There. I’ve said it.
The words that will earn me the hatred of a lot of the BDSM world. Words that are anathema to this subculture. Thinking that runs counter to the mass-think of our counterculture, that threatens all kinds of people who are supposedly secure in whatever it is they do.
I posted my recent post about consent on Fetlife, and the anti-bestiality petition – and all hell has broken loose. I’ve been accused of being a Nazi because of the consent one, and more. I’ve been told – like it’s a bad thing – that I seem to be on a moral crusade with respect to being opposed to bestiality.
Well, yes. Yes, I am, as a matter of fact. On a moral crusade.
I am very much opposed to things like bestiality, child sexual abuse, porn about both, abuse of all sorts, and to an assortment of other things like play behavior that causes bodily damage and emotional harm, and I refuse to be silenced about it by peer pressure any more.
I believe that they are wrong in every possible way, particularly bestiality, child sexual abuse, and other forms of abuse of others (including animals), both physical and emotional. I believe (and there are plenty of good studies to back me up) that they are deeply injurious on multiple levels, and that injuring other people and other creatures is just plain wrong. They are sick, disgusting, perverted in the entirely wrong way, and just plain abominations. People who do these things are sick, too, and in serious need of therapeutic help.
That is very much part of my moral compass, and I have always vigorously opposed these things.
To have deeply held convictions of this nature and to not speak up about them and work to stamp them out is to do one’s own self damage.
So, yes, I am on a crusade to do just that, particularly with abuse of children, women, and animals.
I won’t try to stop people from doing themselves or truly consenting partners bodily harm in the name of kink, but I for damn sure reserve the right to express my opinion of their doing so, and what I believe their mental status to be.
And the thing is that a huge percentage of the rest of our ranks does the same thing, either in private just in their own minds, or among friends, although we all pretend in public like we don’t. No one wants to be the one to point out that the emperor has no clothes.
This whole “your kink is OK” thing that we espouse in the kink community is actually kind of hypocritical, in my opinion. We almost all have opinions about the advisability or sanity of at least one or two things that other people do, and these are routinely spoken of in private, among friends – but no one is willing to actually stand up in public and say the exact same thing, either in front of anyone who practices whatever the activity is, or to the community at large.
The BDSM subculture is, in fact, one of the most intolerant and judgmental groups of people I’ve ever come across – or at least certainly no less judgmental than any vanilla group. The judgments are just about different things, and on the whole, we do have a lot more tolerance of extremes than vanillas do, and the bar is higher.
It’s ironic, though, that while we attempt to be all inclusive of everything that everyone likes, in the process, what gets shut out is the right to freely state our own real opinions of some of those behaviors without facing a crucifying wall of attack from others.
It’s as if when you sign up to be kinky in the public scene, you have to turn in your rights to stating and sharing your own opinions of what others may do. I’ve written at length elsewhere, particularly on Tribe in the New to BDSM (Uncensored) group, about the many unwritten rules of the scene. This is a major one. You don’t get to have an opinion of what others do, or at least you most assuredly aren’t allowed to express it out loud.
Everyone who has been around for more than a month and started to get to know others knows that there is a large and well-established grapevine behind the scenes. I was told about it when I was brand new a decade ago, and it exists as a deliberate institution to help submissives stay safe by sharing information about dangerous tops. It’s not only condoned, it’s actively (although quietly) promoted, and polite newbies are welcomed into the fold. Get any group of submissives together, and you’ll hear all about how we all need to look out for and protect one another. But God forbid anyone actually share any of that same information out loud in public, or to more individuals than a particular person deems appropriate – and then all hell breaks loose about violating confidentiality, bad-mouthing people, etc. – regardless of the truth or lack thereof of the information being shared, and the actual experiences of the person sharing it, and then the crowd often turns on the messenger. All this happens right along with a lot of public verbiage about wanting to stop abusive behavior, and people crowing about how we are somehow better than the vanilla crowd and have less abuse in our ranks.
Hello? You either want to stop abuse and help protect others, or you don’t. No, it’s not as cut and dried as may appear that I am saying. There are indeed nuances and specifics to each situation. Unfortunately, the victim is often revictimized over and over again by her own peers just for speaking up.
There are also significant pockets of people who not only do not condemn behavior such as child and animal sexual abuse, but who actively practice and promote it, despite the fact that they are generally illegal as hell, much more so than any of the rest of what we do, as well as totally amoral and exploitative. It is appalling that such abusers try to hide behind the wall of calling their perversions “kinks”, and thereby trying to slide in under the umbrella of “your kink is OK” in our circles.
It’s not OK, folks.
I’m sorry, but it’s just not.
And yes, I’m on a moral crusade – and on a legal one. I’ve worked for years to help stamp out child and domestic partner abuse, and I will now also not rest until bestiality is likewise recognized legally everywhere as the sick abuse of helpless creatures that it is, and helped to create a legal framework within which anyone who causes harm to people and animals who cannot consent can and will be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law – a law on a par with how raping children and others is now treated.
Child abuse and bestiality are not “kinks”. They are full on perversions, sicknesses, and victimization of others who are helpless to defend themselves. People who do these things are predators, and mentally ill, and should be locked away for life.
Anyone who thinks it’s OK to fuck children or animals is a psychopath. And anyone who remains in a relationship with anyone who does either of these things once they know about it is equally guilty of the crime because to stay is to condone it.
What I find particularly puzzling is that I know people whose own friends have told them they are sick and in need of therapy because of the extreme nature of their kinks and participation in bestiality. Why are those people still friends, when such incredibly exploitative and blatantly injurious behaviors are being practiced by those people? Why do people stay in intimate relationships with such animals? Birds of a feather flock together, though – so don’t be surprised if others consider that you actually condone the behavior of your partners and friends who engage in these kinds of practices if you remain in relationships with them once you know about these things. Sadly, I know people who have sounded off vociferously about exactly this – and yet are now in relationships with known, self-proclaimed bestialists, and still there, despite knowing full well about it. It’s really pathetic when people’s desire to get their rocks off so overrides their own moral compasses – or at least what they said were their moral standards.
Don’t even start me on things like breath play, extremes of body modification, skewers, screws and nails inserted through breasts, penises, and testicles, needle play with unsterile needles, heavy impact play on the same kinds of delicate body parts and other areas that are easily injured, extensive brands, etc. People have had to have breasts amputated because they haven’t healed from play of this nature. Others have reported it taking literally years for such injuries to heal completely. I’m hearing more reports of spinal fractures from flogging older people. The list goes on.
So yeah. As long as you are not hurting others, human or animal, do whatever you want. But don’t expect me to condone it, or to not speak up against it, and to try to educate people to not do it if possible, if I find it either morally repugnant or too unsafe.
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See also Tolerating Criminal Behavior in the Scene, and Judging Others, and Just because it is “your kink” does not make it OK with me
