BDSM
by
Imagine heavy steel double doors opening onto a dimly lit, cavernous warehouse space. The concrete walls are painted black and adorned with leather paddles and crops. Bodies writhe, some wrestle, others are bound to iron rings bolted to the walls. At one such station, taut straps lead down to the crossed wrists of a fat woman wearing a leather bodice and strap-on dildo. Her topless, chaps-clad partner whispers in her ear; she nods her head. The partner slowly rolls a spiked wheel across her chest, over her belly, and down the inside of her thigh. This is a play party where couples and small groups role-play and enact fantasies that channel discipline and restraint, pain and release. BDSM refers to bondage, discipline and/or domination, submission and/or sadism, and masochism. Exploring BDSM and finding supportive kink communities can be liberatory endeavors for feminist, queer, trans, and nonbinary people of color (Musser 2014). Kink can be thought of as sexual desires that defy norms and sexual practices that dive headlong into issues of power and pleasure with intention, consent, and purpose. In their embrace of what may be read as abject sexual appetites, kink communities make space to explore desire without shame....
This essay may be found on page 25 of the printed volume.