Student needs help with thesis on BDSM

[ThesisStudent]

I am writing a thesis on BDSM and have been looking for places that seem appropriate to ask some questions, and this seemed like one of them. Some of them may seem obvious, in which case I am looking for thoughts and further details you may wish to share.

I numbered them to make it simpler…

1. Between the Dominant and submissive role, from which position is consent known to be best judged from? (If the sub then this is not to say that the Dominant should not be in a position to consent with the submissive for any particular activity, but would you say that generally it is the sub because of the skewed dynamic of the act itself?).

2. Are there more bottoms / subs than or Tops / Dom(me)s, and is this true within all BDSM demographics such as Gay or Lesbian? i.e. are there more bottoms than Tops among those also?

3. In general, would you say that females biologically and culturally the more sexually desired of the two sexes?

4. Do homosexual BDSM practitioners practice acts, which relate to gender differences knowing that they are the same sex? For example do homosexuals practice feminisation to such an extent if at all?

5. When people in the scene or elsewhere change between Dom(me) and sub, (e.g. someone might start as a sub but end up as a switch), is this usually something that happens over the course of time where you develop a liking for it through experience or even curiosity?

Many thanks, to anyone with some input much appreciated!

 

[Stella_Omega]

Um. Do you have any experience at all of BDSM?

Because your questions sound like someone who doesn't know enough in the first place, to know what questions to ask.

If you are asking for people's personal perceptions of these things, then I'd say your thesis isn't about BDSM so much as about cultural perceptions, and you have no way of quantifying the answers you'd get here.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I am writing a thesis on BDSM and have been looking for places that seem appropriate to ask some questions, and this seemed like one of them. Some of them may seem obvious, in which case I am looking for thoughts and further details you may wish to share.

I numbered them to make it simpler…

1. Between the Dominant and submissive role, from which position is consent known to be best judged from? (If the sub then this is not to say that the Dominant should not be in a position to consent with the submissive for any particular activity, but would you say that generally it is the sub because of the skewed dynamic of the act itself?).

2. Are there more bottoms / subs than or Tops / Dom(me)s, and is this true within all BDSM demographics such as Gay or Lesbian? i.e. are there more bottoms than Tops among those also?

3. In general, would you say that females biologically and culturally the more sexually desired of the two sexes?

4. Do homosexual BDSM practitioners practice acts, which relate to gender differences knowing that they are the same sex? For example do homosexuals practice feminisation to such an extent if at all?

5. When people in the scene or elsewhere change between Dom(me) and sub, (e.g. someone might start as a sub but end up as a switch), is this usually something that happens over the course of time where you develop a liking for it through experience or even curiosity?

Many thanks, to anyone with some input much appreciated!

First, why in the name of all that's intelligent would you propose writing a thesis on a topic in which you apparently have no knowledge or familiarity?

1. What in hell is the meaning of this question?
2. I'm not sure. The 2010 US Census asked about BDSM practices and roles, but for some reason they didn't release those statistics with all the rest.
3. Add "are" in the appropriate place, please. Proofreading is your friend. It will continue to be so in this failed thesis. Oh. The answer to your question is: It depends on whose desires you're looking at.
4. Do homosexual "vanilla" practitioners practice acts... oh, hell, you get the idea. What makes you think BDSMers are essentially any different than vanillas in the variety of activities?
5. Define "usually." Again, as with vanilla folks, say, learning that they prefer "riding St. George" to missionary or doggy style sex, someone in BDSM can start as PYL or pyl, then change to switch, or to pyl or PYL, or they can *start* as a switch and then re-define themselves as PYL or pyl exclusively (or almost so). (PYL = Pick Your Label, e.g., Dom, Master, Top, Sadist, etc., and pyl = pick your label, e.g., submissive, slave, bottom, masochist, etc.)

Essentially, my opinion (others' mileage may vary) is that people who have BDSM in their lives are not much different than people who don't, except for a few activities or attitudes. And there are some people who consider themselves in a D/s relationship, particularly, who do not incorporate bondage & discipline, or sadism & masochism, who are nearly indiscernible from those Christian couples for whom all power resides in the male, to whom the female partner is wholly submissive.

