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BDSM in culture and media

{{Short description|Stories, books and media about bondage}}

{{Cleanup reorganize|date=February 2017}}

File:2014 WGT 261 Umbra Et Imago.jpg at Wave Gotik Treffen music and arts global festival in Germany, 2014]]

File:Woman topless on leash at Folsom Street Fair 2012.jpger in a kajira pose at Folsom Street Fair, a U.S. based BDSM fest. The woman is posing in an approximation to nadu, the typical position of a "pleasure slave" in Gorean subculture.]]

BDSM (i.e., bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism) is a frequent theme in culture and media, including in books, films, video games, television, music, magazines, public performances and online media.

Newspapers and magazines

During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a variety of periodicals were published on the subject of BDSM. Small independent publishing companies and organized groups were both active in this field, though many have since ceased publication or transferred to online publishing. The German-language Schlagzeilen magazine started in 1988 as the group's internal newspaper and is an important BDSM publication in German-speaking countries today.

Events and figures related to BDSM have also appeared in the media. In 2002, The Washington Post newspaper ran an article which said that Jack McGeorge, a munitions analyst for the UNMOVIC, was also a leader in the Washington, DC BDSM community. Following this, several commentators compared his BDSM activities with the torture techniques used by Saddam Hussein's administration in Iraq. Others compared today's discrimination of BDSM practitioners with the situation of homosexuals in the past.{{citation needed|date=November 2010}}

In Germany EMMA, a well-known feminist magazine, published by Alice Schwarzer, pursued its PorNO campaign against hatred towards women and violent pornography aiming to ban pornography in Germany. In it, Schwarzer states, among other things, that sadomasochistic practices are generally to be equated with violence against women. Her judgment on female sadomasochism ("Female masochism is collaboration!") has often been criticized for implying a state of war between genders."Weiblicher Masochismus ist Kollaboration!" from EMMA Heft 2, 1991 EMMA magazine criticized Helmut Newton, accusing him of "pornografization of fashion photography", and criticized his "therein unrestrainedly realized sadomasochistic obsessions".An extensive analysis of the magazine and Schwarzer campaigns is available at [http://www.datenschlag.org/papiertiger/lexikon/emma.html Papiertiger#Emma] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430142649/http://www.datenschlag.org/papiertiger/lexikon/emma.html |date=2006-04-30 }} (German)

BDSM support groups and publications have repeatedly criticized biased media coverage of BDSM.Manuela Münchow, Bundesvereinigung Sadomasochismus: Stellungnahme zum Grünbuch "Gleichstellung sowie Bekämpfung von Diskriminierungen in einer erweiterten Europäischen Union" der Kommission der Europäischen Gemeinschaften (Brüssel, den 28.05.2004 KOM(2004) 379), 31.08.2004 (German), and the detailed chronology Der Papiertiger: Presse ("media coverage") in the Encyclopedia of Sadomasochism [http://www.datenschlag.org/papiertiger/lexikon/presse.html Datenschlag.de] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410132658/http://datenschlag.org/papiertiger/lexikon/presse.html |date=2007-04-10 }}(German/English)

Literature

{{Further|List of BDSM authors|Sadism and masochism in fiction}}

File:Jean de Virgan - Flogged over bench.jpg]]

Sadomasochism is a perennial theme in literature and has inspired several classics like The Story of O by Anne Desclos (under the pseudonym Pauline Réage), Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and the comics created by Eric Stanton. A literary curiosity concerning sadomasochism is Martha's letter to Leopold Bloom in Ulysses by James Joyce.

The novel Naomi (1925) by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, originally titled Chijin no Ai (A Fool's Love), was Tanizaki's highly influential tragicomedy that satirized the flapper-inspired "modern girl" phenomenon of 1920s Japan. This cautionary tale recalls thematic elements of Pygmalion (1913), Of Human Bondage (1915), and Lolita (1955), which it predated by 30 years.

The novel Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair published in 1978 by Ingeborg Day (under the pseudonym Elizabeth McNeill) was the basis of the Hollywood movie 9½ Weeks. Justine Ettler's The River Ophelia (1995) details the empty, sometimes violent sex lives of university students and yuppies with surreal overtones.

