Veronica Larsson - BDSM. Practice. Psychology. Art

© Veronica Larsson, 2017

ISBN 978-5-4490-1828-1

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

A little hard and perverted sex, debauchery and passion, pain and humiliation, will not hurt anyone. In BDSM, the «lower» suffer with might and main under the guidance of their restless «masters».

In this book you are waiting for: the history of the emergence of BDSM, paraphernalia and slang participants, BDSM-community, BDSM practice, safety technology, BDSM from the point of view of psychology, BDSM in art.

BDSM is a psychosexual subculture based on an erotic exchange of power and other forms of sexual relations affecting role plays in domination and submission. Physiologically, BDSM is based on raising the level of a person’s sexual arousal and getting them psychophysiological pleasure as a result of conscious violation of certain socially-determined conditions or taboos, as well as (although not always) certain physical influences. In this case, BDSM can be both a self-sufficient practice, not related to direct sexual contact, and be a part of sexual activities.

The differences between BDSM and socially aggressive and / or criminal actions are determined, first of all, by strict adherence to the SSC framework by participants in the BDSM-relationship (an abbreviation for the English words safe, sane, consensual) – principles of security, intelligence and voluntariness. Since most BDSM-activity presupposes moral and physical influences, special mechanisms are used to differentiate natural human psychomotor reactions to discomfort and pain from the conscious desire to stop BDSM actions.

In particular, at any time a participant in a session can pronounce a prearranged stop signal (stop word, gesture or motion), which means demanding an unconditional instantaneous termination of all impacts. Some pairs use a more complex signaling system, which also allows the subordinate partner to report the admissibility of a particular type of exposure or force of impact.

In the composite abbreviation-acronym BDSM, the names of the main components of this phenomenon are included: BD (Bondage & Discipline – bondage and discipline, education) – bondage (binding, limitation of mobility), disciplinary and role games, game submission, humiliation, punishment; DS (Domination & Submission – domination and submission) – domination and submission; relations in which, as a result of a preliminary agreement, there is a disparity of partners; SM (Sadism & Masochism – sadism and masochism) – sadomasochism; practices associated with obtaining pleasure from causing or experiencing physical pain. The emergence of the abbreviation BDSM instead of SM was caused, inter alia, by the fact that initially Bondage / Discipline (BD) and Domination / Subordination (DS) were considered a subdivision of sadomasochism (SM), which did not suit the representatives of these directions. Sadists are pleased to cause pain, masochists – to test it.

But domination and subordination is manifested more at the psychological level, the erotic exchange of power, and in smaller – at the level of physical action. Not all masochists obey, and not all subordinates like to experience pain. Not all sadists are dominant, and vice versa, not all dominants are sadistic. After some discussions with all interested parties, the national abbreviation BDDSSM was introduced, almost immediately shortened to BDSM. The appearance of the abbreviation is attributed to the early 1990s.

BDSM as a phenomenon goes back to ancient times. Ritual scourging was known as far back as the 11th century BC. [source is not specified 711 days] So, in Ancient Greece, the public spanking of Spartan boys passed before the altar of Artemis Ortii annually.

One of the earliest graphic evidence of sadomasochistic scenes of sexual orientation was found in the Etruscan tomb in Tuscany. Inside the cave of Tomba della Fustigazione (Italy, Tomba della Fustigazione, 6th century BC), two men are depicted portraying a woman with a stick and hand during a love affair. A number of frescoes of an erotic nature discovered during the excavations of

Pompeii also contain elements of BDSM (flogging a man’s hand, a woman in an imperative position over a man, etc.) Texts of sadomasochistic content are also found in the Kama Sutra: … It is said that love pleasure is like a match, because love is characterized by strife and bad mood… Because of this tendency, striking is also part of [love pleasure]. The places of the [blows] are the shoulders, the head, the chest, the back, the sides… These four kinds of blows: the back part of the hand, the bent palm, the fist and the straightened palm. (Part 7, Chapter 15—16: On the use of strikes).

At the same time, as a special form of sexual behavior BDSM began to be considered only from the end of the XVIII century, when the process of medical and legal categorization of sexual relations began in Europe. In the novel «Fanny Hill» by the English writer John Cleland, published in 1749, there is a scene of erotic scourging. Mention of brothels that specialize in spanking, for example, have been encountered since 1769.

Some time later, the works of the Marquis de Sade were published. In fact, de Sade’s novels were the first literary works containing a complete description of BDSM, including sadism as such. At the same time, de Sade’s works contained descriptions of sadism only (which was the reason for the very term «sadism»). In the 19th century, de Sade’s works were «balanced» by the work of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, in particular the famous novel Venus in Furs, in which the main character wants his beloved to treat him like a slave. At the same time, despite the consolidation of such concepts as sadism and masochism in the medical literature, the ideas of Sacher-Masoch and, in particular, de Sade were very far from the modern subculture of BDSM, mainly in the basic principles of full information, safety and voluntariness. Sadism and masochism were considered by them as real life situations, often implying not at all playful torture and submission.

In its modern form, BDSM originated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and was the development of rather erotic games with elements of domination-subordination practiced in European brothels than ideas of de Sade and Sacher-Masoch. Further development went on the way of singling out BDSM into a separate type of sexual behavior. In particular, literary works of BDSM-orientation were created.

The American psychologist Robert Bienvenu believed that the modern BDSM is due to three books: «European Fetish» (1928), «American Fetish» (1934), and «Gay Leather» (1950). The appearance of the first graphic works with BDSM-elements refers to the beginning of the XX century. The first photos, entirely dedicated to the BDSM theme, appeared in the 1950s in the US and Japan.

Their first American author was the famous photographer and director Irving Clough, who at that time published a series of photos in BDSM-style (mostly with the participation of the then-known erotic model Betty Page). In addition, Clow shot one of the first erotic films on this subject and organized a comic book, created by the famous BDSM artists John Willy and Eric Stanton. Approximately at the same time, Betty Page became one of the most popular models of such areas as fetish and pin-up, having risen to the level of a sex symbol, which, on the wave of the sexual revolution that began in the West, led to the spread of BDSM.