Lenius, S. (2021, July 29). Leather life: Leather pride flag 101. Lavender Magazine. https://lavendermagazine.com/our-lives/leather-life-leather-pride-flag-101/

<aside> 💡 For the sources listed under each myth: click on the title to see more info about each source, including a link to the full text. Click on the expand arrow for just the pull quotes.

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Myth 1: Kink/BDSM is always/inherently sexual

• BDSM can be a form of "serious leisure" as well as, or instead of, a sexual orientation
• Members of BDSM communities have identified many other reasons and benefits for participation in BDSM play and BDSM communities besides sex

Sources

• Rethinking kink: Sadomasochism as serious leisure
• Is BDSM a Sexual Orientation or Serious Leisure?
• It’s complicated: Sex and the BDSM subculture
• Member perspectives on the role of BDSM communities

Myth 2: Kink is potentially alienating to asexual folks/Asexuality and BDSM are mutually exclusive

• What research there is supports the lived experience of many asexual kinky people.
• BDSM can provide tools and vocabulary to form non sexual relationships.

Sources

• Ace of (BDSM) clubs: Building asexual relationships through BDSM practice
• ‘Can i be a kinky ace?’: How asexual people negotiate their experiences of kinks and fetishes

Myth 3: Interest in consensual BDSM is an unhealthy product of past trauma/inherently pathological

• Emerging research indicates that not only is there no link between interest in BDSM and abuse, but also that BDSMers have more secure attachment styles, especially if they're connected to kink communities.
• Some trauma survivors have been able to find profound healing through BDSM

Sources