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March 2, 2013 6:50 AM   Subscribe

BDSM is so mainstream, it's ridiculous. James Franco's just made two films (arguably NSFW) about it. It's on Portlandia (same). We all know why.
posted by xowie (22 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite


 
...and now I feel sorry for BDSM.
posted by Artw at 7:05 AM on March 2, 2013 [2 favorites]


NYT Style Section: the final masochism.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:14 AM on March 2, 2013 [7 favorites]


I'm totally down with accurate portrayals of BDSM getting more visibility, and less caricaturization or moralizing. Visibility and good-faith dialogue can only help lead people to the simple fact of the matter that - as with so very many other things - it's really just about two (or more!) informed, consenting adults engaging in their particular version of fun. As far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:28 AM on March 2, 2013 [6 favorites]


I dislike the style section of the New York Times, but if wider exposure helps people who do this stuff keep their kids [linked to in the third link], I can't oppose it.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:32 AM on March 2, 2013 [3 favorites]


BDSM is so mainstream, it's ridiculous

A previous decade called and it wants its headline back.
posted by Mezentian at 7:53 AM on March 2, 2013 [1 favorite]


I think you mean BDSM is so mainstream, it hurts.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:28 AM on March 2, 2013 [31 favorites]


I always find acronyms so unsexy. BDSM sounds like HFCS, PTSD or LDPE, a food additive, a disorder or a plastic, not something you want to do with another person. It ought to be endorsed by a chemist: this new space-age activity keeps your sex life fresh for days without refrigeration.
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:37 AM on March 2, 2013 [2 favorites]


I suppose BDSM could lead to PTSD if you're not careful. I don't want to know how LDPE would fit into that scenario, though.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:50 AM on March 2, 2013


I always find acronyms so unsexy.

No doubt there's someone who could teach you differently.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:57 AM on March 2, 2013


P.S. my safe word is polyphenyldimethylbutylsulfibiphenylmethylacrylate
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:58 AM on March 2, 2013 [1 favorite]


My safe word is Supercalifragilisticsadomasochism.
Or bippityboppityboo.

It depends.
posted by Mezentian at 9:02 AM on March 2, 2013 [1 favorite]


"Was BDSM always this nerdy?" Well, yes?
posted by daisyk at 9:06 AM on March 2, 2013 [5 favorites]


If I say "I was into kink before it was mainstream," does that make me a hipster?
posted by desjardins at 9:42 AM on March 2, 2013 [4 favorites]


The bar, called Whips and Licks Cafe, does not sell alcohol, but coffee, sodas and Italian ices, giving the atmosphere an unexpectedly wholesome feeling.

Um, this is really standard. You don't want drunk people tying each other up and beating each other in your establishment. I'm betting your liability insurance costs would go through the roof.
posted by desjardins at 9:52 AM on March 2, 2013


If I say "I was into kink before it was mainstream," does that make me a hipster?

Kinkster? Oh wait, that one's already taken.
posted by ymgve at 10:05 AM on March 2, 2013


If I say "I was into kink before it was mainstream," does that make me a hipster?

Why does "kink" almost universally seem to mean BDSM? Isn't kinkiness said in many ways?
posted by kenko at 10:20 AM on March 2, 2013


Kink can refer to BDSM but does not necessarily involve it.
posted by ostranenie at 10:37 AM on March 2, 2013


"Was BDSM always this nerdy?" Well, yes?


nerdy? SURELY YOU JEST. after all we're only talking about

* activities in which implicit social codes, navigated every day by humans of every stripe, are made explicit to scaffold interaction;

* forms of dressup involving outfits from The Matrix, Indiana Jones's whip, and advanced topological work with ropes;

* adults regressing into childlike dependency (or playacting at absolute power) in order to feel an intimate connection;

* the use of literal magic words to dispel unwanted interactions and emotions;

etc., etc., etc.



nerdy? gosh, i don't see it.
posted by waxbanks at 10:57 AM on March 2, 2013 [11 favorites]


*quietly waiting for localroger to weigh in*
posted by SPrintF at 12:05 PM on March 2, 2013


I think I first heard of BDSM either as one of the racy Alt. groups on newsnet or in a MOO.
posted by Artw at 12:09 PM on March 2, 2013


Aww. I thought this thread was going to be about James Franco and "Interior. Leather Bar."
posted by LMGM at 2:00 PM on March 2, 2013


What we now call BDSM was trendy for a few minutes in the 1970's after the movei Barbarella came out. As a teenager I was really looking into joining up with that but somewhere along the line this asshole named Reagan got elected and the whole society got sucked back to the 1940's.
posted by localroger at 2:38 PM on March 2, 2013 [4 favorites]


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