starrkers
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BDSM survey surprise
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Corylea
Literotica Guru
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I somehow missed this topic when it was first posted, and judging by the complete absence of other replies, it looks like others did, too.
I'm really pleased to see research evidence that we can wave at the powers-that-be to show that we're no more fucked-up than your average Australian. Judging by the Australians I've met, that's pretty healthy.
This is the article that's at the link, from the Sydney Morning Herald:
Bondage: it's knot so naughty after all
August 25, 2008 - 3:41PM
An unusual sex survey has found that Australians who enjoy bondage and discipline are not damaged or dangerous, and might even be happier than those who practise "normal" sex.
The research showed two per cent of adult Australians regularly partake in sadomasochism and dominance and submission-type sexual role play.
And contrary to commonly-held stereotypes, they are not doing so in reaction to sexual abuse or because they are "sexually deficient" in some way, according the study of 20,000 Australians by public health researchers at the University of NSW.
"Our findings support the idea that bondage and discipline and sadomasochism (BDSM) is simply a sexual interest or subculture attractive to a minority," Associate Professor Juliet Richters and her colleagues wrote in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
The findings showed that it was more common among gay, lesbian and bisexual people, and that participants were more likely to have been more sexually adventurous in other ways.
"However, they were no more likely to have been coerced into sexual activity and were not significantly more likely to be unhappy or anxious," said Prof Richters, author of the book Doing It Down Under.
In fact, men who take part may be happier, with results showing they score significantly lower on a scale of psychological distress than other men.
The researchers did not study why this was, but suspect it might simply be that they're more in harmony with themselves because they're into something unusual and are comfortable with that.
Prof Richters says the findings go against professional views of BDSM.
"People with these sexual interests have long been seen by medicine and the law as, at best, damaged and in need of therapy and, at worst, dangerous and in need of legal regulation," she said.
There was also an assumption, mostly among the general public, that people involved in BDSM were sexually deficient in some way, "and need particularly strong stimuli such as being beaten or tied up to become aroused".
She said she hoped the results would help change these stereotypes.
Thanks for the link to the article, Starrkers!
I'm really pleased to see research evidence that we can wave at the powers-that-be to show that we're no more fucked-up than your average Australian. Judging by the Australians I've met, that's pretty healthy.
This is the article that's at the link, from the Sydney Morning Herald:
Bondage: it's knot so naughty after all
August 25, 2008 - 3:41PM
An unusual sex survey has found that Australians who enjoy bondage and discipline are not damaged or dangerous, and might even be happier than those who practise "normal" sex.
The research showed two per cent of adult Australians regularly partake in sadomasochism and dominance and submission-type sexual role play.
And contrary to commonly-held stereotypes, they are not doing so in reaction to sexual abuse or because they are "sexually deficient" in some way, according the study of 20,000 Australians by public health researchers at the University of NSW.
"Our findings support the idea that bondage and discipline and sadomasochism (BDSM) is simply a sexual interest or subculture attractive to a minority," Associate Professor Juliet Richters and her colleagues wrote in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
The findings showed that it was more common among gay, lesbian and bisexual people, and that participants were more likely to have been more sexually adventurous in other ways.
"However, they were no more likely to have been coerced into sexual activity and were not significantly more likely to be unhappy or anxious," said Prof Richters, author of the book Doing It Down Under.
In fact, men who take part may be happier, with results showing they score significantly lower on a scale of psychological distress than other men.
The researchers did not study why this was, but suspect it might simply be that they're more in harmony with themselves because they're into something unusual and are comfortable with that.
Prof Richters says the findings go against professional views of BDSM.
"People with these sexual interests have long been seen by medicine and the law as, at best, damaged and in need of therapy and, at worst, dangerous and in need of legal regulation," she said.
There was also an assumption, mostly among the general public, that people involved in BDSM were sexually deficient in some way, "and need particularly strong stimuli such as being beaten or tied up to become aroused".
She said she hoped the results would help change these stereotypes.
Thanks for the link to the article, Starrkers!
3113
Hello Summer!
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I don't think we missed it--I think most of us just read it and said, "I knew that."
Granted, the real news is that researchers and most folk reading about the research didn't know about it, but two things did come to mind--first, that while it's nice for the researchers to get this information out there, it's not going to change wrong perceptions until and unless tv shows start featuring healthy BDSM (and this goes for other "deviant" types of sex play as well, like swinging and such). A few shows have dipped their toes in that water. They'll show the BDSM, have some dominatrix "educate" the uneducated about it, even insist that it's good for people...and then, at the end of the episode, we will learn that this person or that person died or was murdered or is unhappy during BDSM play, and see, it's not so safe or sane as everyone thinks
I can name about four or five episodes of various shows that have done this. Shows where someone wants to be a "slave" and ends up trapped by a serial killer, shows where BDSM types use threats and blackmail to force innocents to play with them and end up murdered, shows where controlled Doms lose control and do horrible damage.
