Discourses of Bdsm as Freedom From Self, Therapy and Sexual Sophistication

BDSM as Freedom.

Barker (2007) describes how“BDSM is experienced as a practice which may be brought to bear in order to take ourselves from everyday experiences of powerlessness, embarrassment, discomfort, loss of confidence and stress, to places where we feel more in control, sure of ourselves, calm and able to manage”  whilst Baumeister (1988) believes that masochism represents a  “temporary holiday” from high-level self-awareness. Freedom in bondage is another common theme in discourses of power and Foucault (1990) was particularly interested in how bondage reflected social interactions.

 BDSM as therapy.

Barker, (2007) discusses the emergence of healing narratives, of “BDSM as a safe place to explore issues that might traditionally have been brought to contexts such as counselling and psychotherapy.”But she cautions, with Henkin, that “the frame of BDSM is different to that of psychotherapy with different boundaries, ground rules, aims and agreements between those involved.” She emphasises that many BDSMers refute this dimension as being “antithetical” to their objectives of fun, sex and play. To paraphrase Henkin (2007), as a path of emotionaland spiritual development, BDSM can be the evidence and experience of triumph over childhood adversity. 

BDSM as sexual sophistication.

A number of recent studies, particularly Cross, (1998), Weiss, (2006),  Kleinplatz and Moser, (2007) and Landgridge and Barker, (2007), indicate that BDSM is a creative, intense form of erotic sophistication which is rapidly emerging into the mainstream, expanding the sexual options of all orientations. When asked “Why is it that for some people SM seems to equal sex, or at least foreplay, while for others it appears not to be sexual at all?”

 Henkin explains:” SM is a sophisticated erotic activity with several layers of meaning and significance. It may touch some people’s genitals, some people’s minds, some people’s hearts, and some people’s spirits – or any combination. Because its energy may be felt as diffuse rather than localized, SM can be intensely erotic without being sexual in a specifically genital way. Even without SM, one person’s foreplay is another person’s sex, after all, and one person’s idea of sexual may be someone else’s idea of non-sexual.”(1992) 

Landgridge (2007) is even more positive. He says “Pain play appears to involve a way of experiencing the limits of one’s material-semiotic subjectivity through the exploration of agency and subjection. Through the fleshly intertwining of self and other we may find new boundaries of pleasure that raise the bar on what it is possible to feel.” 

Alison et al(2001) acknowledge the importance of ongoing adult socialisation in defining sexual preference whilst Weinberg et al (1984) suggest the BDSM subculture provides and opportunity for practitioners to refine and elaborate their sexuality and criticise traditional social research models for ignoring it.