BDSM in culture and media
Encyclopedia
There are several references to BDSM
(i.e., Bondage and discipline
, Dominance and submission, Sadism and Masochism) in culture and media. References are found in book
s, film
s, television, music, magazine
s and online media such as podcast
s.
Recent events and figures related to BDSM have been repeatedly spotlighted in the media.
Sadomasochism is a perennial in the field of literature and has inspired several classics like The Story of O
by Anne Declos (under the pseudonym
Pauline Réage
), Justine
by Marquis de Sade
, Venus in Furs
by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
or the comics created by Eric Stanton
. A literary curiosity is Martha's letter to Leopold Bloom in Ulysses
by James Joyce
. The novel Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair published in 1978 by Elizabeth McNeill was the basis of the Hollywood movie 9½ Weeks
.
Well-known 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. The development shows that today BDSM has reached the middle ground of international literature on a scale which would have been unbelievable just a short time ago.
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.
While it can not be denied that the authors of SM-literature, de Sade and Sacher-Masoch, showed a propensity to the sexuality they described, it has to be differentiated between the real sexual activity and the fantasies described in literature. It would be an absurd demand of the literature's authenticity that the author have to practice what he is describing. Diary notes, interviews and the description of experience remain a fictionalization of the described events. 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 any other kind of literature aspects of the particular Zeitgeist
of its era.
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 world wide. Its concept was internationally adopted by many publications in the following decades.
Other than specialized books with strong emphasis on the practice there are a growing number of scientific publications.
and Venus in Furs
were filmed, partly in very explicit form. The Spanish director Jess Franco developed several typical examples of the Exploitation
-genres' approach, often based on the works of the Marquis de Sade and censored in many countries worldwide.
More recently, with the production of 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
, a movie generally considered a reaction to Operation Spanner
, and Secretary
started to increasingly reconcile financial demands with authenticity.
With the development of documentary productions like SICK: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, Bound for Pleasure and Wir leben ... SM! an increasingly broader approach to the subject matter is developing, targeting on wider audiences.
During the last four decades, the spectrum of productions has been greatly enlarged, showing the topic has arrived in mainstream movies:
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. 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 being the award-winnng The Fashionistas
(2002) and its 2003 sequel, The Fashionistas II.
In recent years, movies like 9½ Weeks, Tokyo Decadence and Secretary have been shown, sometimes edited, on television in several countries. In 2001 the Canadian documentary KinK
was the first television series on the topic worldwide. It has yet not been broadcast in Europe.
Other example of BDSM in television and film:
s 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. In March 2007 the Swedish
clothing company H&M
promoted the sale of a collection compiled by Madonna
with television commercials in Germany. 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 a "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. Their slogan was "Dominate winter".
Fischer, a German manufacturer of fasteners, used a persiflage of the sadomasochistic subjet in a video spot in order to demonstrate its product's quality.
In the U.S., Anheuser-Busch
has repeatedly sponsored the fetish-lifestyle Folsom Street Fair
in San Francisco. Also, Diesel jeans ran several sadomasochistic-themed advertisements in various fashion magazines. The basic strategy in this field is to present BDSM clichés in a light-hearted manner, thus generating a higher level of public awareness while branding the image as unconventional and avant garde.
Wonderful Pistachios TV campaign: In the fall of 2009 Isabella Sinclair appeared as a latex-clad dominatrix in a tongue-in-cheek television commercial airing in the U.S. for Wonderful Pistachios. In the ad, she places a single pistachio on a chair, steps back, then cracks it open with her whip. The voice-over tag line is "Dominatrices do it on command." This was part of a series of "Get Crackin'" ads featuring celebrities who open pistachio nuts in their own unique way. Sinclair is a real-life dominatrix, actress, and founder of GwenMedia, a company that produces fetish videos.
