stella41b
Posts: 4258
Joined: 10/16/2007
From: SW London (UK)
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'And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
No one dared...'
Simon and Garfunkel 'The Sound of Silence'
What has Lech Walesa got to do with BDSM? First glance not much it would seem. But on closer inspection maybe, just maybe.
It was in 1980 in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk Lech Walesa together with Aleksander Hall (and later Adam Michnik and Jacek Kuron) started the Solidarity movement which was a broad anti-communist social movement ranging from people associated with the Catholic Church to those on the far left who were opposed to communism (and there are such people). The aim was to create a 'self-governing republic' which replaced the Sozialistrealpolitik of the Polish PZPR ruling party, the puppet style derivative of Soviet totalitarianism and communist rule.
It was the formation of Solidarity in Gdansk in 1980 which led directly to General Jaruszelski imposing martial law in Poland on Dec 13 1981 in an attempt to break up the movement. Curfews were imposed together with internal visas and severe shortages of supplies and goods in shops which led to people queuing not just for hours, but for days outside empty shops where everything was rationed and available 'na kartke' or on cards.
An integral element of the whole Solidarity movement was the Solicitus Rei Solidaris teachings of Pope John Paul II in the Catholic Church which were derived from Solicitudo Rei Socialis, a major teaching document within the Catholic Church which identifies the concept of solidarity with the poor and the marginalized as a component element of the Gospel and human participation in the common good. Pope John Paul II was perhaps the most powerful supporter of the Polish Solidarity movement and was instrumental in its success. It was the Pope who told those involved not to be afraid, for there are many of them.
Additionally Father Jerzy Popieluszki gave sermons to striking Polish workers. but in October 1984 in the forssts surrounding Torun in the centre of Poland four Government agents led by Grzegorz Pechalski from Department IV Anti-Catholic agency of the Polish internal ministry brutally murdered Popieluszki and dumped his body in a sack by the banks of the Vistula River just outside Wloclawek, some 30-40 miles from Torun.
However in 1989 Lech Walesa triumphed managing to get the communist PZPR Polish government to talks which then led to him replacing them as government by becoming the first post-communist Polish president in 1990. However is it not ironic that almost 20 years later in the same country who came together in support of the poor and marginalized that BDSM is now outlawed and has been driven underground by the imposition of harsh legislation which makes 'sex with force or violence' a criminal offence which can send someone to prison for up to five years?
The BDSM community is not a community of like-minded people, and gone are the times when it's just a few subcultures such as Leather, Old Guard, Gor, etc, for the Internet has brought BDSM to wider society and now the BDSM community is as diverse and widespread as society itself and contains many different subcultures, social groups and all sexual orientations. Many who consider themselves part of the lifestyle also consider themselves heterosexual, and there are many here no doubt who also identify themselves with 'the lifestyle', 'the community' or who form their relationships based on authority transfer dynamics who aren't heterosexual, but gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, pansexual, and so on.
But we are also a diverse community of people from wider society, rich, poor, business people, unemployed, healthy, sick, disabled, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and we are all united it would seem by one common element or component factor - we guard our privacy and freedomn jealously for if such details were to get out we would face social stigma, status loss and discrimination from that part of wider society who we term 'vanilla', who we assume dobn;t understand, don't share and don't accept. We are all in some way marginalized, simply by our presence here.
It would appear that many would associate BDSM activism with protesting against laws forbidding violent pornography but this is just the tip of the iceberg, for this could lead to invasion of privacy and acts between consenting adults being misconstrued and seen as abusive, violent, aggressive, sick, perverted, twisted.. you all know the adjectives. We are talking about censorship, oppression, and things needing to be 'behind closed doors'.. very much in the same way things needed to be over 60 years in Eastern Europe.
The civil rights movement appears to be an ongoing struggle even forty years after Martin Luther King was assasinated in Memphis and with the election of Barack Obama as US President we can see just how far it would appear the civil rights movement has come, but not only, but also how far it still has to go - for we live in a society where individuality and subculture is frowned upon, where being different is suspect, where racism still exists as does homophobia, transphobia, and we can see just how willing the authorities were to go in stigmatizing Muslims in their 'war on terrorism'. We are living in times when we are seeing technology being used against us, and our civil rights are being eroded for 'security', 'safety' and seemingly the common good.
Am I advocating a bloody revolution here? Protests? Confrontation? No, I'm not. That time for revolution has come and gone, there are no more trade unions, and the authorities are tuned m in closely to any mass organized subversion or confrontation.Besides so many people have lost their livelihoods, are losing them or face the risk of doing so I see no sense in rocking the boat. There are other means which are more effective.
However I feel there is a need, not just a need but also an opportunity for a new way of thinking. For years we have had the black civil rights movement, the striving for equality between men and women, the movement of the LGBT community, gay rights, and there are many who do face discrimination and persecution from wider society for being who they are or for their lifestyle choices and nowhere else in society do these people all come together in one place but within the BDSM community.
However there are many people here reading this who are able to step away from the computer and walk out into the street and nobody would be able to tell the difference or assume anything untoward. There are also many such people in this community.
For some time I have strongly believed that what we call those who engage in WIITWD and the BDSM community to be the missing component in the civil rights movement, and rather than see ourselves as part of a minority, a small community, to perhaps take stock and take a good look around us and understand that we are not just one community, but a collective of a diverse rasnge of different communities all united by the need to protect and maintain our rights of freedom when it comes to identity, personal self-expression, privacy and the way we conduct our interpersonal relationships and ultimately live our own lives.
If we can grasp this concept of solidarity and unity individually, then what is to stop us achieving the same awareness of such a concept collectively? If we are collectively a significant part of what is known as wider society and not just a small community or a subculture, and considering the amount of people among us who profess to be dominant, submissive, switch and interested in power, control and authority transfer, and we know we can achieve so much together collectively, then what have we got to be afraid of?
Consider that I am posting this, and you are reading this, on a Message Board which can be accessed worldwide via the Internet. Think about the words of the late Pope John Paul II once again..
"Do not be afraid, for there are many of you.."
Your thoughts, comments, opinions..
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