Author Anne Rice published under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure three installments of her Sleeping Beauty Trilogy (The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, 1983), Beauty's Punishment (1984) and Beauty's Release (1985) with explicit BDSM themes.

A nine-volume book series published in July 2006 under the title Bild-Erotik-Bibliothek by Bild-Zeitung, Germany's leading Tabloid and the best-selling newspaper in Europe, in cooperation with Random House gives a clear indication of the commercial potential of the topic. Out of nine installments, three books had a well-defined emphasis on sadomasochism, specifically BDSM. Besides Exit to Eden, also written by Anne Rice under the pseudonym Anne Rampling, it also further featured the sadomasochist classic Story of O. and the explicit novel Topping from Below by Laura Reese.

The Fifty Shades trilogy is a series of popular erotic romance novels by E. L. James which involve BDSM. The series has had a notably mixed reception from the community itself; while it has been praised for bringing BDSM into the mainstream, they have also received heavy criticism for inaccurate portrayals of the subculture.{{cite web|last=Velvet|first=Lady|date=14 February 2015|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fifty-shades-grey-a-dominatrixs-773577|title='Fifty Shades of Grey': A Dominatrix's View (Guest Column)|website=Hollywood Reporter|access-date=27 February 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/16/fifty-shades-of-grey-isnt-bdsm_n_6684808.html |title='Fifty Shades Of Grey' Isn't A Movie About BDSM, And That's A Problem|website= Huffingtonpost.com |date=16 February 2015|access-date= 27 February 2015}}{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=Alicia M. |last2=Kuperberg |first2=Arielle |date=2022 |title=Pathways and Patterns of Entrance into BDSM |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10508-021-02154-x |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |language=en |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=1045–1062 |doi=10.1007/s10508-021-02154-x |issn=0004-0002}} In response to this, BDSM works published after the trilogy have often had a greater focus on consent and agency, such as Penny Aimes' For the Love of April French.{{cite web |url=https://ew.com/books/for-the-love-of-april-french-penny-aimes/ |title=For the Love of April French author Penny Aimes on giving the trans experience an authentic voice in romance |last=Lee Lenker |first=Maureen |date=May 27, 2021 |website=Entertainment Weekly |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}

While sadomasochistic rituals enacted as theatrical staging might show fetish characteristics, the fetish is not literature. BDSM literature also does not embrace a specific philosophy or morality; instead it represents it, as do other literary genres within the zeitgeist of an era.compare Arne Hoffmann: In Leder gebunden. Der Sadomasochismus in der Weltliteratur, Ubooks 2007, {{ISBN|3-86608-078-6}} (German)

Alfred Kinsey stated in his 1953 nonfiction book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female that 12% of females and 22% of males reported having an erotic response to a sadomasochistic story.Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, pp. 677-678 In that book erotic responses to being bitten were given as:

class="wikitable"
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! Erotic responses

! By females

! By males

Definite and/or frequent

| 26%

| 26%

Some response

| 29%

| 24%

Never

| 45%

| 50%

style="border-top:2px solid black;"

|+

! Number of cases

| 2,200

| 567

=Publishers=

In the last decades, publishing houses and imprints specializing in BDSM fiction and nonfiction have been founded in many Western countries, including Circlet Press, Daedalus Publishing, Greenery Press and Nexus Books, an imprint of Virgin Books.

=Specialist books=

In November 1981, Samois published Coming to Power: Writing and graphics on Lesbian S/M, which reached a worldwide audience the following year when it was reprinted by Alyson Publications. The book combined short stories with basic explanations and safety tips about BDSM practices. It is considered the first introductory books on the subject worldwide. Its concept was internationally adopted by many publications in the following decades.

