In a world where any sentence containing the word “kink” or “kinkster” conjures up lurid sexual fantasies which have long been psychopathologized and demonized, mental health professionals need to develop the capacity to identify healthy from unhealthy expressions of BDSM.
In between the sensationalism, designed to suck you in to read the article, this article gives FetLife a “fair go”. However, it skitters over the surface, sending implications of criminality, and dangerous and ill-informed conflation between BDSM and violence.
At Best titillating magazine titles are merely that, momentary titillation, at worst they continue to feed ignorance and fears further generating misinformed prejudice and drive people back underground. It is important to acknowledge that sites like FetLife do not “blur the line between consent and non-consent.” Millions of people find it a source of education and community.
Sadly, the article lacks the ability to parse through the intricacies of what constitutes consent. It fails to affirm practitioners of BDSM are light years ahead of the non BDSM world in evolving new and complex cultural paradigms around negotiating safety and consent.
Differentiating between healthy and safe leisure orientated BDSM practice and malevolence is essential. Professionals with kink knowledgeable competence need to develop this expertise in order to provide expert witness and commentary on what are often subjectively driven opinions.