Fifty
Shades of – Did Somebody Call Me?
By now, most, if not all, of the
readers of this blog have read Profile,
my novel about a smartass character who created a fake Facebook identity, and
who, incidentally, is nothing at all like me. And if you haven’t read it yet, what the hell are you waiting for? (If you
answered, “I’m waiting for it to come out in print,” well, good answer. It’s
available now on Lulu,
and will soon be available on other sites as well.)
So instead of writing about
something from Profile, I decided I would
write about something in 1684, my
upcoming novel. Like Profile, 1684 involves two characters who meet on
Facebook and fall in love. But there’s a darker story that is woven into the
background, a story of a couple of women involved in the BDSM lifestyle.
A lot has been said and written
about BDSM in recent years since the release of Fifty Shades of Grey. Some have protested that it does not
realistically or accurately portray the BDSM lifestyle. Others love the love
story related in the book. Still others, instead of weighing in on the subject
matter, simply want to bash it for their perception of its literary quality (or
lack thereof).
Wherever you stand in the debate,
the fact remains that more attention has been directed to BDSM. Yet despite all
of that attention, there are still quite a few unknowns about it.
For instance, what is it? Why would
that be unknown? Perhaps because of the fringe nature of BDSM, there’s a lot of
ambiguity surrounding its practices, and even the origin of the name. According
to Wikipedia:
The term BDSM dates back to 1969; however,
the origin of the term BDSM is unclear and is believed to have been formed
either from joining the term B&D (bondage and discipline) with S&M (sadomasochism
or sadism and masochism), or as a compound initialism from B&D, D&S
(dominance and submission), and S&M. Regardless of its origin, BDSM is
used as a catch-all phrase to include a wide range of activities, forms
of interpersonal relationships, and distinct subcultures. BDSM communities
generally welcome anyone with a non-normative streak who identifies with the community;
this may include cross-dressers, extremebody mod enthusiasts, animal players,
latex or rubber aficionados, and others.
Considering that welcoming and
inclusive nature of those involved in BDSM, it may be difficult to pin down a
distinct list of what is and what isn’t included. But what is certain is that
numerous activities in the BDSM lifestyle involve power – the power of one
participant over another. Someone putting him- or herself under the power of a
dominant (or Dom/Domme) needs to know what they’re getting themselves into. So informed
consent is vital.
Since many activities included in
BDSM involve pain or discomfort, safe words are often used. These are
prearranged words that tell the other participant that a line is about to or
has been crossed, and that whatever is being done has to stop. A word of
advice, though: “Please continue” might not be a good choice for a safe word.
While 1684 doesn’t delve deeply into these activities, it does follow the
lives of a few people who do. And as you’ll see from this excerpt, distinctive
clothing also played a part:
Mason looked at himself in the
mirror. He was wearing black leather pants, criss-crossed with zippers and
straps and buckles, and a jacket to match. It was Monica’s idea. She had
enlisted his help tonight as they embarked on their first threesome job.
“Nice,” Monica said as she looked
him up and down. “Very nice! Sexy.” She played with the buckles and the chunky
zippers. The pull tabs on the zippers were two inches long and all the hardware
was shiny silver. The outfit really was dripping with bits of metal. Monica was
fingering all of it. Before he knew it, she pulled the one at the fly. Mason
felt the pants loosen at his crotch and he jumped, startled.
“Don’t worry, babe,” she said,
slapping his butt, and keeping her hand there, “you look great.”
Mason looked back at his own
reflection. Focus, damn it! He took a deep breath.
“I look like Edward Scissorhands,”
he replied, striving to regain the tenuous calm.
“Ha!” Monica laughed. “He looked
great, too.”
Not mentioned in this teaser was the
sexy outfit Monica was wearing. You’ll just have to wait for that.
Teasing and torturous anticipation
are often parts of BDSM activities, too.