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" (theme song of the TV series True Blood) plays on the listener's own fantasy material. 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, among their songs are "Master and servant" as well as "In your room"
Other famous songs/bands with BDSM themes include:
• Green Day
"Blood Sex and Booze" and "Dominated Love Slave"
• Nickelback
"Figured You Out"
• Lords of Acid
"Power is mine", Strung Out
"Ultimate Devotion"
• Nine Inch Nails
"Closer" and "Sin"
• Duffy's "Mercy" includes lots of begging.
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.
Rihanna
's "Loud" album features an opening song called "S&M", which is about sadism and masochism as its name suggests and as the music video makes explicitly clear.
set the technological base for a still growing number of self produced information clips on video dealing with the subject.
The German language Schlagzeilen magazine started in 1988 as a group's internal newspaper and is the most important BDSM publication in German speaking countries today.
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
(i.e., Bondage and discipline
Bondage (sexual)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
, Dominance and submission, Sadism and Masochism) in culture and media. References are found in book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, television, music, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s and online media such as podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
s.
Newspapers and magazines
- In 2002, the Washington Post ran an article revealing that Jack McGeorgeJack McGeorgeHarvey John "Jack" McGeorge II was a Marine, a Secret Service Specialist, and a munitions analyst for the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission , as well as being a frequently recognized regional leader for BDSM advocacy and education...
, a munitions analyst for the UNMOVIC, was also a leader in the Washington, DC BDSM community. Following this, several commentators compared his BDSM activities repeatedly with the torture techniques used by Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. Others compared today's discrimination of BDSM practitioners with the situation of homosexuals in the past. - Following the discovery of Armin MeiwesArmin MeiwesArmin Meiwes is a German man who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh...
(also known as the "RotenburgRotenburg an der FuldaRotenburg an der Fulda is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda.- Geography :- Location :...
Cannibal" or "Metzgermeister" (The Master ButcherButcherA butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
), European yellow press described his case, giving hints about "sado-maso-games" between the delinquent and his victim. - In Germany EMMA, a well-known feminist magazine, published by Alice SchwarzerAlice SchwarzerAlice Schwarzer is the most prominent contemporary German feminist. She is founder and publisher of the German feminist journal EMMA.-Biography and positions:...
, continued its PorNO campaign against hatred towards women and violent pornography aiming to ban pornographyPornographyPornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
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. - EMMA magazine tried to bash Helmut NewtonHelmut NewtonHelmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...
, accusing him of "pornografization of fashion photography", and criticized his "therein unrestrainedly realized sadomasochistic obsessions". - Recently, BDSM support groupSupport groupIn a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic...
s and publications repeatedly criticized a biased media coverage of BDSM.
Literature
Story of O
Story of O is an erotic novel published in 1954 about love, dominance and submission by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage.Desclos did not reveal herself as the author for forty years after the initial publication...
by Anne Declos (under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Pauline Réage
Pauline Réage
Anne Desclos was a French journalist and novelist who wrote under the pseudonyms Dominique Aury and Pauline Réage.-Early life:...
), Justine
Justine
-People:* Saint Justine of Padua , a Christian martyr* Justine Frischmann, Britpop musician, lead singer of Elastica* Justine Henin , a Belgian tennis player* Justine Ezarik , an American lifecaster and graphic/web designer...
by Marquis de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
, Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs is a novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the best known of his works. The novel was part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series...
by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch was an Austrian writer and journalist, who gained renown for his romantic stories of Galician life. The term masochism is derived from his name....
or the comics created by Eric Stanton
Eric Stanton
Eric Stanton was an American bondage and fetish illustrator, cartoonist, and comic-book artist.The majority of his work depicted female dominance scenarios.-Early life and career:...
. A literary curiosity is Martha's letter to Leopold Bloom in Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
by James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
. The novel Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair published in 1978 by Elizabeth McNeill was the basis of the Hollywood movie 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
.
Well-known author Anne Rice
Anne Rice
Anne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...
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. The development shows that today BDSM has reached the middle ground of international literature on a scale which would have been unbelievable just a short time ago.