Other than specialized books with strong emphasis on the practice, there is a growing number of scientific publications and books that discuss BDSM philosophy and culture:

  • Jay Wiseman: SM 101: A Realistic Introduction. Greenery Press (California) 1998, {{ISBN|0-9639763-8-9}} (comprehensive reference book including topics like "BDSM as a lifestyle" and "BDSM during pregnancy")
  • Philip Miller, Molly Devon: Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism. Mystic Rose Books, 1995. {{ISBN|0-9645960-0-8}} (showing plenty of graphics, the comprehensive reference book gives advice on practices and safety advice)
  • Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Topping Book. Greenery Press (California) 2002, {{ISBN|1-890159-36-0}} (practical and theoretical introduction for Tops with emphasis on psychological, practical and technological aspects and detailed advice on partner search)
  • Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Bottoming Book. Greenery Press (California) 1998, {{ISBN|1-890159-35-2}} (practical and theoretical introduction for Bottoms with emphasis on psychological, practical and technological aspects and detailed advice on partner search)
  • Patrick Califia (ed.), Robin Sweeney (ed.):The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader. Alyson Publications 1996, {{ISBN|1-55583-281-4}} (sequel to the lesbian-feminist BDSM-classic Coming to Power)
  • Mark Thompson (ed.): Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice. Alyson Publications 1991, {{ISBN|1-55583-630-5}}, (28 essays of well-known sadomasochistic authors and activists)
  • Lady Green (ed.), Jaymes Easton (ed.): Kinky Crafts: 101 Do-It-Yourself S/M Toys. Greenery Press (California) 1998, {{ISBN|0-9639763-7-0}} (comprehensive Guide to do-it-yourself BDSM-toys)
  • Gloria Brame, William Brame & John Jacobs: Different Loving: The World of Sexual Dominance and Submission. Villard, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0679769569}}
  • Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Charles Allen Moser: Sadomasochism - Powerful Pleasures. Haworth Press, 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-56023-640-5}}
  • Staci Newmahr: Playing On The Edge. Indiana University Press, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0253222855}} (sociological examination of BDSM community in an unnamed city)
  • Margot Weiss: Techniques of Pleasure. Duke University Press, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0822351597}} (anthropological examination of San Francisco BDSM community)
  • Clarisse Thorn: The S & M Feminist. Clarisse Thorn, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1477472040}} (essays on BDSM, gender and culture)
  • Lee Harrington, Mollena Williams: Playing Well With Others. Greenery Press, 2012, {{ISBN|978-0937609583}} (guide to the BDSM community)
  • Anne O. Nomis The History & Arts of the Dominatrix. Mary Egan Publishing & Anna Nomis Ltd, UK, 2013, {{ISBN|978-0-9927010-0-0}} (academic account of dominatrix imagery)
  • Rajan Dominari: Welcome to the Darkside: A BDSM Primer. AKO Publishing Company, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1734527100}} (introduction to the BDSM community and culture)

Marketing

File:Police woman to protect and serve folsom street fair, san francisco (2012) (8020168303).jpg using fetishized uniform of a lady cop, at Folsom Street Fair.]]

Since the beginning of the 1990s, BDSM imagery has been regularly used within the framework of large marketing campaigns in continental Europe. Widely known examples in Germany are billboards of the cigarette brands Camel and West, showing a camel dressed in "typical" leather outfit, respectively a dominatrix with a whip. While West had to withdraw the ad due to "offense against morality", BDSM motifs were utilized in the following years on a regular basis.vgl. Roland Seim, Josef Spiegel (Hrsg.): "Ab 18" - zensiert, diskutiert, unterschlagen. Beispiele aus der Kulturgeschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Telos Verlag, Münster 2002, {{ISBN|3-933060-01-X}}, S.109 (German). In March 2007 the Swedish clothing company H&M promoted the sale of a collection compiled by Madonna with television commercials in Germany.compare Stern.de: H&M: Mode made by Madonna, available under [http://www.stern.de/lifestyle/leute/:H&M-Mode-Madonna/578068.html stern.de], 15.02.2007 (German) and Vogue.com: Die gezähmte Madonna, available under [http://www.vogue.de/vogue/6/content/09614/index.php Vogue.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125063305/http://www.vogue.de/vogue/6/content/09614/index.php |date=2008-01-25 }} (German) The commercials showed the artist, who has been repeatedly criticized for the use of sadomasochistic subjects in the past, as a dominant lifestyle-icon teaching a lesson to an "inappropriately" dressed female pupil under the cracking of a crop, redesigning her outfit while making fashion statements like "Don't think it – you need to know it".

