tygertyger69 on Collarspace

4/22/2008 8:11:02 AM

Civility and Incivility in the Scene:
By Chris M [Black Rose of Washington DC] and Lady Medora [New Orleans
Power Exchange] (The authors hope that everyone and anyone will send
this through any boards you belong to including the authors names).

One of the most grave and inexplicable problems facing our community
in general is the continued presence of downright rudeness. It takes
many forms: gossip, arrogance, slander, ingratitude, interpersonal
cruelty, Rumor-mongering, the propensity to snub, shun or belittle, a
refined Sensitivity to slight paired with strident disregard for how
ones actions And words effect others. It is astonishing, and terribly
sad, how poorly we Get along from the viewpoint of interpersonal
relationships. Why a community like ours, whose members strive for a
mature outlook on power, consent and tolerance should feud with such
violence and monotonous regularity is a true mystery.

In our community, we see behavior one would never dream grown adults
could stoop to. We have seen SM groups who ought to get along fine,
bicker endlessly and mindlessly. We have seen "leaders" whose mission
appears to be the personal demolition of others whose contributions to
the community might challenge their own. We know good people who have
left the scene because of the cattiness, clique-mentality, and
deliberate un consenting meanness. This propensity, often called "Tops
disease", is by no means limited to dominants. It is nationwide in
scope affecting virtually every group we have visited in our travels.

It isn't hard to imagine a universe where this kind of behavior never
occurred at all. Aggression, power and consent, to say nothing of
etiquette, are concepts SM folk deal with all the time. The BDSM
community has made great strides in developing and documenting a wide
variety of safe SM practices, protocols and standards for negotiation
and play. Yet, strangely, the bickering, bitchiness and backstabbing
goes on unabated. The last two Black Rose election cycles, have
produced virtual demolition derbies of friendships over seemingly
trivial issues. TES went through a similar bloodbath several years
ago, in the wake of their 25th anniversary celebration. And many small
groups have closed, not because of legal persecution, fiscal
mismanagement or lack of membership, but due to jealously, power
struggles, and malicious gossip. The wounds inflicted by incivility
exceed any damage perfumed in consensual dungeon play and the
emotional scarring that uncivil behavior leaves on its victims lasts
longer than any bruise.

You might guess that the worst of this behavior comes from scene
novices but you would be wrong. Beginners, usually eager to fit in and
make friends, typically deport themselves well. The worst of this
behavior comes from people who have been in the scene for years.
People with experience, with play partners, with contacts, are often
the most judgmental, least generous, most easily-offended, readiest to
slander others. It is strange, but over and over we have seen
seemingly friendly newcomers arrive in the scene, become avid pupils
of our craft, grow into competent players, then unexpectedly mutate
into arrogance, self-importance and interpersonal ruthlessness. Many
leave the community in bitterness, anger or disgrace. The civility
question may play a role in the scene's curious lack of people of
color, who understand discrimination and hostility when they see it,
and feel unwelcome. It hurts our leather brethren, demolishes
friendships, breaks the spirit of our volunteers, cripples social
groups, invites retaliation, and weakens our claim that SM is
practiced by emotionally healthy, well-adjusted people. Why are we
doing this? What can we do to stop it?

THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM: WHAT IS INCIVILITY?
We will go straight to examples. By no means exhaustive, here are some
categories of incivility we encounter in the scene.

The Empathy Gap: This is subtle, but actually lies behind much uncivil
behavior. Not so much the presence of hatred or dislike, but an
absence of empathy and kindness towards other members of our SM
community. In a better world, we would all actively welcome strangers,
extend cordiality, start up conversations, feel a little compassion
towards others like ourselves. But, more often than not, people feel
nothing in particular towards people they meet in the scene. This
"inner nothingness" sets the stage for much of the uncivil behavior we
find in the scene.

Gossip: We all do it, and yes it can be loads of fun catching up on
all the latest. Plus, gossip serves a valuable purpose when inquiring
about someone you may be interested in playing with. by scene
standards, it is not uncivil to conduct good faith peer review while
inquiring about someone's play style, experience, and reputation. But
gossip conducted with the intent to harm, or passing along dubious or
inflammatory rumors is behavior that hurts the scene. In gossip, as
with other things, there must be some sense of proportion. Gossip can
also violate the confidentiality of individuals, possibly subjecting
them to dangerous and unnecessary risk. Both truth and privacy are
cardinal principals in the scene, and reckless gossip damages both.