To be honest, I think you're setting yourself up for a massive failure with this as a thesis topic, and I think your thesis advisor is doing you absolutely no favor in letting you try to produce a thesis on a topic with which you have no active familiarity or even academic knowledge.

ETA: If your opening post in this thread is typical of your writing skills, I suggest that you enroll in and successfully complete an expository writing class before you try writing something as complex as a thesis.

 

[ThesisStudent]

How do you know that the questions aren’t deliberately open ended to see the responses, as opposed to constituting proof that I have active familiarity or even academic knowledge of BDSM?

Apart from the obvious bits there is some worth in parts of your answer, thankyou.

 

[JMohegan]

A thesis on human sexuality? Come on, man, quit pulling our legs. Sourcing standards can't have sunk this far from back in the day.

Or were you really planning to cite Glistening_Buttocks_4_U in footnote 29?

 

[marieR19]

How do you know that the questions aren’t deliberately open ended to see the responses, as opposed to constituting proof that I have active familiarity or even academic knowledge of BDSM?

Apart from the obvious bits there is some worth in parts of your answer, thankyou.

Because your questions are often completely meaningless in the BDSM community? Open-ended questions are completely different then questions that show a lack of knowledge about a subject.

"Do homosexual BDSM practitioners practice acts, which relate to gender differences..."
Why would you ask this question? Why not ask it of homosexual 'vanilla' partners, you'd get the same answer. This question isn't about BDSM, it's about homosexual partners possibly preferring certain "roles".

"Between the Dominant and submissive role, from which position is consent known to be best judged from?"
If you knew ANYTHING about BDSM, you would already know the answer to this question, and no, this is NOT an open-ended question. In order for ANY relationship to be legal, BOTH parties, both the Dom AND the sub, have to give their consent. And it's usually suggested that both parties define *what* they are consenting to (what specific acts) and what they aren't. If you knew anything about this subject, you would already know that.

I agree with others, your thesis is doomed to fail if all you do is post "open-ended" questions about a lifestyle you know absolutely nothing about, especially when your questions themselves show how little you know. Pick a topic you actually know, or do some serious research on this subject before questioning people.

 

[CutieMouse]

A thesis on human sexuality? Come on, man, quit pulling our legs. Sourcing standards can't have sunk this far from back in the day.

Or were you really planning to cite Glistening_Buttocks_4_U in footnote 29?

Exactly my thoughts...

 

[njlauren]

What I would love to know is thesis for what school, the University of Phoenix?Bob Jones University? If so who is your thesis advisor, if you have one? One of the first rules of writing a thesis is to have a specific topic in mind, and your questions quite frankly don't fit any one question. Are you looking to survey perceptions in the BD/SM community, or are you looking to substantiate facts? Questions like "Are there more subs/bottoms then tops/dominants can't be answered by this, you would need to survey groups of people to try and get answers and create a survey designed to elicit things without bias. All you could get from these questions are guesses based on people's own experiences, I could tell you that in the leatherdyke community there appeared to be roughly the same ratio dominants/tops to bottoms/subs, as I have seen in my own corner of the community, but that would prove nothing since a)I know only a small group of leatherdykes and b)haven't seen enough of the broad BD/SM world to know what to do.

I think my bullshit detector went off with the question about do I think females are the most biologically and culturally desired of the sexes...what the hell does that mean? First of all, to most women the answer would be no (leaving out the 5-10% that are lesbian and another 5% that are bi but lean toward gals), they would say men are, and the gay guys would say the same thing, too........we have had a male dominated society for a long time, where female sexuality is portrayed often for the man's pleasure (most porn), but that doesn't mean women don't desire men.....