A nine-volume book series published in July 2006 under the title Bild-Erotik-Bibliothek by Bild-Zeitung
Bild-Zeitung
The Bild is a German tabloid published by Axel Springer AG. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday, while on Sundays, Bild am Sonntag is published instead, which has a different style and its own editors...
, Germany's leading Tabloid and the best-selling newspaper in Europe, in cooperation with Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
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.
While it can not be denied that the authors of SM-literature, de Sade and Sacher-Masoch, showed a propensity to the sexuality they described, it has to be differentiated between the real sexual activity and the fantasies described in literature. It would be an absurd demand of the literature's authenticity that the author have to practice what he is describing. Diary notes, interviews and the description of experience remain a fictionalization of the described events. 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 any other kind of literature aspects of the particular Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age."Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.The...
of its era.
Special books
Samois
Samois was a lesbian-feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983. It took its name from the fictional estate of Anne-Marie, a lesbian dominatrix character in Story of O, who pierces and brands O...
published Coming to Power
Coming to Power
Coming to Power - Writing and graphics on Lesbian S/M was a 1981 book edited by members of the lesbian feminist S/M organisation SAMOIS. It is an anthology of lesbian S/M writings....
: Writing and graphics on Lesbian S/M, which reached a worldwide audience the following year when it was reprinted by Alyson Publications
Alyson Publications
Alyson Books, formerly known as Alyson Publications, is a book publishing house which specialises in LGBT fiction and non-fiction. Former publisher Don Weise described it as "the world's oldest and largest publisher of LGBT literature" and "the home of award-winning books in the areas of memoir,...
. The book combined short stories with basic explanations and safety tips about BDSM practices. It is considered the first introductory books on the subject world wide. Its concept was internationally adopted by many publications in the following decades.
Other than specialized books with strong emphasis on the practice there are a growing number of scientific publications.
- Jay WisemanJay WisemanJay Wiseman is an American BDSM writer and speaker.In 1991, Wiseman started the Greenery Press publishing house with his partner Janet Hardy, author "Lady Green" of The Sexually Dominant Woman...
: SM 101: A Realistic Introduction. Greenery Press (CA) 1998, ISBN 0-9639763-8-9 (Comprehensive reference book including topics like "BDSM as a lifstyle" and "BDSM during pregnancy")
- Philip MillerPhilip MillerPhilip Miller FRS was a Scottish botanist.Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death...
, 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 advise on practices and safety advice)
- Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Topping Book. Greenery Press (CA) 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 (CA) 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 CalifiaPatrick CalifiaPatrick Califia , born 1954 near Corpus Christi, Texas is a writer of nonfiction essays about sexuality and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man.-Biography:...
(Ed.), Robin Sweeney (Ed.):The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader., Alyson Publications 1996, ISBN 1-55583-281-4 (Installment 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 (CA) 1998, ISBN 0-9639763-7-0 (Comprehensive Guide to do-it-yourself BDSM-toys)
- Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Charles Allen MoserCharles Allen MoserCharles Allen Moser is an American physician specializing in internal medicine and focusing on sexual medicine. Moser is based in San Francisco and focuses his research and practice on individuals in the LGBT, kink, and fetish communities...
: Sadomasochism - Powerful Pleasures, Haworth Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-56023-640-5
Publishers
In the last decades publishing houses and imprints specializing in BDSM fiction and nonfiction have been founded in many western countries. Some of them are:- Circlet PressCirclet PressCirclet Press is a Cambridge, Massachusetts publishing house founded and managed by Cecilia Tan. It specializes in science fiction erotica, a once uncommon genre, and its publications often feature BDSM themes....
- Daedalus PublishingDaedalus PublishingDaedalus Publishing is an American publisher of erotic literature based in Los Angeles, California. Subjects range from leathersex to alternative sexual practices, such as BDSM...
- Greenery PressGreenery PressGreenery Press is a publishing house based in Emeryville, California specializing in books on BDSM, polyamory and sexuality, with over 50 titles in print. Most titles are non-fiction, but a smaller number of fiction titles and memoirs are published under the Grass Stain Press name...
