is BDSM erotic?

I find it so.

I get turned on by power and control in a sensual  or sexual setting. For instance in my last post about orgasms I find controlling a sub's orgasms erotic in itself. The same with other aspects of BDSM such as bondage, spanking, etc. - especially when combined within such settings.

I wonder though if others find this almost frivolous. For them D/s may be a lifestyle choice. They get satisfaction and fulfillment from it without the need for a sexual thrill.

I am not trying to say that for me BDSM is exclusively a sexual activity. However it certainly adds to my sexual pleasure.

I do know that many submissives are also turned on through being controlled, from being in the power of another, by being spanked or held in bondage.

I wonder about my readers...

Does BDSM turn you on?

...or is it more serious than that?

controlling orgasm

It can be fun to control orgasm. The Dom of course gets fun from exercising control in a very intimate setting. There can be pleasure for the sub too. Insisting on a sub asking permission before coming can keep the sub at that level of being on the edge of orgasm for some time. That can be a very pleasurable place to be - as well as frustrating for some. When given permission to come after this period of delay can result in an even more intense orgasm. Training a sub to come on demand can I am sure be great fun also. I have heard from those who say they can come on the command of a particular word - or through counting down. That could be very interesting in a crowded restaurant! I will often command Inès to come as she is approaching orgasm which gets her to associate my command with her orgasm. She now says she gets pleasure from the command and it can assist her in achieving orgasms on occasions where she is tired and didn't think she could come again. Though we are certainly nowhere near the stage of coming to orgasm just from the command.

I am not sure of the pleasure involved in long term orgasm control such as the wearing of chastity devices for extended periods but there are those who gain pleasure from this as Doms and subs.

I have been reminded recently though in correspondence with a friend that there can be dangers where this is taken too far and goes beyond the sphere of pleasure and the control becomes conditioning that can have long term negative consequences for the submissive. My friend has left her husband and Dom after many years of what she now recognises as abuse. She now has some serious sexual problems because of the long term effects of orgasm control. Another correspondent had a very similar experience and wrote about it in some detail to Uncle Agony some time ago. You can read her story here. (There is more discussion of the issue on this blog here and here.)

Do you enjoy controlling the orgasms of another or having your orgasms controlled? Is there any danger in this? Can it have unforeseen consequences? Are there other aspects of conditioning inherent in BDSM activity that can also be potentially psychologically harmful?

rope

I like rope.

Well - in a certain context!

I like using it on my woman, to wrap her, restrain her, bind her, stretch her, open her.

I like making patterns with rope on her body.

I like the feel of natural hemp rope that I have prepared myself as I run it through my hands before tying her tightly so she too can feel the sensuousness of the rope as it moves across her body before digging into her and enclosing her.

I like the marks it leaves on her body.

I like the way it controls her.

I like her response as her body and mind sink into the sensuality of the experience.

I like photographs and videos where rope has been used in this way as an art form; the beauty of some shibari or kinbaku; the eroticism of performance and the response of the model.

I like taking my own photographs of rope used in this way. There are a few on my Fetlife profile.

Do you like rope? Do you like using it or it being used on you? What do you enjoy about it? Is it the powerlessness if you are tied or the power if you are tying? Do you enjoy the sensuality of it? Is it the physical experience or the mental one that is stronger - or is it a combination of both?

If you have any memorable experiences with rope do feel free to share them with us here...

art porn...

In recent weeks I've discussed ethical porn and feminist porn but I feel that I now prefer something that has better production values and perhaps even aspires to an artistic input where the overall look and feel of the result is important. If it becomes truly artistic then is it any longer porn? Or might it then be described instead as erotica? Though perhaps some of this kind of work can become pretentious and lose the erotic charge.

There are sop many debates about what may or may not be art and some interesting examples in literature where banned books such as D H Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and Hubert Selby's "Last Exit To Brooklyn" were later seen not as obscene but as literature. There have been films where similar arguments have taken place. One example in the UK was Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange". That was originally controversial and banned but not by any stretch of the imagination porn. More recent examples of controversial mainstream films with a strong sexual element are for instance in Europe Lars Von Trier's "Nymphomaniac" and in the US John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus".

In photography there are now lots of photographers producing beautiful, stylised pictures of bondage and bdsm scenes. They certainly seem more artistic or erotic rather than pornographic.

In the end perhaps it is not a matter of whether it is art or not - but whether it brings another vision of sex and often bdsm.

Do any of the following work in that context?

From last week's post here is the site of women reading, Hysterical Literature.

Four chambers is a group that produce some very interesting videos some of which I rather like. Their website is here.

A favourite of mine that you may like is called TIGER. You can watch it on Vimeo here.

So are any of these porn or art or erotica or...
... none of the above?

What turns you on?