Ten Questions and Answers About BDSM
The First Things You Should Know About the Power Exchange Lifestyle
- What exactly is BDSM? Bondage, Domination, Sadism and Masochism (BDSM) is any situation where people - of their own free will and choice - magnify the personal power elements between them and act this out for their pleasure. This may be sexual pleasure, but it does not always have to be.
- Are there different forms of BDSM? Yes there are many different forms of BDSM. The two main forms are these:
- Lifestyle BDSM - This is the form where partners embed BDSM elements in their relationship in some way.
- Kink or fetish BDSM - This is the form where people, occasionally, seek to use power elements, predominantly for their sexual pleasure, without turning it into a lifestyle.
One is not more important, or more real, than the other. The two forms are just different. Quite often people grow from "kink" to "lifestyle - Lifestyle BDSM - This is the form where partners embed BDSM elements in their relationship in some way.
- Is BDSM abnormal?There are power elements in all forms of human behavior: at work, at home, in politics, in sports and in (sexual) relationships. Magnifying the power element in your relationship is not abnormal. The current opinion among professionals (laid down in various diagnostic manuals, such as the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) is that consensual power exchange between informed and well-adjusted adults is normal and harmless (sexual) behavior.
- What "causes" BDSM feelings? It is not entirely clear to science, why some people are attracted to BDSM and others are not. It appears that genetic encoding may have something to do with this and it may also be that upbringing, social environment and education may have an influence. Fact of the matter is that the jury is still out on this one and that we simply do not know the answer. Based on research by for example the Kinsey Institute, Cosmopolitan, Time Magazine and several European universities and other sources it is estimated that between 15 and 30 percent of the adult Western population nurtures some form of BDSM emotions.
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Antoinette McGowan
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Posted on 08/23/2007 at 9:08:00 AM
Antoinette McGowan
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Posted on 08/09/2007 at 1:08:00 PM