- Nexus Books, an imprint of Virgin BooksVirgin BooksVirgin Books is a United Kingdom book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.-History:...
Movies and TV
While BDSM activity appeared initially quasi "subliminal" in some movies, in the 1960s famous works of literature like the Story of OStory of O
Story of O is an erotic novel published in 1954 about love, dominance and submission by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage.Desclos did not reveal herself as the author for forty years after the initial publication...
and Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs is a novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the best known of his works. The novel was part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series...
were filmed, partly in very explicit form. The Spanish director Jess Franco developed several typical examples of the Exploitation
Exploitation
This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...
-genres' approach, often based on the works of the Marquis de Sade and censored in many countries worldwide.
More recently, with the production of 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
, 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
Preaching to the Perverted
Preaching to the Perverted is a 1997 British comedy film written and directed by Stuart Urban.The film stars Guinevere Turner as Tanya Cheex, a New York dominatrix. Tom Bell plays Henry Harding MP and Christien Anholt plays Peter Emery...
, a movie generally considered a reaction to Operation Spanner
Operation Spanner
Operation Spanner was the name of an operation carried out by police in the United Kingdom city of Manchester in 1987, as a result of which a group of homosexuals were convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm for their involvement in consensual sadomasochism over a ten year period.The...
, and Secretary
Secretary (film)
Secretary is a 2002 independent film directed by Steven Shainberg and starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway and James Spader as E. Edward Grey...
started to increasingly reconcile financial demands with authenticity.
With the development of documentary productions like SICK: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, Bound for Pleasure and Wir leben ... SM! an increasingly broader approach to the subject matter is developing, targeting on wider audiences.
During the last four decades, the spectrum of productions has been greatly enlarged, showing the topic has arrived in mainstream movies:
- 1925: A Woman of the WorldA Woman of the WorldA Woman of the World is a 1925 silent drama starring Pola Negri. It was directed by Mal St. Clair, produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by their parent company Paramount Pictures.-Synopsis:...
(Based on The Tattooed Countess by Carl van VechtenCarl van VechtenCarl Van Vechten was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein.-Biography:...
.) - 1967: Belle de jourBelle de jourBelle de Jour is a 1967 French film directed by Luis Buñuel. The film stars Catherine Deneuve as a woman who decides to spend her days as a prostitute while her husband is at work....
, by Luis BuñuelLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:... - 1967 Venus in FursVenus in FursVenus in Furs is a novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the best known of his works. The novel was part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series...
by Joseph Marzano - 1968: La prisonnièreLa PrisonnièreLa Prisonnière is* a novel by Marcel Proust, fifth volume of In Search of Lost Time.* an autobiography by Malika Oufkir, originally published in French, and translated into English as Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail....
, - H.G.Clouzot. - 1969 Venus in FursVenus in FursVenus in Furs is a novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the best known of his works. The novel was part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series...
by Massimo Dallamano (not the Jess Franco version also from 1969) - 1969 The Frightened Woman by Piero Schivazappa
- 1974: The Night PorterThe Night PorterThe Night Porter is a controversial 1974 film by Italian director Liliana Cavani, starring Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling.- Synopsis :...
(Il portiere di notte) - 1974: Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of AugustSwept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of AugustSwept Away is a 1974 Italian film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller...
- 1975: Story of OStory of O (film)Story of O is a Franco-German film directed by Just Jaeckin, released in 1975.The screenplay is an adaptation of the erotic novel Story of O published in 1954 by Pauline Réage.-Synopsis:...
- 1976: In the Realm of the SensesIn the Realm of the Sensesis a 1976 Franco-Japanese romantic drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima. It is a fictionalised and sexually explicit treatment of an incident from 1930s Japan, that of Sada Abe...
