Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Unconventional Leisure and Career: Insights into the Work of Professional Dominatrices

2012; Volume: 15; Linguagem: Inglês

1545-5556

David Williams, L. Erika Storm,

Digital Games and Media

Introduction In this paper we draw from both the relevant scholarly literature and from our own rich and diverse experiences on the complex topic of bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadomasochism (BDSM). Our paper is not a research study, but rather an important critical viewpoint. Professional domination is frequently trivialized, misunderstood, and not taken seriously. We hope to demystify a fascinating occupation that seems to provide deviant (unusual) leisure services to many mainstream clients, yet this phenomenon has received virtually no serious attention within the academic literature. We believe that it is time for scholars and professionals to consider this issue more thoroughly and critically. Our paper is intended to be a first step in this process. The first author is an interdisciplinary social scientist whose interests and formal education span the fields of clinical social work, leisure sciences, deviance and criminology. The second author shares interests in the behavioral sciences, and has had a long and successful career as a professional dominatrix. In this capacity she has had the opportunity to work with hundreds of clients and several top peers in her field. Drawing from both of our professional backgrounds and observations, the purpose of this paper is to briefly describe and explore the work of highly trained dominants alongside a spectrum of helping professions. We acknowledge that professional dominants may be of any gender, but we refer herein specifically to dominatrices (female gender) since the demand for their services is much greater. Given that this is a professional paper, we have decided not to capitalize references to dominatrices and interchangeable terms (dommes, dominas, and mistresses). However, it may be noted that BDSM subcultural discourse and writing practices frequently necessitates capitalization of such terms, which emphasize a power dynamic. BDSM, generally, seems to be first and foremost about playing with power--not necessarily sex directly--and it has been suggested that the term erotic power exchange may be a good descriptor (Langdridge & Butt, 2005). Background: BDSM as an Alternative Lifestyle BDSM is difficult for scholars to define precisely, but historically has been conceptualized as having several coexisting components (Weinberg, Williams, & Moser, 1984): * The appearance of dominance and submission * Role-playing * Mutual (voluntary) consent to participate * Mutual definition (a shared understanding of activities) * A sexual (or erotic) context Regarding the latter criterion, we prefer the word erotic over sexual, since erotic seems to be a broader term and many BDSM experiences do not include sex. Additionally, recent research challenges the common assumption that all or most BDSM is sexually motivated (see Newmahr, 2010a). Following the motto of safe, sane, consensual (SSC) play is a strict requirement for participation within the BDSM community, although some groups prefer using the slogan Risk Aware Consensual Kink (RACK). BDSM may include a number of diverse activities (i.e., bondage, discipline training, role-playing, spanking, whipping, controlled sensory deprivation or overload, objectification, fetish activation, etc.), yet for many people seems to be a lifestyle preference. In other words, committed relationships are purposefully structured in one way or another around BDSM roles. BDSM relationships may be designed in various ways that meet the complex needs of participants. Some structures may look more traditional, while others can be quite diverse. Many people who live a BDSM lifestyle often attend BDSM community events and parties, thus strengthening a support network of people with similar interests and forms of self expression. Despite pervasive myths and stereotypes, recent studies show that people with BDSM socio-sexual identities are generally psychologically healthy (Beckmann, 2001; Connelly, 2006; Cross & Matheson, 2006; Richters, de Visser, Rissel, Grulich, & Smith, 2008; Weinberg, 2006). …