In Canada, Mini presented the winter package 2005/2005 of the Mini-Cooper in the form of an interactive BDSM-session in which the user, supported by a dominatrix, can test different kinds of spanking tools on the automobile in order to get the optional equipment explained.see [http://www.mini.ca/en/More_MINI/MINIfun/DominateWinter/default.aspx mini.ca] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220022334/http://www.mini.ca/en/More_MINI/MINIfun/DominateWinter/default.aspx |date=2008-02-20 }} Their slogan was "Dominate winter".

In the U.S., Anheuser-Busch has repeatedly sponsored the fetish-lifestyle Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.Heather Cassell: LGBT advocates offer mixed reaction to Miller, Coors merger, online under [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928145348/http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ci=108&ch=business_finance&sc=corporate&sc2=news&sc3=&id=23823 EDGE Boston] Diesel jeans ran several sadomasochistic-themed advertisements in various fashion magazines.

Music

{{See also|Sexuality in music videos}}

The Velvet Underground song "Venus in Furs" (from The Velvet Underground & Nico) is based on a book by Masoch of the same title; the name of the band itself comes from a book about paraphilias (including BDSM) in the United States.

Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" may be the most well-known popular song with BDSM connotations, primarily due to the music video.

Adam Lambert's "For Your Entertainment", Puddle of Mudd's "Control", and Madonna's "Erotica" are explicitly from the dominant's point of view - as is "Baby Let's Play Rough" by the country-western vampire singer Unknown Hinson, whereas Nedra Johnson's "Alligator Food" and Lady Gaga's "Teeth" are written from the perspective of the submissive.

Jace Everett's "Bad Things" (the theme song of the TV series True Blood) alludes to BDSM.

The German punk band Die Ärzte recorded the song "Sweet, Sweet Gwendoline" that introduced the BDSM-related character Sweet Gwendoline to a large part of the population that otherwise had no contact to the BDSM subculture. German gothic rock band Umbra et Imago, famous amongst the fetish goth scene, also recorded a song entitled "Sweet Gwendoline".

Industrial music in general likely has the most BDSM themes, as well as being one of the biggest influences on Rivethead fashion. Rammstein is one of those industrial bands, as their song "Ich Tu Dir Weh (I hurt you)" is about BDSM. Depeche Mode are known for their BDSM undertones, "Master and Servant" being a well-known example.

File:Rihanna, LOUD Tour, Oakland 1.jpg (wearing white) performs S&M while chained during the Loud Tour in 2011. Her dominatrix (wearing black) is sitting in the background.]]

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Other famous songs with BDSM themes include:

In 2010, Christina Aguilera released her Bionic album which contains the single "Not Myself Tonight". The controversial, high-concept video for the single is rife with aggressive BDSM imagery. Aguilera is seen as a bound and gagged slave as well as a latex-clad dominatrix with a riding crop and a group of look-alike slave girls.

Also released in 2010, rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars's music video for "Hurricane", directed by Jared Leto under his pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins, includes elements of bondage and discipline, dominance and submission. Though initially banned from most networks due to violence and heavy sexual content, the video received three nominations at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Direction and Best Editing.

Art

{{See also|List of BDSM artists|List of BDSM photographers}}

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Comic book drawings: John Willie with Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline (published as a serial in Robert Harrison's mainstream girlie magazine Wink from June 1947 to February 1950 and later in several other magazines over the years), Guido Crepax with Histoire d'O (1975)

  • In graphic design: Works by Eric Stanton, Hajime Sorayama and Robert Bishop
  • In art deco sculpture: Bruno Zach produced a dominatrix sculpture called "The Riding Crop" (c. 1925).{{cite web|title=Bruno Zach's 'Riding Crop Girl' hits World Record $150,602 at Bonhams art auction|url=https://www.justcollecting.com/miscellania/bruno-zachs-riding-crop-girl-hits-world-record-150-602-at-bonhams-art-auction)|website=justcollecting.com|access-date=12 Aug 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630174111/https://www.justcollecting.com/miscellania/bruno-zachs-riding-crop-girl-hits-world-record-150-602-at-bonhams-art-auction|archive-date=30 June 2015}}

= Fashion =

{{See also|Fetish fashion}}

File:Gul Panag, cast of 'Fatso' arrives to sell tickets at PVR, Juhu (6) (cropped).jpg wearing a T-shirt depicting a male slave on a leash held by a female owner]]

Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood created several restrictive BDSM-inspired clothing items of punk fashion for the 1970s punk subculture; in particular bondage trousers, which connect the wearer's legs with straps.