(Ai no corrida) - 1976: MaîtresseMaîtresseMaîtresse is a 1976 French film directed by Barbet Schroeder and starring Bulle Ogier and Gérard Depardieu in an early role.The film provoked controversy in the United Kingdom and the United States because of its graphic depictions of sado-masochistic behaviour, such as nailing a penis into a plank...
- 1976: The Image (The Punishment of Anne)
- 1983: A Woman in FlamesA Woman in Flames (film)A Woman in Flames is a German drama film from 1983, directed by Robert van Ackeren, starring Gudrun Landgrebe, Mathieu Carrière, and Hanns Zischler. The running time is .-Plot summary:...
- 1985: The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-YakThe Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-YakThe Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak is a French action/sexploitation film released in 1984, directed by Just Jaeckin...
- 1985: Seduction: The Cruel WomanSeduction: The Cruel WomanSeduction: The Cruel Woman is a 1985 German film. The film was directed by Elfi Mikesch and Monika Treut, who both also wrote the screenplay. Wanda is played by Mechthild Grossmann. The Movie was inspiried by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs.-Synopsis:Wanda is a dominatrix who runs a...
- 1986: From Beyond (film)From Beyond (film)From Beyond is a 1986 American science fiction/ body horror film directed by Stuart Gordon, loosely based on the short story of the same title by H. P. Lovecraft, and was written by Dennis Paoli, Gordon and Brian Yuzna...
- 1986: 9½ Weeks9½ Weeks9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
- 1987: Personal ServicesPersonal ServicesPersonal Services is a 1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones and written by David Leland. It is the story of the rise of a madam of a suburban brothel which caters to older men. The story is inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne, the legendary "House of Cyn" madam. The film...
- 1993: Tokyo DecadenceTokyo Decadenceis a 1992 Japanese film. The film was directed by Ryu Murakami with music by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The film stars Miho Nikaido and is known by two other titles, Topaz, Sex Dreams of Topaz. It has been banned in Australia and South Korea...
- 1993: Body of Evidence
- 1994: Exit to EdenExit to EdenExit to Eden is a novel by Anne Rice, initially published in 1985 under the pen name Anne Rampling, but subsequently under Rice's name.The novel explores the subject of BDSM in romance novel form. The novel also brought attention to Rice's published works that differed from the type of writing she...
- 1994: Venus in Furs by Maartje Seyferth & Victor Nieuwenhuijs
- 1996: FetishesFetishes (documentary)Fetishes is a 1996 documentary by Nick Broomfield filmed at Pandora's Box, one of New York City's most luxurious SM/fetish parlours. The film contains interviews with professional dominatrices and their clients including the New York filmmaker Maria Beatty.The documentary opens with black and white...
- 1997: Preaching to the PervertedPreaching to the PervertedPreaching to the Perverted is a 1997 British comedy film written and directed by Stuart Urban.The film stars Guinevere Turner as Tanya Cheex, a New York dominatrix. Tom Bell plays Henry Harding MP and Christien Anholt plays Peter Emery...
- 1997: SICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, SupermasochistSICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, SupermasochistSICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist is a 1997 documentary film directed by Kirby Dick about Bob Flanagan, a Los Angeles writer, poet, performance artist, comic, and BDSM celebrity, who suffered from and later died of cystic fibrosis...
(Interviews with the dying BDSM performance artist Bob FlanaganBob FlanaganBob Flanagan was an American performance artist, comic, writer, poet, and musician.-Early life:...
) - 1999: Lies (film) (South Korea)
- 1999: Wildly Available
- 2000: Dirty Pictures IMDb (The Movie is based on the MapplethorpeRobert MapplethorpeRobert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
-exhibition in Cincinnati) - 2001: The Piano TeacherThe Piano TeacherThe Piano Teacher is a 2001 film directed by Michael Haneke, starring Isabelle Huppert and Benoît Magimel. The film is based on the novel Die Klavierspielerin by Elfriede Jelinek who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004.- Plot :...
- 2001: Beyond Vanilla, IMDb
- 2002: SecretarySecretary (film)Secretary is a 2002 independent film directed by Steven Shainberg and starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway and James Spader as E. Edward Grey...
