Monday, June 8, 2015

BDSM Education of the Vanilla World - A Call For Change

Kink – such a small, simple word – is the blanket term we give to creative sexual expression. Kink is the permission we give ourselves to explore what it is that turns us on, and the way in which we can most fully experience the bodies and minds of others in a sexual context.

A great segment of the Vanilla world lives in a repressed and sexually stigmatized reality, a reality in which looking outside the sexual norm means people will be ostracized, excluded, and derided by the majority. For so many, it is this slavery to the perceived cultural majority that keeps them from taking the time to understand themselves. This is the barrier that stands in the way of so much of the Western world: the barrier of perceived “normalcy” and mental slavery to the group before the self.

In a time where the headlines are rife with cases of domestic sexual abuse, female genital mutilation, sex trafficking, and endless other examples of repressed sexuality turning into violence against humanity, it is the responsibility of the Kinky Community to educate others on the myriad avenues of sexual expression available through Kink and BDSM.  It is our responsibility to share our stories of self-awareness, self-exploration, and finding communities in which we are allowed to mentally and sexually thrive.

We see horrifying examples like the Duggar family, in which a cult of reproduction reduces women to vessels and controls female and male sexual pleasure, negating freedom and exploration through shame and proprietary mandates.  We know that sexual repression results in sexual violence, abuse, rape, personal shame, stifled growth of self awareness, and deep rooted fear of sexuality and our own bodies. This invasive and frightening “family value” of owning female sexuality and female bodies cannot be allowed to continue to permeate the national psyche, and it needs an antidote.

I propose that we can be that antidote. Through teaching, through starting conversations in bars, through women teaching women (and men) about the Kinky way – the way of exploration and awareness – we can counteract the typical American majority of repression.

How many women and men forgo seeking out true sexual fulfillment because they are worried about how they will be perceived? How many persons of every gender remain trapped in monotonous sexual routines (or lack of sexual interaction) because they believe it is better to stay “safe” than to find what they truly desire?


If we are to be ambassadors of Kink and BDSM, if we are to stand outside of the closet and speak with a sexually positive voice, then we must reach out to both the new members of our community and those outside of the community who question their ability to stretch the boundaries of their experience. We must promote self-awareness, on sexual and platonic levels. We must strive to uphold transparency, critical awareness of our own prejudices, and the desire to lead by an example of open dialogue amongst our own community and the Vanilla world that so often looks in but is afraid to join in.

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