The purpose of this assignment was to explore my personal feelings regarding the culture I have chosen to explore. My collage reflects both, but also the stereotypical misconceptions and truths regarding the BDSM Community. While it is true that I have busted some "myths", I have also tried to understand my reactions to the information and to the people I have met while doing this research. The experience is an interesting peek at the BDSM culture as well as an opportunity to explore community perceptions and beliefs. I tried to use factual, positive/common and stereotypical words. I have found I do not see this culture in black and white. There are too many other considerations to paint everyone with the same brush.
BDSM Collage While doing this research, I have tried to be open minded and fair. The BDSM Community has allowed me to see and experience the culture through their eyes, which is less different from yours mine than you would imagine. The persons practicing the activities of this culture could very well be your next-door neighbor or even your doctor, attorney or CPA. Most have families, kids and parents just like the rest of us. The BDSM community tries very hard to respect the "vanilla" community and to keep a very low profile. The term "vanilla" is a BDSM slang word for those folks that do not practice BDSM in any form (Jahsonic, 2013).
Word Choices
The words and images I chose in the collage were from three particular types: factual and common descriptive words, positive and lifestyle myth busting words, and lastly, stereotypical terms used by most of society to describe the culture. I could have chosen many more in each category, but I believe the ones I have chosen to be good examples.
Factual Words
I chose factual and common words and images for their usage and recognition. For example, I used images of thigh high boots, a whip, and handcuffs, and floggers, all recognized as "tools of the trade" and associated with this culture. I chose my words the same way. I used words like Dominant, submissive, whips and chains, handcuffs, fetishes, leather, masochist, sadist, and spanking. They are all words that I have used myself when discussing the culture with others.
Positive and lifestyle myth busting words This culture has their own language and terms rarely used outside of the community. In addition, I have listed a few terms used in the field of Psychology. BDSM words with cultural meaning would be control, power exchange, Screw the Roses (Miller & Devin, 1995), love, safe, sane and consensual, and fringe minorities ( marginal )(Bucher, 2010), and perhaps misunderstood. I know that most people feel that BDSM is mostly about sex, pain and bondage, but I have found that is not always the case. Many are part of this community to learn about service to others, control and a power exchange. They are very serious about how it should be done and there are protocols and expectations that require following. I fund that to be very different to what I thought I knew about the lifestyle.
Stereotypical terms
This was the easiest part of this assignment, primarily because BDSM appears to be a very emotionally charged subject in our society. Words most often used would be sicko, weird, pain, suffering, sin, scary crazy, dirty and mentally ill. This list could have went on for a very long time. The community is very aware of this stereotyping, and believe that may be changing somewhat due