- 2002: The FashionistasFashionistasThe Fashionistas is a 2002 pornographic film made by Evil Angel Productions. Shot on 35 mm film, it was a high-budget porn film, and is over four and a half hours long...
, IMDb - 2003: Wir leben... SM!, IMDb
- 2004 Going UnderGoing Under"Going Under" is a song by American rock band Evanescence. It was released on September 9, 2003, as the second single from their debut album Fallen. It was written by Amy Lee, David Hodges and Ben Moody, while production was handled by Dave Fortman...
- 2004: Bettie Page: Dark AngelBettie Page: Dark AngelBettie Page: Dark Angel is a 2004 film directed and produced by Cult Epics founder Nico B.Bettie Page is played by fetish model Paige Richards. The film premiered at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival in February 2004....
- 2005: Ecstasy in Berlin 1926 by Maria BeattyMaria BeattyMaria Beatty is a New York filmmaker who directs, acts, and produces. Her films are often made in black and white and cover various aspects of female sexuality including BDSM and fetishism...
- 2005: Mr. and Mrs. Smith
- 2005: The Notorious Bettie PageThe Notorious Bettie PageThe Notorious Bettie Page is a 2005 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.-Plot:...
by Mary HarronMary HarronMary Harron is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter best known for her films I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page.-Overview:... - 2006: 24/7 The Passion of Life, IMDb Homepage (German)
- 2006: Psychopathia Sexualis, IMDb Homepage
- 2006: Hounded, IMDb
- 2006: The Pet, IMDb Homepage
- 2007: New Tokyo Decadence - The SlaveNew Tokyo Decadence - The Slaveis a Japanese pink film directed by Osamu Satō and starring Rinako Hirasawa and Kikujiro Honda. This film was shown in Japan in 2007 and then at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival on February 7, 2009 on a double feature with S&M Hunter...
- 2007: Walk All Over MeWalk All Over MeWalk All Over Me is a Canadian film released in 2007 written by Robert Cuffley and Jason Long. The film stars Leelee Sobieski as "Alberta", a small town girl who assumes the false identity of her former babysitter and current dominatrix roommate "Celene", played by Tricia Helfer. Lothaire Bluteau,...
- 2009: Modern Love is Automatic
- 2009: SM-rechter
- 2010: Leap Year
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. 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 being the award-winnng The Fashionistas
Fashionistas
The Fashionistas is a 2002 pornographic film made by Evil Angel Productions. Shot on 35 mm film, it was a high-budget porn film, and is over four and a half hours long...
(2002) and its 2003 sequel, The Fashionistas II.
In recent years, movies like 9½ Weeks, Tokyo Decadence and Secretary have been shown, sometimes edited, on television in several countries. In 2001 the Canadian documentary KinK
KinK
KinK was a Canadian documentary television series, which first aired in 2001 on Showcase. The series profiled some of the more unusual edges of human sexuality, primarily the kink and fetish scenes. It was filmed in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg; the fifth season, set in Halifax, Nova...
was the first television series on the topic worldwide. It has yet not been broadcast in Europe.
Other example of BDSM in television and film:
- CSICSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
has a recurring character, Lady HeatherLady HeatherHeather Kessler, also known as Lady Heather, is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by Melinda Clarke....
, a professional dominatrixDominatrixDominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
. - Payback (1999), a film with Lucy LiuLucy LiuLucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
as Pearl, a dominatrix and hit woman for the Chinese mafia. - In Dancing at the Blue IguanaDancing at the Blue IguanaDancing at the Blue Iguana is an American drama film, released in 2000, directed by Michael Radford about the lives of strippers in an adult club...
(2000), Jennifer TillyJennifer TillyJennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
is a part-time dominatrix-for-hire and exotic dancer in leather fetish outfits. - Mercy (film) (2000), Cable-movie with Peta WilsonPeta WilsonPeta Gia Wilson is an Australian actress and model. She is best known as Nikita in the television series La Femme Nikita.-Early life:...
