.

Male Dominant, 41, philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Male Submissive, 28, Istanbul, Alabama

Male Submissive, 38, Weeki Wachee, Florida

Male Switch, 27, Northern Ontario

Male Submissive, 37, sheffield

Male Submissive, 56, barcelona

Male Switch, 51, Piedmont Triad, North Carolina

Male Submissive, 55, Staten Island, New York

Male Switch, 44

Male Submissive, 28, Karlskrona

Male Switch, 20, mcminnville, Oregon

Male Dominant, 30, Hyattsville, Maryland