The actual mechanics of much of BDSM---otherwise known as S&M or leather---is well-documented in numerous how-to books, various movies, and numerous novels. It is often seen as kinky sex, and is commonly portrayed as involving skin-tight black leather clothing, chains, ropes, and nude or semi-nude participants writhing in delicious erotic ecstasy while being flogged or whipped by domineering "masters" and "mistresses".
And maybe this is what it is to many of the people involved. And, in fact, it doesn't really sound half bad.
But there's much more to it than this. In reality there are wants, needs, and hungers being explored and satisfied by BDSM participants which often they aren't even aware of themselves.
"This Curious Human Phenomenon" looks under the hood to find out what's really going on, at why people "do" BDSM, at what makes it so enticing, at what needs it meets, and at why these can't readily be met elsewhere.
This is not a how-to book. Instead, it is designed to be a bridge to understanding for people who want to take their BDSM to that mythical "next step".
Amazon lists this title as being available in paperback and Kindle format. I read it on my Kindle.
Wow. This is a godsend for readers like me, who enjoy not only the fiction side of things, but also non-fiction, instructional, and reference type books on the same subject (kink). Masters has created a Kinky Psychology 101, and there's a lot of fascinating anthropology in there too. Loving the intellectual challenge!
There is some basic stuff in there, so if you're a tertiary student of psych and/or anthropology, you may not get as much out of it as an uneducated (but intelligent) reader like myself. But that's not to say that the basic stuff isn't interesting - it makes points that I already knew about, but applies them in ways that I hadn't even considered! BDSM has never been this enlightening.
If you are a sub who wonders "Why do I do this?", or a Dom who thinks, "Am I a bad person?", then you may just gain validation from this book. It goes into why we do What It Is That We Do, and how it is simply a product of our conditioning, environment, and personal definition of enjoyment and satisfaction that leads us down this garden path of ours - not any predisposition to harrassment or self-injury, as some are likely to think.
As the synopsis above states, this is *not* a how-to book. You won't find guides in here, and if you are attempting any of the danger-play Masters describes then you had better bloody well buy a book that actually tells you how. Masters will, however, tell you why - and that is something no book I have ever read before has ever attempted to do.
Bonus points for being written by an Aussie! How refreshing! :)
Four and a half cocks!!!
Buy this book if:
- You need to explain to someone, to whom you have just come out, why you are the way you are, or to help convince a dubious vanilla partner that it really is okay to be this way (Note: not the same as trying to "convince" someone to be kinky with you - IMO, never a great idea).
- To give to parents and friends who just don't know what to think of your lifestyle choices.
- You have ever asked yourself, or others, those deep questions that plague some kinksters for years: Why am I like this? Am I still a good person?
- You like an intellectual challenge - this book can pry your mind wide open, if you let it.
No comments:
Post a Comment