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 RobertsEric RobertsEric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
) for misbehaving. - EuroTripEuroTripEuroTrip is a 2004 teen comedy film directed by Jeff Schaffer and written by Alec Berg, David Mandel and Schaffer. The main plot follows Scotty "Scott" Thomas from Hudson, Ohio who travels across Europe to search for his German pen pal Mieke , whom he initially mistakes for a man named Mike...
(2004) features Lucy LawlessLucy LawlessLucy Lawless, MNZM is a New Zealander actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess....
as a German dominatrix in an Amsterdam fetish club. - On the fourth season of the reality show VH1VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's The Surreal LifeThe Surreal LifeThe Surreal Life is a reality television series that sets a select group of past-their-prime celebrities and records them as they live together in Glen Campbell's former mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks...
(2005) Jane WiedlinJane WiedlinJane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the all-female New Wave band The Go-Go's.-Early life:...
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. - In the "Love HurtsLove Hurts (House)"Love Hurts" is the twentieth episode of the first season of House, which premiered on the Fox network on May 10, 2005.-Plot:At the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital clinic, House tells Wilson of the conditions for bringing Cameron back: a dinner date, which bewilders and excites Wilson,...
" episode of the TV series HouseHouse (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, Dr. HouseGregory HouseGregory House, M.D., or simply referred to as House, is a fictional antihero and title character of the American television series House, played by Hugh Laurie. He is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where he leads a team of diagnosticians...
treats a patient Harvey Park (John Cho) who has a dominatrix Annette Raines (Christina Cox) - In the TV series Desperate HousewivesDesperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
, the character Bree Van De KampBree Van De KampBree Van de Kamp is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives, played by Marcia Cross. Actress Marcia Cross was nominated from 2005 to 2007 for a Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy...
's husband Rex had an illicit affair with a woman who was able to please him sexually as a dominatrix. - nip/tuckNip/TuckNip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
has Tia CarrereTia CarrereTia Carrere is an American actress, model, voice artist, and singer, perhaps most widely known for her role as Cassandra Wong in the feature films Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, Queen Tyr'ahnee in Duck Dodgers, and as Sydney Fox in the TV series Relic Hunter.-Early life:Carrere was born in...
in a recurring role as professional dominatrix Mistress DarkPain. - Secret Diary of a Call GirlSecret Diary of a Call GirlSecret Diary of a Call Girl is a British television drama broadcast on ITV2 from 2007-2011 based on the blog and books by the pseudonymous "Belle de Jour," starring Billie Piper as Belle, a high-class London call girl. The series was written by Lucy Prebble, who is also known as the author of The...
(2007), a British series about a call girl who takes dominatrix lessons in one episode. - BDSM: It's Not What You Think!BDSM: It's Not What You Think!The 2008 film “BDSM: It’s Not What You Think!” is a half hour educational documentary about the stigma and stereotypes that surround BDSM play and its practitioners...
(2008), a globally screened and well received documentary by Erin Palmquist.
Marketing
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 billboardBillboard (advertising)
A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...
s of the cigarette brands Camel and West
West (cigarette)
West is a German tobacco brand owned by the British company Imperial Tobacco.The cigarettes are available in most European Union countries except the UK and Ireland. The brand is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.-History:...
, 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. In March 2007 the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
clothing company H&M
H&M
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children....
promoted the sale of a collection compiled by Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
with television commercials in Germany. 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 a "inappropriately" dressed female pupil under the cracking of a crop
Crop (implement)
A crop, sometimes called a riding crop or hunting crop, is a short type of whip without a lash, used in horse riding, part of the family of tools known as horse whips.-Types and uses:...
, redesigning her outfit while making fashion statements like "Don't think it – you need to know it".
In Canada Mini
MINI (BMW)
Mini is a British automotive marque owned by BMW which specialises in small cars.Mini originated as a specific vehicle, a small car originally known as the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and developed into a brand encompassing a range of...