#4 is a howler, that one almost comes out of the anti gay handbook, that somehow gay men have been, effemitized and that to have a relationship one of them has to become 'female' or something *gag*...put it this way, skeezix, I have known more then a few leather guys, dom and sub, and I haven't run into one yet who is into 'effeminization', most of the gay leather guys play tough and 'masculine' that I know of (usually, the only effeminization I have seen is with straight guys wanted to get 'force femmed' by dominant women, which is something totally different).

Quite honestly, I agree with the others, if you are going to do a thesis on BD/SM, I think you need to do some research before trying to get live answers (and an online forum is a shit place to do it, anyway)...there have been good books written on the subject by people who have done the work, and it may help you find what you need. If you are sincere, you would do a lot better reading up on what others have written so you can ask intelligent questions, the ones you pose sound like something for the color section of the sunday supplement of the "Biloxi Herald Tribune" or some such paper, not a serious attempt at research.

 

[Stella_Omega]

How do you know that the questions aren’t deliberately open ended to see the responses, as opposed to constituting proof that I have active familiarity or even academic knowledge of BDSM?

Apart from the obvious bits there is some worth in parts of your answer, thankyou.

Your questions are pretty much gibberish, which either means you don't know how to frame an open-ended question, or else you are being insulting. Don't insult your field group. Many of us are academics already.

also; http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=835703&page=4

and also; http://fanlore.org/wiki/SurveyFail

 

[Arlan]

A thesis on human sexuality? Come on, man, quit pulling our legs. Sourcing standards can't have sunk this far from back in the day.

Or were you really planning to cite Glistening_Buttocks_4_U in footnote 29?

Heh.

To give the OP the benefit of the doubt, tossing out a bunch of questions at random people on the internet is one (lazy) way to get your bearings, maybe get a couple relevant references, and come up with some decent search terms to kick off the formal research.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I am writing a thesis on BDSM and have been looking for places that seem appropriate to ask some questions, and this seemed like one of them.

Is this a real thesis at a real university, or an "I was bored and wanted to ask the freaks some questions" type of "thesis"?

Because you don't seem to be aware of how real universities handle human-subjects research. At a minimum I'd expect a link to a university webpage giving a description of the work, names of researchers involved, privacy/informed consent statement, and documentation of IRB approval.

 

[Aurelia_Malys]

1. Between the Dominant and submissive role, from which position is consent known to be best judged from? (If the sub then this is not to say that the Dominant should not be in a position to consent with the submissive for any particular activity, but would you say that generally it is the sub because of the skewed dynamic of the act itself?).
This is a question that is long-debated on every BDSM discussion board on which I have ever participated. You won't be able to find a tidy, easy answer to this one.

2. Are there more bottoms / subs than or Tops / Dom(me)s, and is this true within all BDSM demographics such as Gay or Lesbian? i.e. are there more bottoms than Tops among those also?
I have to imagine that the break-down would be similar in any group. My opinion? There seem to be more pyl's than PYL's but that is totally an unscientific impression.

3. In general, would you say that females biologically and culturally the more sexually desired of the two sexes?
Well, I would say females ... but I am utterly and totally confused how this question in any way relates to BDSM.

4. Do homosexual BDSM practitioners practice acts, which relate to gender differences knowing that they are the same sex? For example do homosexuals practice feminisation to such an extent if at all?
"Knowing that they are the same sex" ... are you kidding or is this just a really badly phrased question? Yes, most homosexual BDSM practitioners know they are the same gender. (and yes, i know I am misunderstanding your question)

5. When people in the scene or elsewhere change between Dom(me) and sub, (e.g. someone might start as a sub but end up as a switch), is this usually something that happens over the course of time where you develop a liking for it through experience or even curiosity?
Not quite clear on what you mean by "in the scene or elsewhere"

 

[greeneyes85]

......

 

[Ahlam]

What the deuce, ThesisStudent? After item #1, I just stopped reading because it was too awkward. I agree with the others who suggested that you pursue a different topic. It does seem like you're dog-paddling somewhat.
The quality of your questions is so poor and I am so over-caffeinated that I took the liberty of redecorating your first question into a sort of Mad Lib. I'm showing it to you because I think you'll find it's about as coherent as the original.

