“It's All About the Journey”: Skepticism and Spirituality in the BDSM Subculture
Sociological Forum July 20, 2018 DOI: 10.1111/socf.12460 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 70 |
| Population | Self-identified kinksters in the Mid-Atlantic United States (70 interviewees), plus a convenience sample of more than 1,100 American and Canadian kinksters surveyed; the author also drew on insider participant observation in the DC/Baltimore pansexual BDSM community. |
| Citations | 22 |
| Key findings | Argues that the BDSM subculture, as a noncriminal deviant subculture, provides a hospitable social environment for cultivating "lived religious" experiences among a mostly agnostic, atheist, and Pagan group. Nearly half of heavily involved American and Canadian kinksters say they sometimes engage in BDSM for spiritual fulfillment, and interviewees described spiritually connective, transcendental, and cathartic experiences, though many adopted a "post-rational" stance that reluctantly acknowledges mystical experiences within a framework of scientific and rational knowledge. |
Abstract
Previous research onBDSM(bondage & discipline, dominance & submission, sadism & masochism) subcultures has largely ignored the spiritual aspects ofBDSMfor participants. Drawing primarily from my years of experience and participant observation as an insider in theDC/BaltimoreBDSMpansexual 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 theBDSMsubculture, 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 inBDSMfor 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 theirBDSMpractices. 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.