A table in Larry Townsend's The Leatherman's Handbook II (the 1983 second edition; the 1972 first edition did not include this list) which is generally considered authoritative states that a black handkerchief is a symbol for sadomasochism and a grey handkerchief is a symbol for bondage in the handkerchief code, which is employed usually among gay male casual-sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Wearing the handkerchief on the left indicates the top, dominant, or active partner; right the bottom, submissive, or passive partner. However, negotiation with a prospective partner remains important because, as Townsend noted, people may wear hankies of any color "only because the idea of the hankie turns them on" or "may not even know what it means".{{cite book |last=Townsend |first=Larry|title=The Leatherman's Handbook II |year=1983 |publisher=Modernismo Publications |location=New York |isbn=0-89237-010-6 |page=26}}

= Photography =

{{Main|List of BDSM photographers}}

  • Robert Mapplethorpe’s most controversial works documented and examined the homosexual male BDSM subculture of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
  • Barbara Nitke’s photo book, Kiss of Fire: A Romantic View of Sadomasochism (2003) was among the first mainstream publications to examine the subject of BDSM.{{Cite web |url=http://www.barbaranitke.com/portlandpressherald.html |title="Exploring Myths of a Sexual Subculture" by Bob Keyes |access-date=2012-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304124825/http://www.barbaranitke.com/portlandpressherald.html |archive-date=2012-03-04 |url-status=dead }}
  • Ellen Von Unwerth's photography often features themes related to dominance and submission, female sexuality and Femdom.{{Cite web |last=annab |date=2012-06-20 |title=Ellen von Unwerth {{!}} Do Not Disturb! |url=https://www.voltcafe.com/blog/ellen-von-unwerth-do-not-disturb |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Volt Café {{!}} by Volt Magazine |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Enke |first=Anne |title=Time of Our Lives - Big Time Sensuality {{!}} Ellen von Unwerth {{!}} Commons & Sense #36 |url=https://anneofcarversville.com/style-photos/time-of-our-lives-big-time-sensuality-ellen-von-unwerth-comm.html |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Anne of Carversville |language=en-US}} Her photography feature models and celebrities who take on role or character. One such celebrity photoshoot involved Rihanna playing the role of dominatrix.{{Cite web |date=2019-11-20 |title=Revisiting Rihanna's 'Rated R': A Renaissance Era |url=https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/rihanna-rated-r-era/ |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Highsnobiety |language=en}}
  • Helmut Newton has been described as the "King of Kink" for choosing themes of BDSM, Femdom and power play in narrative photography.{{Cite web |title=Helmut Newton: The King of Kink ► Berlin 2022 |url=https://thecolumbist.com/helmut-newton-the-king-of-kink/ |access-date=2022-11-10 |language=en-US}}

= Theatre =

Film and television

{{Original research|section|date=October 2021}}

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While BDSM activity appeared initially quasi-"subliminally" in some movies, in the 1960s and 1970s there were film adaptations of famous works of BDSM literature including Venus in Furs (1969) and the Story of O (1975).

In the 1960s and 1970s Spanish director Jess Franco developed several movies that were typical examples of the exploitation-genres' approach, often based on the works of the Marquis de Sade and censored in many countries worldwide.

With the release of the 1986 film 9½ Weeks, the topic of BDSM was transferred to broader audiences with high impact and notable commercial success. Since the late 1990s movies like Preaching to the Perverted (1997), a movie generally considered a reaction to Operation Spanner, and Secretary (2002) started to increasingly reconcile financial demands with authenticity.

From the 1990s to the early 2000s, mainstream media representation of alternative sexualities, including BDSM, increased dramatically. First noted in

1983,{{cite book|last1=Falk|first1=G.|last2=Weinberg|first2=T.S.|title=Sadomasochism and Popular Western Culture|date=1983|publisher=NY Prometheus Books|location=Amherst, NY|pages=137–144}} this trend shows no signs of abating today.

With the development of documentary productions such as SICK: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (1997), Bound for Pleasure (2002), Wir leben ... SM! (2004), Graphic Sexual Horror (2009) and KinK (2013), an increasingly broader approach to the subject matter is developing, targeting wider audiences.