Clique Politics: To have a circle of friends is a good thing, but not
when the goal is circling the wagons to shut out people who "don't fit
in" In the same way that benign sharing of information can be
amplified into vicious, destructive gossip, maintaining cliques whose
purpose it is to weaken and ostracize others, hurts the community as
well as the individuals excluded. Ultimately, clique players make so
many enemies that they themselves are resented or unwelcome.

Sweet and Sour: A clique politics tactic: Some people make extravagant
show of how close and loving they are to their circle of friends,
hugs, smiles, introductions glowing compliments, in part too maximize
the sting inflicted against perceived outsiders, who are refused even
the time of day. A stock move among catty sorority girls during rush
week, (the Amish call this shunning) it's embarrassing to see how many
grown men and women use "sweet and sour" to isolate and hurt
individuals whose feelings and esteem they regard as unimportant. This
truly nasty habit creates "us and them" fissures, that fragment the
community, hurt feelings and invite retaliation.

Chicken Hawk Syndrome: With a constant influx of SM beginners, some
attempt to acquire play partners under the guise of "mentoring".
Chicken hawk syndrome includes strong come-ons, boastful presentation
of ones own experience and skill, sometimes in trashing other people,
sometimes attempting to isolate new people from the presence or
influence of others, all in the name of "education", or at least
active attempts to recruit them into their clique of preference.
While there is nothing wrong with expressing interest in someone (new
to the community or not) it is dishonest to couch your interest in
terms of education. For new people we advice you to take your time in
choosing exclusive mentors if you feel the need to do that at all, and
ideally to form relationships with a circle of friends and not to rely
on just one point of view.

SM Psychodrama: High volume yelling matches, absurd conspiracy
mongering, unbridled venom towards community peers...Does any of this
sound familiar? Here's a test: If such behavior would get you fired
from a professional workplace, please leave it at home. Failure to
separate role from reality: We are an imaginative bunch (witness the
number of science fiction fans, and Ren-fair enthusiasts in our midst)
and this is both good and bad. Some take the view that the scene is a
place their fantasy become reality, raising the specter of unrealistic
expectations which can infringe on safety, consent even sanity.
Someone who prides herself on being an unreasonable, demanding bitch
in scene should always watch to draw a line between what is
appropriate in scene and into daily life, even if they consider
themselves "lifestyle".

The Dom=Dickhead syndrome: While some dominants are true artists
cultivating a gourmet's appreciation of pleasure, pain and power,
others are mere peevish control queens, itchy for a chance to
criticize, get belligerent, boss others around. Still others, new to
the community (but not to Gor novels) make the classic error of
equating their sexual dominance with an overbearing, overreaching
manner dominated by virtue of their presence at a SM event. Regardless
of how dominant you are within your consenting relationships (and more
power to ya!), you can no more "assume" consent in your interactions
with others, than you can in an SM scene. Dominants who assume its
okay to boss others around, and demand subservient treatment, demanded
rudely, are making the classic newbie error of assuming its okay to
touch or grab others bodies without out asking.

The Realness Police: In which everyone assumes that your SM should
closely resemble theirs. Scoffing at scenes for being too mild, too
heavy or too whatever. One particularly odious habit is the loudly
proclaimed belief in those great SM unicorns the "true dom" (" true
doms never bottom...being a true dom means never having to say your
sorry, etc.") or "true submissive" ("If you were a TRUE submissive you
would do X for me, let me do Y to you, take it in stride while I
waltz off and do Z.")

The Imperial-Imperious confusion: Some scenefolk, in an effort to
appear imperial (kingly, of high standard, worthy of respect) conduct
themselves in a manner that is imperious (overbearing, bossy,
judgmental). A surprising number of scene-folk begin this confusion
after a few years in the community, as they assume leadership
positions, or when they decide that it is time they were recognized as
authorities, if not superiors. While many feel that imperious behavior
demonstrates expertise, importance and intelligence, in truth it
almost never fails to alienate potential friends and play partners and
make the offender look bad. While pecking order tactics like these are
fine for beings with the intelligence and spiritual depth of sparrows
and chickens, in humans they are shallow, unkind and run counter to
the spirit of "safe sane and consensual." Furthermore, people will not
continue to support and tolerate people who treat them badly. Even so,
unwise bystanders, occasionally reward this kind of boorishness with
attention and respect, making our collective problem worse. New people
see this behavior in community leaders and players of high prominence
and emulate it, believing it to be proper, accepted or connoting high
status.

