“It's All About the Journey”: Skepticism and Spirituality in the BDSM Subculture

Abstract

Previous research on BDSM (bondage & discipline, dominance & submission, sadism & masochism) subcultures has largely ignored the spiritual aspects of BDSM for participants. Drawing primarily from my years of experience and participant observation as an insider in the DC/Baltimore BDSM pansexual community and 70 interviews conducted with self‐identified kinksters throughout the Mid‐Atlantic United States, as well as a convenience sample (n >1,100) survey of American and Canadian kinksters, I show that the BDSM subculture, as a noncriminal deviant subculture, provides a hospitable social environment for cultivating the “lived religious” (Wilcox ) experiences of this mostly agnostic/atheist and Pagan group. Nearly half of all American and Canadian kinksters who are heavily involved say they sometimes engage in BDSM for spiritual fulfillment. Many kinksters demonstrate discomfort with the more mystical aspects of this spirituality, and often adopt an epistemic stance I call post‐rational to reluctantly acknowledge mystical experiences within a preferred framework of scientific and rational knowledge. Nonetheless, interviewees described spiritually connective, transcendental, and cathartic experiences from their BDSM practices. Further research is recommended on the spiritual experiences of religious “nones,” the social construction of catharsis, and potential applicability of a post‐rational stance to contexts such as alternative medicine.

BDSM as trauma play: An autoethnographic investigation

“…In this sense, trauma play taps into the literal embodiment of trauma, emphasizing the idea that bodies tell their own stories and have their own memories that may or may not be consistent with one's thoughts and emotions (Spencer, 2015;Young, 1996). As such, trauma play illustrates many of the embodiment themes typically associated with BDSM, including reading the body (Turley, 2016), connecting the body (Bauer, 2014;Weiss, 2011), and allowing for bodily catharsis (Fennell, 2018). For trauma play, the corporeal joins with the cognitive and the emotional in providing a contemporary experience of past trauma or abuse.…”

Spiritual experiences and altered states of consciousness – Parallels between BDSM and Christianity

“…In line with Beckmann, the increased interest in BDSM can be interpreted as a need to fill the void of the former religious rituals. Based on empirical material, Fennell (2018) notes that mainstream American religions have failed to provide her informants with spiritual satisfaction. For example, one of her informants, a Christian BDSM practitioner, said that he got more spiritual fulfilment from BDSM than from his religion.…”

“…According to Fennell (2018), the most common framework for connecting BDSM and religion is through rituals of catharsis, ordeal, and atonement. In a Christian context, the body constitutes a channel for spiritual growth, for example by enduring pain.…”

“…Various studies have investigated spiritual experiences in relation to BDSM and the spiritual aspects of BDSM activities (see for example, Baker, 2016;Beckmann, 2009;Norman, 1991;Westerfelhaus, 2007). BDSM in relation to tantra and Paganism has to some extent been examined (Fennell, 2018;Mueller, 2018), as well as the ritual aspects of BDSM (H� ebert and Weaver, 2015;Klement et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2016;Mains, 2002;Sagarin et al, 2015). In Baker's (2016) phenomenological study, the participants were asked to answer the question: "Can you describe, in detail, a specific time when you had a spiritual experience while engaging in a BDSM scene?"…”

It’s complicated: Sex and the BDSM subculture

“…Subsequent studies, mostly working with the pansexual BDSM subculture, have emphasized the spiritual and transcendent experiences that many BDSM practitioners describe (Sagarin et al, 2015;Fennell, 2018a), further calling into question the relationship between sex and BDSM, as most practitioners in these contexts did not frame these experiences as sexual or erotic. Sloan (2015) further called into question the sexuality of BDSM by describing the presence and experience of "aces" (asexuals) in the BDSM subculture, who often do not frame their BDSM experiences or desires sexually either.…”