Until television is willing to go against the conservative grain and show BDSM as sane and healthy, all this research and articles on the research aren't going to do much good in convincing the public at large.
And my second thought is that the researchers who suspected that men who engaged in BDSM were happier because " they're more in harmony with themselves"...made me think that the researchers didn't know shit about BDSM. They researched it from the outside--but had no one on the inside. The one thing guys, especially, always say after sessions with dominatrixes is "I feel so relaxed!"
How can researchers do all this research and not figure out why the men are happier? Male subs get a chance to release tensions, to be out of control after all the stress of being in control. On the other side of the fence, if they're a Dom, then they're probably having a lot more sex than the average guy. I remember reading one post on a BDSM forum where the sub said that she gave her Dom a blowjob every morning--as well as making breakfast, cleaning the house, etc. If I got sex every morning and someone to clean my house and make me breakfast, I'd be much happier too!
Oh, and yes, probably more in harmony with myself
Granted, the real news is that researchers and most folk reading about the research didn't know about it, but two things did come to mind--first, that while it's nice for the researchers to get this information out there, it's not going to change wrong perceptions until and unless tv shows start featuring healthy BDSM (and this goes for other "deviant" types of sex play as well, like swinging and such). A few shows have dipped their toes in that water. They'll show the BDSM, have some dominatrix "educate" the uneducated about it, even insist that it's good for people...and then, at the end of the episode, we will learn that this person or that person died or was murdered or is unhappy during BDSM play, and see, it's not so safe or sane as everyone thinks
I can name about four or five episodes of various shows that have done this. Shows where someone wants to be a "slave" and ends up trapped by a serial killer, shows where BDSM types use threats and blackmail to force innocents to play with them and end up murdered, shows where controlled Doms lose control and do horrible damage.
Until television is willing to go against the conservative grain and show BDSM as sane and healthy, all this research and articles on the research aren't going to do much good in convincing the public at large.
And my second thought is that the researchers who suspected that men who engaged in BDSM were happier because " they're more in harmony with themselves"...made me think that the researchers didn't know shit about BDSM. They researched it from the outside--but had no one on the inside. The one thing guys, especially, always say after sessions with dominatrixes is "I feel so relaxed!"
How can researchers do all this research and not figure out why the men are happier? Male subs get a chance to release tensions, to be out of control after all the stress of being in control. On the other side of the fence, if they're a Dom, then they're probably having a lot more sex than the average guy. I remember reading one post on a BDSM forum where the sub said that she gave her Dom a blowjob every morning--as well as making breakfast, cleaning the house, etc. If I got sex every morning and someone to clean my house and make me breakfast, I'd be much happier too!
Oh, and yes, probably more in harmony with myself
Corylea
Literotica Guru
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- Jun 25, 2008
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Well, yes, WE knew that, but I think it's important that people who aren't us know that. The Supreme Court decision in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, KS decision, which outlawed "separate but equal," was very strongly influenced by the Clark & Clark studies that showed that black children rejected black dolls as being not as good as white dolls. Having a study that proves what we already know can affect policy, and I think that's important. As long as people still get their kids taken away if they're outted, we need research studies proving that we're sane.
I agree with you, but I think that convincing the people who have the power to lock us in mental institutions is good, too, and this study is the sort of thing that gets BDSM off of the list of mental disorders. There were a bunch of studies that got homosexuality taken off the list of mental disorders, and while that wasn't the only thing that produced the shift in public attitudes that led to such things as the Ellen show -- which is the sort of positive TV portrayal that you pointed out was important -- it was one of the forces that paved the way.
And my second thought is that the researchers who suspected that men who engaged in BDSM were happier because " they're more in harmony with themselves"...made me think that the researchers didn't know shit about BDSM. They researched it from the outside--but had no one on the inside. The one thing guys, especially, always say after sessions with dominatrixes is "I feel so relaxed!"
How can researchers do all this research and not figure out why the men are happier? Male subs get a chance to release tensions, to be out of control after all the stress of being in control. On the other side of the fence, if they're a Dom, then they're probably having a lot more sex than the average guy. I remember reading one post on a BDSM forum where the sub said that she gave her Dom a blowjob every morning--as well as making breakfast, cleaning the house, etc. If I got sex every morning and someone to clean my house and make me breakfast, I'd be much happier too!
Oh, and yes, probably more in harmony with myself
Actually, I think it's both. I have known people who had BDSM desires who were deeply conflicted about those desires, and those people were not happy, not just because they weren't having as much fun but because self-hatred really, sucks, y'know? And I think that there does have to be a certain amount of psychological openness and flexibility present for most people to take part in sexuality that society considers deviant, and I think that flexibility stands people in good stead in other ways, too.
So I think you're right that there were some obvious sources of happiness that the researchers missed, but I think that their conclusion was not erroneous; it just wasn't complete.
