Science Debunks 6 BDSM myths
50 Shades of Grey flared mainstream curiosity about BDSM. It didn’t however, dispel some myths and stereotypes around BDSM. Science debunks 6 BDSM myths for us.
Right up until recently, it was difficult to argue against these stereotypes with anything more than personal anecdotes.
Fortunately, numerous studies published are firmly debunking many of the myths. Especially, myths surrounding BDSM and the people who embark on it. Here are six such myths science has debunked about BDSM.
1. Only a Small Community are into Kink
Just about 2% of sexually active Australians in 2001 said they had “been involved in BDSM” that year. However, many people may be performing sex behaviours that would be labelled as unusual or kinky without realizing it and therefore not reporting it as such in the survey. Moreover, many may wish kinky things but do not dare or have the chance to take part in them. A more recent study, of 1000 adult Quebecois surveyed in 2014, for instance, found that half of the sample expressed interest in “paraphilic” fantasies which as unusually considered kinky; such as voyeurism, exhibitionism, fetishism, masochism, sadism, transvestism, etc. Around five per cent and 50% of men and between 3% and 21% of women reported engaging in these fantasies at least once in their life. In other words, kinky needs and behaviours might not exactly be the norm, but they’re not uncommon.
2. Most likely Either Kinky or Vanilla
There exists often a perception that kinky people don’t get off on regular “vanilla” sex. That they need whatever kinky thing they’re into to get aroused, orgasm, or feel satisfied. While this can be true for some kinky people. A recent review suggested they represent only a smaller group in the kink world. Participants of both gender in this study, who self-identified as masochistic, when hooked up to devices that measured their arousal, as they listened to erotic stories. Reported getting just as aroused to masochistic erotic stories as they did to vanilla sex stories.
3. People Who Are Kinky Were Mistreated as Children or Individuals
This is a recurrent assumption people make for why someone would be into kink, a supposition proved wrong by two large studies. Both the Australian and the Quebecois study found that men and women who were involved in BDSM in the past 12 months or who had voiced interest in kinky fantasies were no more or less likely to express having been sexually abused as children compared to the people without kinky behaviours.
4. Those people who are into BDSM Have More Mental Issues
This is yet another myth busted by three large recent studies. In fact, some subgroups of kinky people may have fewer mental health issues and have more satisfying lives. The Australian study found lower levels of psychological distress, less depression and anxiety were reported among male BDSM professionals compared to the vanilla men, and no distinctions either way for the women.
The Quebecois study found that folks who were into fetishism, masochism, and exhibitionism believed their lovemaking lives were more interesting than did those without these interests; the other paraphilic interests were not related–positively or negatively–to lovemaking life satisfaction.
Finally, a third study with nearly 1, 000 Dutch BDSM practitioners found that, generally, they were less neurotic, less sensitive to denial, strongly attached to their romantic partners, and higher in subjective wellness compared to general population control group. When the researchers looked separately at Dom, subs and switches. It seemed that many of these elevated feelings were typical of Doms. But the rest didn’t differ much from the general population.
5. Men Are Doms, Women Are Submissive
Overall, more women are into sexual submission than men, and more men are into sexual domination than women. There is, however, a significant percentage of men who are into submission/masochism and of girls that are into Domination/sadism.
6.BDSM Practitioners (Especially Men) Are Abusive, Sexist, Aggressive People
It turns out, the opposite may be true. Yet another myth busted by a 2016 study. For example, people who engaged in the BDSM reported lower levels of benevolent sexism, rape myth acceptance, and victim blaming than did college undergrads and general population adults. There were no differences between the three groups on measures of hostile sexism or prejudice against women, expectations of sexual aggression, or acceptance of sexual aggression.
Another study from 2014 found that people who engaged in BDSM practices or fantasies report extremely low past engagement or any intention to engage in coercive sexual behaviours. The levels were similar to those of people without kinky fantasies.