1. Between the cow pie and the horse pile, from which position is the nostril-searing stench known to be best judged from? (If the horse pile then this is not to say that the cow pie should not be in a position to off-gas with the horse pile for any particular fart-fest, but would you say that generally it is the horse pile because of the skewed dynamic of the flatulence itself?).

 

[Stella_Omega]

A thesis on human sexuality? Come on, man, quit pulling our legs. Sourcing standards can't have sunk this far from back in the day.

Or were you really planning to cite Glistening_Buttocks_4_U in footnote 29?

Why not?

 

[Smittenkitten_]

Personally, have you ever done any university/college research before? One, you read TONS of background information and other peoples articles on anything similar you're looking for. This is your first main step and considering how you asked your questions you truely haven't thought on nor planned properly on anything yet. Asking questions out of the blue with no link, relevance or direction will put your thesis on a one way trip to the bin, they won't even look at it if you don't even plan properly. Consider reading a lot more and figure out a specific thing you wish to investigate first before you go around asking random questions. If all else fails, do a course in research.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Someone should write a thesis about wankers posing as academics writing theses on this board.

 

[ThesisStudent]

"Do homosexual BDSM practitioners practice acts, which relate to gender differences..."
Why would you ask this question? Why not ask it of homosexual 'vanilla' partners, you'd get the same answer. This question isn't about BDSM, it's about homosexual partners possibly preferring certain "roles".

#4 is a howler, that one almost comes out of the anti gay handbook, that somehow gay men have been, effemitized and that to have a relationship one of them has to become 'female' or something *gag*...put it this way, skeezix, I have known more then a few leather guys, dom and sub, and I haven't run into one yet who is into 'effeminization', most of the gay leather guys play tough and 'masculine' that I know of (usually, the only effeminization I have seen is with straight guys wanted to get 'force femmed' by dominant women, which is something totally different).

Question no 4 is related to the idea that masochism isn’t necessarily pain or humiliation itself, but also interpreted in relation to what it is to experience such a thing dependant on whether you are male or female.

For instance if chastity and denial are more prevalent within F/m, whereas in M/f if being pinned down and taken, called a slut etc. are more common practises, could this be because if women are biologically and culturally the more desired of the two sexes that the sadomasochistic eroticisation has been made in such ways. (hence question no. 3).

Regarding where I said (in the 1st paragraph of this post): “but also interpreted in relation to what it is to experience such a thing dependant on whether you are male or female” is the root of the question about if homosexuals practise acts that relate to gender differences, like feminisation, as they are the same sex.


The rest of the questions have similar backgrounds, which I am not able to discuss. If for that reason anyone doesn’t want to help that’s fine.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Someone should write a thesis about wankers posing as academics writing theses on this board.

Ayup. It's hilarious to those of us who've actually written a thesis or two and know what the process looks like.

 

[monkeyman057]

LOL. Boy did you walk into the wrong room with a clipboard.

I hate to feel like I'm not actually contributing to the discussion when I make a post. I also hate to be the guy that says, 'maybe you shoulda done a search'. But... I'm thinking that maybe you shoulda done a search and read one of the many other threads from the many other 'student' users to find out how this very same scenario worked out for them.

Anyway - Good luck with that.

 

[Aurelia_Malys]

The rest of the questions have similar backgrounds, which I am not able to discuss. If for that reason anyone doesn’t want to help that’s fine.

I dont think the reason you are getting the types of responses you are getting is because people just "dont want to help" .... many people here enjoy discussing and debating issues and grappling with the ins-and-outs of WIITWD. I love exploring who I am and why and what that means in my relationship with my husband/owner. But your questions are quite unclear and difficult to follow and seem to indicate a lack of understanding about BDSM in general.

As a total education/learning geek and someone who does enjoy helping other people, I am going to make the following suggestion ... narrowing your focus will help you ask questions that will provide you with more useful information.

