BDSM is an umbrella term for certain kinds of erotic behavior between consenting adults, encompassing various subcultures. Terms for roles vary widely among the subcultures. Top and dominant are widely used for those … See more

Research indicates that there is no evidence that a preference for BDSM is a consequence of childhood abuse. Some reports suggest that people abused as children may have more BDSM injuries and have difficulty with safe words being recognized as … See more

Austria
Section 90 of the Austrian criminal code declares bodily injury (Sections 83–84) or the endangerment of physical security (Section 89) to not be subject to penalty in cases in which the victim has consented and the injury or … See more

BDSM is commonly mistaken as being "all about pain". Freud was confounded by the complexity and counterintuitiveness of practitioners' doing things that are self-destructive and … See more

Roles
Top and bottom
At one end of the spectrum are those who are indifferent to, or … See more

Origins
Practices of BDSM survive from some of the oldest textual records in the world, associated with rituals to the goddess Inanna (Ishtar in Akkadian). Cuneiform texts dedicated to Inanna which incorporate domination rituals. … See more

Today, the BDSM culture exists in most Western countries. This offers BDSM practitioners the opportunity to discuss BDSM relevant … See more