Going Mainstream

MSNBC.com is running a series of articles on “sexploration” as part of their America Unzipped series. While several of the articles address various aspects of bondage, discipline, and fetish, the following piece is devoted to those topics. It’s refreshing to see the mainstream media offering a balanced treatment on this. Given the many television programs and movies that now include BDSM, it is safe to say that kink is going more public and is more widely accepted.

All dressed up — in latex and dog collars

An oft-discussed issue in kink circles is “where did this interest come from?” MSNBC.com’s paper comments on one woman’s recollections related to her spanking interest. Like many of us, she found herself in a marriage where her spouse did not understand her need and did not satisfy that need. From the captioned article:

… Many trace their interest in alternative sex practices to youth, or even childhood. “My earliest memory — I didn’t even know about sex — was the warm feeling a spanking would give me,” … “When I couldn’t sleep as a girl, if I thought about spanking, I could drift off.” She was married to the same man for 31 years “but I could not get my husband to hit me for anything.” She’s now involved with a “master” who obliges. …

Personally, my interest in spanking evolved from pure fantasy to action before the Internet. One day, I realized that all the spanking books, magazines, ads, toys, etc. were not being marketed on the hope that I, and only I, would happen along. Naturally, my interest exploded with the internet as did my introduction to real-life groups and places to engage in spanking on a safe, sane, consensual basis. The role of the Internet is discussed on MSNBC.com as follows:

… The Internet has been a powerful force in the mainstreaming of fetish. For example, the day … got a connection, she typed “spanking” into a search engine and realized for the first time “that I was not the only person in the world.” …

Bottom line, I submit that kink is, and has been, much more prevalent than anyone suspected, and that it will continue to come “out of the closet.” This is particularly noteworthy considering the prior post on this blog related to the Museum of Sex’s upcoming exhibit on Kink. The hope, now, is that naysayers and sexual purists will realize that people want and are comfortable with more than the missionary position. Also, some kinksters use their play in a non-sexual manner (e.g., traditional spankers who focus on discipline alone). It’s all OK. For now, let’s relish the fact that we’re becoming more mainstream.