BDSM Day, an international recognition

This coming Sunday, July 24th, will be International BDSM Day!

Happy (early) International BDSM Day everyone!

My curious mind never lets me settle at a stated fact: why July 24th, started by who, etc?

Well the date is very easy to figure out. July 24th is in numerical dates 24/7, a reference to BDSM a term for people who practice the lifestyle 24hours a day, 7 days a week.

But who started it?

Hard to find a straight answer but after a bit of research I have pieced together a bit of info, how dependable it is…I have no idea. In 2003 the owner of a private BDSM club in Barcelona, called Rosas 5, asked out loud why are there so many international days for everything but not for us. He is the one who took the step to declare it on July 24th and the news spread through the BDSM vine like wild fire, particularly in Hispanic countries. it took a bit of time, around 2008, to catch up to us in the US and Canada. Many clubs organize special parties for the occasion. But mostly it goes unnoticed. And that is it boys and girls, no more info.

I’ll do my ode to this special day with a small basic explication to BDSM for my novice readers.

- BDSM is an acronym derived from the terms bondage and discipline (B&D or B/D), dominance and submission (D&S or D/s), and sadism and masochism (S&M or S/M).

- Top and Dominant are widely recognized terms for those partner(s) in the relationship or activity which are respectively the physically active or controlling participants, and Bottom and Submissive are widely recognized terms for those partner(s) in the relationship or activity which are respectively the physically receptive or controlled participants.

- Our mottos are “Safe, sane and consensual” (SSC) and “Risk Aware Consensual Kink” (RACK). Depends who you talk to but both apply and they indicate that the participants are consensual and aware of the situation the are agreeing too. No one is forced to play.

- Safewords are often arranged to provide for an immediate stop of any activity if any participant should so desire. A safeword needs to be something one can remember and call to mind when things are either not going as planned or have crossed a threshold one cannot handle. The most common used form of safewords are “green”, “yellow”, and “red”. “Red” meaning to stop and there would be no further play. “Yellow” being, “This is getting too intense”. “Green” meaning that everything is okay.

- The BDSM Symbol is a unique triskelion with three dots that represent the Three Characteristics of the Lifestyle: DOM/ME,  Sub/Slave and S/switch”.

- Statistics say about 10 to 15% of the American population show affinity to the subject of BSM in some form or another. This stat include maybe simply a little occasional spank during intercourse, having used rope, to a full out BDSM lifestyle.

- Sadly public knowledge of one’s BDSM lifestyle can have devastating vocational and social effects. The reason for this is seen as a lack of public educational advertising, exacerbated by overly lurid and sensationalized media coverage.

- With the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) in 1994 new criteria of diagnosis were available describing BDSM clearly not as disorders of sexual preferences. They are no longer regarded as illnesses in and of themselves…unless it “cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning”.

- BDSM in the arts. Does life imitate art or does art imitate life. There are many books, movies, songs, etc that broach the subject. Curious? Check out my recommendations. below is a tiny list of what is out there.

Books:

• Venus in Furs (1870) by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
• The Story of O (1954) by Pauline Réage
• Anne Rice’s sado-masochistic writing includes: Exit to Eden (1985), Belinda (1986), and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (1983) and sequels, Beauty’s Punishment (1984) and Beauty’s Release (1985).
• Kushiel’s Dart (2001) by Jacqueline Carey

Movies:

• Last Tango in Paris (1972)
• Story of O (Histoire d’O) (1975)
• Blue Velvet (1986)
• 9½ Weeks (1986
• Exit to Eden (1994)
• 8 mm (1999)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• Quills (2000)
• The Piano Teacher (La Pianiste) (2001)
• Secretary (2002)

Music:

• Lady Bumtickler’s Revels (1872), a comic opera
• “Venus in Furs” (1966) by The Velvet Underground
• “Submission” (1976) by The Sex Pistols
• “Master and Servant” (1984) by Depeche Mode
• “Happiness in Slavery” (1992) by Nine Inch Nails
• “Dominated Love Slave” (1992) by Green Day
• “S&M” (2011) by Rihanna

Do you have a movie, show, book, song or art form to suggest, leave a comment!