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BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 2:12:55 AM

mjolnar

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Hey everybody,

I'm from Europe and the history of BDSM in the media there is (of course dependent on the country and all), well, mixed. I just wanted to ask how the media here in the U.S. treat BDSM and everything related. I mean in the first line mass media: TV and radio.

I know there have been a couple of CSI episodes here and some Rihanna videos there, but other then that? And do local media treat it differently than the national channels? Question, questiona. Maybe you've got the answers...

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 1:09:33 PM

DesFIP

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The classic dominatrix look has been used ad nauseum in MTV videos for years. Madonna of course and I seem to recall Deborah Harry in Blondie. But it's always a domme whipping a male who is obviously big enough to take it away from her if he disliked it. They tend to shy away from male doms performing s & m on women as it's harder to make it clear that it's done with consent.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 3:19:15 PM

Prinsexx

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quote:

ORIGINAL: mjolnar

Hey everybody,

I'm from Europe and the history of BDSM in the media there is (of course dependent on the country and all), well, mixed. I just wanted to ask how the media here in the U.S. treat BDSM and everything related. I mean in the first line mass media: TV and radio.

I know there have been a couple of CSI episodes here and some Rihanna videos there, but other then that? And do local media treat it differently than the national channels? Question, questiona. Maybe you've got the answers...

I dunno I'm in the UK but can't quite see how Sexetera, a can of lager and a bag of chips is anyone's idea of an exciting night.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 3:33:09 PM

Charles6682

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It gets a mixed reaction here in the U.S. too.Despite Britney Spears and Lady Gaga,the news media still treats it like "hidden secret".I mean,for the most part,they do not really bash that lifestyle.However,they do not exactly "praise" it,so to speak.Sometimes,if something bad happens and BDSM looks like it was involved,they media loves that.

As for local media,they are not really alot better.There was a case a few years ago in the Tampa Bay area of Flordia.There was what it appeared to be a consensual D/S relationship bewteen 2 grown adults.The female,also had Bipolar Disorder as well.She was young too,maybe 18 or 19.She was the the slave.Well,someone told the police about their relationship and police arrested this guy.For nothing else really other than having her as his slave.He wasnt charged with anything else.The local media were all there like this was a circus.They had the girl go see a therapist.Flordia laws they can do that to someone.If they think someone is mentally unstable,they can have that person brought into a hostpital and looked at for up to 72 hours.The local media almost made it appear like all D/S relationship turn out this way and well,that was that.There are some liberal newspapers in this area that I read.They treat S&M just fine.They view it as a "live and let live" life.As it should be.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 4:16:42 PM

StrongSpirit

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

The classic dominatrix look has been used ad nauseum in MTV videos for years. Madonna of course and I seem to recall Deborah Harry in Blondie. But it's always a domme whipping a male who is obviously big enough to take it away from her if he disliked it. They tend to shy away from male doms performing s & m on women as it's harder to make it clear that it's done with consent.

I agree with your description of the facts but disagree with your explanation. I don't think it has anything at all to do with consent, I think it is the same kind of prejudice that makes lesbians more acceptable than gay men.

It is not that people don't know the BDSM is consensual, instead it is the fact that people think it is just plain WRONG for a man to hurt a women, while they are perfectly OK if women do despicable things to men (evidence: most recent episode of House on TV - 10th epsidoe, 7th season. Women commits multiple felonies - financial, IT and sexual - victimising Chase and he responds by asking her out instead of pressing charges - what a submissive.)

That is just the way of the world, particularly the media. Women are given the presumption of innocence, particularly when it comes to sexual acts, while men are assumed to be sexual predators.

Of course, we men still make more money for the same work, so don't feel too bad for us.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 4:45:26 PM

leadership527

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quote:

ORIGINAL: StrongSpirit
It is not that people don't know the BDSM is consensual, instead it is the fact that people think it is just plain WRONG for a man to hurt a women

... For some. But I'm going to guess that for most it's more basic than that. In general, we tend to have very rigid ideas about how both sex and relationships should work. BDSM'ers, in various ways, challenge both of those things and so they are looked at askance.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 6:27:42 PM

aBondageTop

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The US is very repressed. Hard to imagine any accepting depiction of BDSM in the mass media.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 6:32:34 PM

DesFIP

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quote:

ORIGINAL: StrongSpirit

I agree with your description of the facts but disagree with your explanation. I don't think it has anything at all to do with consent, I think it is the same kind of prejudice that makes lesbians more acceptable than gay men.

I wasn't clear in how I worded it. I will grant that they aren't thinking about consent, but they are thinking about presenting women being abused, or what appears to be abuse, in a positive light and getting their sponsors boycotted as a result.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 6:53:14 PM

LadyConstanze

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

I wasn't clear in how I worded it. I will grant that they aren't thinking about consent, but they are thinking about presenting women being abused, or what appears to be abuse, in a positive light and getting their sponsors boycotted as a result.

It could also have to do with the fact that women in corsets, stockings, thigh high boots are easier on the eye and get more viewers than a guy in chaps or whatever they see as stereotypical dom costume, plus you might have the additional homophobia when they show a guy looking like that.

9 1/2 weeks has a lot of BDSM themes and it's a guy (and heck, Mickey Rourke was hot once)

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 8:42:26 PM

Charles6682

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The movie "Exit to Eden" clearly has alot of BDSM themes to it.In fact,thats almost the whole idea behind the movie.It has Rosie O Donnell,Dan Aykroyd and a few other stars in it.

< Message edited by Charles6682 -- 1/26/2011 8:46:22 PM >

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/26/2011 8:48:03 PM

Charles6682

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There is another movie called "Walking all over me" that was filmed in Canada.Another BDSM movie.There are a few fetish themed related movies out there.The trick is finding them.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/27/2011 11:10:11 AM

Prinsexx

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quote:

ORIGINAL: leadership527

quote:

ORIGINAL: StrongSpirit
It is not that people don't know the BDSM is consensual, instead it is the fact that people think it is just plain WRONG for a man to hurt a women
... For some. But I'm going to guess that for most it's more basic than that. In general, we tend to have very rigid ideas about how both sex and relationships should work. BDSM'ers, in various ways, challenge both of those things and so they are looked at askance.

If only....
It may look like that from the outside looking in but there are just as many streotypes, and prejudices within the lifestyle. Indeed if you look at 50's household for example and 'Slave Rules' and other protocols there are just as many 'boxes' of inclusion to be excluded fromas in any other aspevts of human behaviour. Transgendering, transvestism and scat are just three areas which are very misunderstood....no to mention switching.

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RE: BDSM and the Media - 1/27/2011 11:28:47 AM

Marc2b

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Granting the occasional exception you can count on three things:

One, it will be portrayed as a female dominant/male submissive relationship (you don't want to get the radical feminist harpys squawking at you).

Two, it will be treated as a joke (nobody in their right mind would take this stuff seriously).

Three, it will be very badly acted (including "blows" of the crop/whip/paddle that wouldn't tickle a fly).

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