BDSM

BDSM (i.e., bondage and discipline; dominance and submission; and sadism and masochism) has been both a subject of taboo and fascination. The rise in popularity of erotic novels has brought BDSM out from the shadows of sexual activity into the mainstream. The recent popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey series has everyone from enthusiasts to school teachers and even parents talking about it. Some argue that enjoyment of dom-sub sex play stems from abuse or an unhealthy view of sex, while others argue that its actually empowering to both parties and is as natural as any other sex play. In the quest for the truth, I’ve examined four empirical studies, two on each side, in order to get a comprehensive scientific analysis of the people who engage in such activities.

The first study (Richters et. al) sought to examine sexual behavior correlates of involvement in BDSM and test the hypothesis that BDSM is practiced by people with a history of sexual coercion, difficulties, or psychological problems. It was conducted in Australia in 2001 with a representative sample of 19,307 respondents ages 16 to 59. Participants were interviewed by telephone. The results were that 1.8% of sexually active participants engaged in BDSM and tended to participate in less conservative types of sex. For example, most people also engaged in some other atypical form of sexual behavior, such as gay/lesbian sex, group sex, anal sex, etc. However, no evidence was found to support the theory that they were coerced or that their engagement was a symptom of psychological abnormalities.

Previous research on BDSM (bondage-discipline, domination-submission, sadomasochism) tends to treat practitioners as a homogenous group and lumps dominants and submissives together. This second study wanted to differentiate the personality characteristics of BDSM participants and show how they relate to sexual attitudes and behaviors. The current study (Hebert,Weaver) compared BDSM practitioners with self-identified preferences for dominance to those preferring submission on their self-reported levels of desire for control, empathy, honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, altruism, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. BDSM practitioners (80 dominants and 190 submissives) completed an online questionnaire package. Dominants scored significantly higher than submissives on desire for control, extraversion, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Submissives scored significantly higher than dominants on emotionality. Dominants and submissives did not differ on empathy, honesty-humility, conscientiousness, openness to experience, altruism, or agreeableness. These findings demonstrate that there are unique features that characterize BDSM practitioners who prefer the dominant and submissive orientations.

The view that BDSM is rooted in violence and a demented need for control is perpetuated by the next article. This study (Warren, Hazelwood) is derived from in-depth interviews with 20 wives or girlfriends of sexually sadistic males. The study was designed to explore the sexual preferences of sexually sadistic males in terms of their consensual sexual relationships and to examine the dynamics by which they introduce their partners into extreme forms of behavior. These women report early life experiences that were characterized by physical abuse and incestuous relationships within their families. However, they attained relatively stable and normal lifestyles before meeting and becoming involved with a sexually sadistic male. Once immersed in a relationship with these sadistic men, the lives of these women changed radically. In describing these experiences, the authors highlight the relational context of these behaviors in which the sadistic fantasy of the male becomes an organizing principal in the behavior of the woman. They also emphasize the importance of forensic evaluator and law enforcement pursuing this type of information when attempting to describe and understand the criminal behavior of a sexually sadistic offender. The study concludes that psychological trauma and sexual abuse largely influence people to participate in devious sexual behavior and even violent criminal behavior.

Drawing upon the hypothesis that interest in BDSM stems from psychological problems,the case of a toddler diagnosed as failure to thrive illustrates the circumstances which may account for the infant to lead to moral masochism in adulthood. The observed behaviors of the toddler in interaction with mother show the pathological consequences of the infant’s openness to influences of the social environment. He becomes attuned to his mother’s wishes and performs behaviors which successfully evoke her attention and reciprocity even if these behaviors are contradictory to his survival. Such is the role of the submissive, who performs acts to please his/her master even if the acts are painful and/or humiliating. The mother’s own experiences with unempathic and hostile parents are reflected in her attitudes and behaviors to the child. Suffering and victimization evoke her interest although she lacks the capacity for an empathic response to pain. Her enjoyment of her son’s pain is comparable to a dominant’s enjoyment in hurting his/her slave. According to the study,”Berliner’s work on the origin of moral masochism, as well as the work of Steele on generational repetition, suggest the processes through which the infant’s attachment to a sadistic mother gives rise to masochistic tendencies which may be reenacted throughout life in an effort to reproduce the affective feelings associated with mother’s love and affection.”

Although each had their strong points, I’d like to acknowledge the weaknesses of each article. The first article could have been conducted more thoroughly by having participants provide other forms of data besides a phone interview. The sheer number of participants was wonderful but themethod was lacking. The second article was severely lacking representation. There were more than twice as many submissives than dominants who participated, with the submissives overwhelmingly female in number and the dominants overwhelmingly male in number. As such, its not an accurate sample size. The third article was incredibly bias because it used the wives and girlfriends of violent sex offenders rather than law abiding BDSM practitioners as a sample. The fourth was severely lacking in numbers, since one case is surely not enough to prove a definite pattern. It also did not follow the child into adulthood, where he could have stated wether or not his childhood played a role in his interest or non interest in BDSM.

In conclusion, I side with the first two articles. I felt that the samples of the last two articles were incredibly skewed and biased. The first two articles sound more reasonable and much more quantifiable. They also have a larger number of participants. The hypothesis that interest stems from abuse and is a sign of violence is out dated and seems to come more from a difference-equals-deficit perspective than a scientific one.

Haynes-Seman C. DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS OF MORAL MASOCHISM: A FAILURE-TO-THRIVE TODDLER’S INTERACTIONS WITH MOTHER. Child Abuse & Neglect [serial online]. September 1987;11(3):319-330. Available from: Family Studies Abstracts, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 11, 2015.

Richters, J., de Visser, R.O., Rissel, C.E., Grulich, A.E., & Smith, A.M.A. (2008). Demographic and psychosocial features of participants in bondage and discipline, “sadomasochism” or dominance and submission (BDSM): Data from a national survey. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 5(7), 1660-1668. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00795.x Medline: 18331257