Expert-itus: (a variant of the previous point) the state of confusing
ones own expertise with the ability to pick nits, and find faults in
other people's play, demeanor, protocol, motives. While sharing scene
knowledge is generally a good thing, it can be, and often is,
overdone. Go easy on the free advice.

WHY DO WE DO IT?
In fairness, we don't want to suggest that leatherfolk are inherently
rude people. The scene, as wonderful as it can be, contains many
subtle and seldom discussed "stress factors" that contribute to
uncivil behavior. Like water over a stone, these stress factors wear
on the nerves year after year, thus setting the stage for impatience,
irritation, depression and the empathy deficit we have already discussed.

The scene is a small world, and quarters are close, closer than we
might like sometimes. Because BDSM is an interest that selects at
random, we often find ourselves spending a lot of time with people we
might not otherwise choose as friends.

The scene is an intensely intimate place, we express our inner
fantasies and fears, sometimes share partners, see each other nude,
watch each other cum...Is it any wonder people are sensitive about how
we are treated by others?

Because these practices are incredibly diverse, we find themselves in
the occasional presence of activities that make us uncomfortable. The
scene is a strange place and it takes a while to adjust. (And some
things you may never get used to.)

The pressures of closeting: The pressure of maintaining a secret life,
of hiding your leather life from friends, colleagues, and family adds
a constant overlay of tension to daily life. Scene folk have to manage
the presence of fetish contraband including toys, clothes, literature
and erotica whose discovery might be catastrophic. The risk, real or
perceived, can encompass loss of employment, of friends, of family,
even custody of ones' kids.

Jealousy, loneliness and competition for partners are facts of life.
People without play partners may become unhappy or angry. People seen
as getting more than their share can trigger insecurity and
resentment. Even people with partners may see threats around every corner.

The scene, like any fringe group, attracts its share of eccentrics and
outcasts, some fascinating and agreeable, others less so. Newcomer
naïveté?: New people unacquainted to the scene's protocols
occasionally touch, grab or conduct themselves in an inappropriate
manner. Although individuals typically learn to deport themselves over
time, the constant influx of newcomers means newcomer naïveté is a
constant, grating issue.

The realities of the party circuit: It is a hard fact of scene life is
that most parties are private and their invite lists finite. For every
guest invited there are twenty left outside. The guest list is
dictated by what the hosts can afford, their circle of friendships,
the size of their home and many other factors. But it still stings to
hear about a party without getting an invite. And it happens all the time.

EMAIL (the medium of choice for many SM participants) : Without a
friendly face or modulations of human speech, text encounters can be
easily misstated/misunders tood. Couple that with the sometimes blunt
writing style of emailers everywhere, the added gravity of the written
word and the ease of escalating a private remark into public rebuke
with a misplaced keystroke, and you've got the makings for an online
food fight.

SOME THOUGHTS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIX IT
One of the more sobering aspects of the list above, is that there
really are no easy solutions to any of these problems. The scene is
small, people are sensitive, invite lists are short, and we really do
have some truly eccentric people who will continue to behave
eccentrically. But there is room for hope. We do a good job of
establishing, and enforcing, play standards to make SM safe and hot.
We are improving all the time as educators of play practices. But,
interpersonal conduct outside of the SM encounter itself, has not been
made a priority and its probably time it should be. We must recognize
civility (defined in part by the examples in this report) as a threat
to the health of our community, and commit ourselves as individuals,
to improving our own behavior first. We must extend civility, decency,
care and concern beyond our personal circle to members of the
community at large. This doesn't mean we have to be everyone's bosom
bud, but that concern for others is a priority instead of the
non-issue it is for many at present. We are not talking about
sainthood or communism here. The goal is not to stand around a
campfire in a ring, holding hands singing Kumbaya. But if we all
improve our behavior, and extend our compassion by ten percent, we
will be living in a completely transformed universe. Secondly, through
mentoring and our education programs, we must elevate civility as a
requirement for our leaders and citizens. While scene etiquette (a
subset of civility), is an SM staple, it deals mainly with deportment,
protocols and standards of interaction, and doesn't address the deeper
issues of cultivating compassion, tolerance and awareness, towards our
SM brethren. These are tougher ethics-driven issues often without
simple answers. And, though vocal, it is a minority of scene-folk who
do the worst of this callous behavior. Most want a scene that is
friendly and supportive. Many are willing to work to make it so
(hopefully you too if you've read this far). And though the gossips,
scolds and assholes among us often succeed in hurting their intended
targets (and incidentally, our community), their greatest causalities
are ultimately their own reputations. Remember that we are all
brothers and sisters in a community no matter how diverse. If we
behave like we care about and support one other, we will all find
ourselves, by definition, in an environment that is more caring and
supportive. Improved civility should presented as causal to the
following desirable conditions: stability of friendships; respect of
peers; trust of potential play partners (civility means stability);
strengthens ones personal network of contacts; supports the position
that SM is practiced by sane, well adjusted people; elevates fairness
and justice (which are eternal) as the coin of the realm as opposed to
popularity and bureaucratic clout (which are fleeting and can vanish
at any moment); strengthens the community and makes it healthier;
raises the comfort quotient for newcomers.

