Despite it’s increasingly visibility in mainstream culture the sexuality of people who practice BDSM continues to be suspect both in the general public and by professionals who often believe that a strong interest in BDSM is indicative of early sexual trauma or problematic adult sexual expression.
But a survey of almost 20,000 Australians aged 16-59 is offering some needed data to combat what regular people who are interested in BDSM have been saying all along.
The study, published in the July issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, found that just under 2% of those surveyed engaged in some form of BDSM in the past year (2.2% of men and 1.3% of women). While the study found that those who engaged in BDSM had significantly different sexual experiences (more likely to have had oral and/or anal sex, more likely to have had more than one sexual partner, etc…) they found no difference in the experience of previous sexual coercion and no difference in self-reported happiness or anxiety ratings. In fact men who engaged in BDSM experienced less psychological distress than those who didn’t. The authors conclude that:
Our findings support the idea that BDSM is simply a sexual interest or subculture attractive to a minority, and for most participants not a pathological symptom of past abuse or difficulty with “normal” sex.
Read more - The Australian: Bondage lovers 'not sexually abnormal'
Source:
Richters, J., de Visser, R.O., Rissel, C.E., et. al. “Demographic and Psychosocial Features of Participants in Bondage and Discipline, “Sadomasochism” or Dominance and Submission (BDSM): Data from a National Survey” Journal of Sexual Medicine Vol. 5 (2008): 1660-1668.