And it’s one that, certainly in the case of Fifty Shades, perpetuates damaging myths about a community of people that has warped our understanding of what BDSM actually entails, and what it looks like when it’s carried out safely and consensually.
‘Misconceptions have serious consequences’: The distinctions between BDSM and abuse As BDSM becomes a cultural talking point, Olivia Petter examines what differentiates a consensual sexual practice from abusive behaviour, and why it’s so crucial to understand these polarities.
It’s one that perpetuates damaging myths about a community of people that has warped our understanding of what BDSM actually entails, and what it looks like when it’s carried out safely and consensually.
Say “BDSM” to most people and they’ll instantly picture Christian Grey, the smouldering, sado-obsessed protagonist in EL James’s comically terrible Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, whose interest in the practice is linked to his own childhood abuse.
He added that after having gone back over messages with the women featured in the article, he interpreted them as “two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships and wanting to see one another again”.