During the last four decades, the spectrum of productions has been greatly enlarged, showing the topic has arrived in mainstream movies:

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Besides these mainstream movies, there is a huge market for underground sadomasochistic direct-to-DVD and Internet-download films. The majority of these have no explicit sexual content, but a few are also pornographic films.for further details see Linda Williams: Power, Pleasure and Perversion: Sadomasochistic Film Pornography, Representations, Nr. 27 (Summer), 1989, P. 37-65, University of California Press These videos fall into specific fetish categories such as bondage, corporal punishment (domestic and school spanking), pony play (animal role-playing) and dungeon-based BDSM centered on the master/slave dynamic. The porn industry has responded to this growing trend by creating a number of sex films with an S&M theme. The most noteworthy are the award-winning The Fashionistas (2002) and its 2003 sequel, The Fashionistas II.

In recent years, movies like 9½ Weeks (1986), Tokyo Decadence (1992), and Secretary (2002) have been shown, sometimes edited, on television in several countries. In 2001, the Canadian documentary KinK became the first television series on the topic worldwide.

Other examples of BDSM in television and film are:

  • The 'Allo 'Allo! series 1 episode "The British 'ave Come (The Fallen Madonna)" (1984) and series 3 episode "Pretty Maids All in a Row" (1987) both deal with BDSM.
  • Payback (1999), a film with Lucy Liu as Pearl, a dominatrix and hit woman for the Chinese mafia.
  • The Law & Order SVU season 1 episode "Stocks and Bondage" (1999) about the death of a businesswoman who was into BDSM.
  • CSI (2000–2015) had a recurring character, Lady Heather, a professional dominatrix.
  • In Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000), Jennifer Tilly is a part-time dominatrix-for-hire and exotic dancer in leather fetish outfits.
  • Mercy (2000), cable-movie with Peta Wilson as a submissive member of a secret S&M society.
  • Fast Sofa (2001); Jennifer Tilly plays a porn star who is bound and gagged with elaborate leather gear and whipped by her manager (Eric Roberts) for misbehaving.
  • nip/tuck (2003–2010) had Tia Carrere in a recurring role as professional dominatrix Mistress DarkPain.
  • In the television series Desperate Housewives (2004–2012) the character Bree Van De Kamp's husband Rex had an illicit affair with a woman who was able to please him sexually as a dominatrix.
  • EuroTrip (2004) features Lucy Lawless as a German dominatrix in an Amsterdam fetish club.
  • The CSI: NY season 1 episode "Hush" (2005) centers on a case that involves the BDSM community.
  • In the 2005 episode "Love Hurts" of the TV series House, Dr. House treats a patient, Harvey Park (John Cho) who has a dominatrix, Annette Raines (Christina Cox).
  • On the fourth season of the reality show VH1's The Surreal Life (2005) Jane Wiedlin from the pop group The Go-Gos dressed in dominatrix gear and revealed her secret BDSM lifestyle. In that episode, other cast members dabbled in S&M play in a makeshift dungeon room.
  • Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007), a British series about a call girl who takes dominatrix lessons in one episode.
  • On the third season of Boardwalk Empire (2012), the main antagonist of the show Gyp Rosetti (as portrayed by Bobby Cannavale) was seen besottedly taking pleasure by engaging in sadomasochistic sexual acts (female submission) and autoerotic asphyxiation.
  • Seasons 3 and 4 of The History Channel series Vikings (2015, 2016–2017) depict French Count Odo (Owen Roe) practicing sadomasochism with Therese (Karen Hassan), the wife of another noble. He beats and tortures her with various implements for the purpose of sexual arousal.
  • In the Showtime series Billions (2016), psychiatrist Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) plays dominatrix to her husband, District Attorney Chuck (Paul Giamatti).
  • Submission (2016), follows the journey of Ashley (Ashlynn Yennie) from being in an unhappy relationship to her exploration of BDSM when she stumbles upon an erotic novel called SLAVE by Nolan Keats.
  • Season 2 of Marco Polo (2016) has the characters Ahmad and Mei Lin engage in rope bondage and pegging.
  • Bonding, which premiered in 2019, is about a dominatrix and her assistant.
  • Love and Leashes, 2022 Netflix film about romance between two office workers, one of whom has a unique sexual taste and preference for dominant women.