Right now you seem to be addressing: culture's influence on gender roles, the role of gender stereotypes in homosexual relationships, the relationship between dominant and submissive roles in gay relationships, culture vs biology in sexual desirability of genders, and the definition of masochism (I have to say that including humiliation in your "definition" of masochism is not something that I agree with), just to name a few. If we also add in the fact that "BDSM" encompasses such a wide-range of behaviors, you are going to struggle as you do your research because there is just too much information available.

 

[midwestyankee]

Your opening set of questions suggests that you're no closer to a true thesis statement than the biology student who begins with "Why is there air?"

Propose a thesis and then let people suggest ways in which it can be proved or disproved along with appropriate resources. People here really are helpful, but the approach you've taken looks a lot like what we get when the high schools let out for vacation and the fifteen year old boys find us.

 

[Aurelia_Malys]

Your opening set of questions suggests that you're no closer to a true thesis statement than the biology student who begins with "Why is there air?"

Propose a thesis and then let people suggest ways in which it can be proved or disproved along with appropriate resources. People here really are helpful, but the approach you've taken looks a lot like what we get when the high schools let out for vacation and the fifteen year old boys find us.

Lit really needs a "like" button.

 

[ThesisStudent]

...there have been good books written on the subject by people who have done the work, and it may help you find what you need.

Enlighten me?

 

[Lancecastor]

I am writing a thesis on BDSM and have been looking for places that seem appropriate to ask some questions, and this seemed like one of them. Some of them may seem obvious, in which case I am looking for thoughts and further details you may wish to share.

I numbered them to make it simpler…

1. Between the Dominant and submissive role, from which position is consent known to be best judged from? (If the sub then this is not to say that the Dominant should not be in a position to consent with the submissive for any particular activity, but would you say that generally it is the sub because of the skewed dynamic of the act itself?).

2. Are there more bottoms / subs than or Tops / Dom(me)s, and is this true within all BDSM demographics such as Gay or Lesbian? i.e. are there more bottoms than Tops among those also?

3. In general, would you say that females biologically and culturally the more sexually desired of the two sexes?

4. Do homosexual BDSM practitioners practice acts, which relate to gender differences knowing that they are the same sex? For example do homosexuals practice feminisation to such an extent if at all?

5. When people in the scene or elsewhere change between Dom(me) and sub, (e.g. someone might start as a sub but end up as a switch), is this usually something that happens over the course of time where you develop a liking for it through experience or even curiosity?

Many thanks, to anyone with some input much appreciated!

1. This question assumes a "skewed dynamic"....plus, your syntax is bizzarre. Take this for example: "If the sub then this is not to say that the Dominant should not be in a position to consent with the submissive" ...how many if nots does it take to get back to the real question? "Known to be best judged from"??? WTF? If your question is actually a question and not just some arcane self-fulfilling prophetic bit of reverse-engineered fluff, the answer is: "It takes two to tango."

2. I wish there were more subs! Every straight male D wishes there were more height-to-weight proportionate straight, attractive subs. The truth is, most subs are fat and ugly...it's a common theme, one you should be able to ascertain anecdotally if not with hard data.

3. I find females more attractive, not generally, always. And generally, most women find me more attractive than well, just about any other living creature. If you are looking for people to say "Yes, society deems women more attractive than men", okay, on the surface, I agree....however, words like "tough" and "courageous" are generally reserved for use in describing men. Attractiveness & Courage are each desirable qualities in a person...so your Question seems a bit facile, sophmoric and obvious.

4. Gay people do all kinds of fucked up shit. Good luck trying to figure out whether its because they want to be girls or are just fucked up.

5. There are no rules around anything concerning human behavior...but it does happen that a person will get into BDSM through one "role" and over time change roles...for a variety of reasons. My view is that switchers are achieving greater self-knowledge/self-confidence, which enables them to step into the role they either really wanted or learned is a good fit for them at that point in time.


Obiter:

I think you should learn to express yourself more clearly and with fewer words.

Obliquely:

Womens Studies?