A PROPOSED APPROACH: EXTEND SSC INTO INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Strive as individuals and organizations to extend "safe, sane, and
consensual" into the arena of interpersonal conduct. So lets turn the
laser beam of SSC onto our civility concerns and see what it tells us:
Uncivil behavior is nonconsensual: Unless assured, otherwise good
manners and general kindness should be the coin of the realm. To do
less is to engage someone without their consent. Doms should restrict
their dominance to those who have consented to it. Submissives who
pester others with unsolicited subservience are likewise in violation.
And nonconsensual dominance in the name of "mentoring" doesn't wash
either. Gossips and scolds should likewise consider their behavior in
terms of consent. Subjecting someone to a tongue lashing or a gossip
campaign is really no better than drawing out a flogger and hammering
away at them without warning. Uncivil behavior is not safe: Cruel,
thoughtless behavior can damage hurt people, deeply, for as long time,
and that cannot be called safe. In the same way that humiliation can
be more damaging than physical pain, the emotional harm inflicted from
incivility may far exceed what you intend. Unsolicited advice can come
across as cutting, and judgmental. Incivility also sets a diminished
community standard for others to follow, making incivility more
acceptable and social environment suffers often scaring mature decent
people away, and can in time bring a group to its knees. Small acts of
rudeness, or disregard, even if only perceived as such can balloon up
into clique wars.

And if the well being of your intended victim means nothing to you,
consider this: If you make trouble for people, chances are it will
come back to haunt you later on. People have a way of reciprocating
behavior. Be nice and people will be nice back. Be a jackass and
that's how others will see AND speak of you. This is a small world and
if you screw someone, you are handing them a motive to get you back
later. Even if you are queen of the in-clique at present, no one
controls the future and, over time, the leather gods have a way of
evening things out. The community is close, memory is long, and
paybacks are a bitch. For this reason alone, uncivil behavior is
unsafe to you.

Uncivil behavior is not even all that sane: For years many of us felt
we were solitary freaks before finding this community. To reinforce
feelings of rejection in our brothers and sisters by deliberately
withholding human decency, or subjecting them to deliberate hardship,
is just not defensible. People who find themselves helpless to resist
clashing with or inflicting imperious behavior on their scene fellows,
would do well to begin some serious soul searching and perhaps seeking
out the help they need. A lot of uncivil behavior is retaliatory.
Someone does something that hurts or offends you prompting an
aggressive response. Unfortunately this may be exactly how it looks to
the person you just dissed. If you find that your actions and behavior
are building up to a feud, it is a great idea to apologize for your
part in the situation and disengage from the conflict. Furthermore,
the long term gains from uncivil behavior are so meager, and the costs
so high that it really does not pay for people who hope to stay in the
community for some time. (Even if they win a short term victory.)

APHORISMS
Taking care of your community. Take care of its members. Agree to
disagree. you don't have to dis just because you dislike. Civility
demonstrates stability. Piss off a bigot; be nice to a leather person.
Imperious does not mean imperial. SSC is always in effect, whether or
not a scene is in progress. Resist the urge to reward slanderous
gossip with your attention and involvement -it's not consensual, and
not safe, even it's sanity is questionable. Tithe: give ten percent
more in kindness appreciation gratitude, forgiveness. Never assume
Safety. Never assume Consent. SM does not stand for Super Man - nobody
is perfect and everyone makes Mistakes. Be willing to concede the
point if you have been uncivil. Being willing to fess up, and
apologize, makes you stronger, not weaker. Always try to be the voice
of sanity and reason. Incivility is uncivil, whatever the excuse. Try
to maintain perspective. Maintain a healthy sense of humor. True
wealth is the ability to give kindness. Never forget your pleasure.
Acceptance is voluntary, tolerance is mandatory.