Video games

Mighty Jill Off is a 2008 platformer game developed by Anna Anthropy. It follows Jill, a bottom with a boot fetish in a lesbian BDSM relationship, climbing a tower after being kicked off by her partner. The game received praise for its insight into BDSM and the dom/sub relationship. Rock, Paper, Shotgun{{'s}} Kieron Gillen called it an "interesting examination of the master/slave relationship".{{cite web |last=Gillen |first=Kieron |url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/09/17/whip-it-mighty-jill-off/ |title=Whip It: Mighty Jill Off |work=Rock, Paper, Shotgun |date=2008-09-17 |access-date=2010-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109154722/http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/09/17/whip-it-mighty-jill-off/ |archive-date=2010-11-09 |url-status=live }} Rock Paper Shotgun{{'s}} Alec Meer described it as a "wry, subversive examination of why video game protagonists put themselves through a torturous amount of struggle to reach their objectives".{{cite web |last=Meer |first=Alec |url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/08/03/dont-squeal-piggy-when-pigs-fly/ |title=Don't Squeal, Piggy: When Pigs Fly |work=Rock, Paper, Shotgun |date=2009-08-04 |access-date=2010-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109154733/http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/08/03/dont-squeal-piggy-when-pigs-fly/ |archive-date=2010-11-09 |url-status=live }} James DeRosa praised Anthropy for her implementation of elements and ideas that most games do not cover and called it a "hypersexualized, bondage-themed platformer" with which Anthropy "explores the power dynamics of sexuality and disassembles essentialist male and female sex roles as portrayed in video games -- as well as the significance of difficulty and reward as a design method".{{cite web|last=DeRosa |first=James |url=http://www.bitmob.com/articles/five-indie-games-referenced-in-super-meat-boy-that-will-beat-your-face-into-a-meaty-bloody-pulp |title=5 Tough-As-S*** Indie Games Referenced in Super Meat Boy |work=Bitmob.com |date=2010-12-02 |access-date=2010-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815170458/http://bitmob.com/articles/five-indie-games-referenced-in-super-meat-boy-that-will-beat-your-face-into-a-meaty-bloody-pulp |archive-date=2011-08-15 }}

Another game by Anna Anthropy, Encyclopedia Fuckme and the Case of the Vanishing Entree, is a dating simulator featuring a submissive protagonist trying to escape from their partner, a dominant cannibal intending to tie up and eat the player.{{Cite web |last=Salgado |first=Filipe |date=2011-10-31 |title=Review: Encyclopedia Fuckme and the Case of the Vanishing Entree |url=https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/encyclopedia-fuckme-and-case-vanishing-entree/ |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=Kill Screen - Previously |language=en-US}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.podiobooks.com/title/sm-diary Diary of an S and M Romance] (Podcast audiobook of Dollie Llama and ThornDaddy's book "Diary of an S&M Romance")
  • [http://www.kinkymedia.com/kinkycast/ KinkyCast] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928131123/http://www.kinkymedia.com/kinkycast/ |date=2007-09-28 }} (Information, interviews and stories on BDSM and fetish)
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014208/http://www.graydancer.com/ropeweekly/ Rope Weekly] (Information on Shibari)
  • [http://www.theroom.ca/ The Room] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129100011/http://theroom.ca/ |date=2008-01-29 }} (A couple on BDSM and their relationship)
  • [http://www.askdollie.com Submission and Coffee with Dollie Llama] (24/7 D/s couple podcast)
  • [https://dominantdesires.com/ Dominant Desires] (Information on BDSM and BDSM/Kink-based Media)
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080220132627/http://subophelia.podomatic.com/ Submissive Ophelia podcast] (Lifestyle/pro submissive woman married in a 24/7 relationship)
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100808071117/http://dungeonplace.com/hole/podcasts/ The Dungeon Place podcast] (Discussion and education about fetish, kink, and sexuality)
  • [http://mollena.com/ "The Perverted Negress"] (BDSM and Master / Slave relationships from the perspective of an African-American woman)

{{BDSM}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culture And Media, Bdsm In}}

Category:BDSM

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