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. Their slogan was "Dominate winter".
Fischer, a German manufacturer of fasteners, used a persiflage of the sadomasochistic subjet in a video spot in order to demonstrate its product's quality.
In the U.S., Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
has repeatedly sponsored the fetish-lifestyle Folsom Street Fair
Folsom Street Fair
The Folsom Street Fair is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair held on the last Sunday in September and caps San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week"...
in San Francisco. Also, Diesel jeans ran several sadomasochistic-themed advertisements in various fashion magazines. The basic strategy in this field is to present BDSM clichés in a light-hearted manner, thus generating a higher level of public awareness while branding the image as unconventional and avant garde.
Wonderful Pistachios TV campaign: In the fall of 2009 Isabella Sinclair appeared as a latex-clad dominatrix in a tongue-in-cheek television commercial airing in the U.S. for Wonderful Pistachios. In the ad, she places a single pistachio on a chair, steps back, then cracks it open with her whip. The voice-over tag line is "Dominatrices do it on command." This was part of a series of "Get Crackin'" ads featuring celebrities who open pistachio nuts in their own unique way. Sinclair is a real-life dominatrix, actress, and founder of GwenMedia, a company that produces fetish videos.
Music
The Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
song "Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs (song)
"Venus in Furs" is a song by The Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed and originally released on the 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico. Inspired by the book of the same name by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the song includes sexual themes of sadomasochism, bondage and...
" (from The Velvet Underground & Nico) is based on a book by Masoch
Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs is a novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the best known of his works. The novel was part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series...
of the same title; the name of the band itself comes from a book about paraphilias
The Velvet Underground (book)
The Velvet Underground is a paperback by journalist Michael Leigh that reports on paraphilia in the USA, published in September, 1963.Cover text: Here is an incredible book. It will shock and amaze you...
(including BDSM) in the United States.
Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
"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" (theme song of the TV series True Blood) plays on the listener's own fantasy material. Industrial Music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
in general likely has the most BDSM themes, as well as being one of the biggest influences on Rivethead
Rivethead
Rivethead can mean:* The head of a rivet* Formerly, since the 1940s, a nickname for American automotive assembly line workers* A fashion style, as described here----...
fashion. Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
is one of those industrial bands, as their song "Ich Tu Dir Weh
Ich tu dir weh
"Ich tu dir Weh" is the second single from the 2009 album Liebe ist für alle da by the German band Rammstein. Mainly because of the sado-masochistic content of this song, the album was placed on the "index" maintained by the German Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien...
(I hurt you)" is about BDSM. Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
Are known for their BDSM undertones, among their songs are "Master and servant" as well as "In your room"
Other famous songs/bands with BDSM themes include:
• Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
"Blood Sex and Booze" and "Dominated Love Slave"
• Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
"Figured You Out"
• Lords of Acid
Lords of Acid
Lords of Acid is a Belgian-American post-industrial/techno band, led by musician Praga Khan. They debuted with the controversial new beat single "I Sit on Acid" in 1988...
"Power is mine", Strung Out
Strung Out
Strung Out is a Californian punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1992. They are known mainly for their musical style, which fuses aspects of punk rock and heavy metal to form their primary sound. They have released seven albums on Fat Wreck Chords and appeared on numerous...
"Ultimate Devotion"
• Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
"Closer" and "Sin"
• Duffy's "Mercy" includes lots of begging.
In 2010 Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
released her Bionic album which contains the single, "Not Myself Tonight
Not Myself Tonight
"Not Myself Tonight" is a song recorded by American pop singer Christina Aguilera. The song was written by Jamal Jones, Ester Dean, Jason Perry, and Greg Curtis, and produced by Polow da Don for Aguilera's sixth studio album, Bionic. The song was released on April 13, 2010 as the lead single from...
". 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.
Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
's "Loud" album features an opening song called "S&M", which is about sadism and masochism as its name suggests and as the music video makes explicitly clear.
Podcasts
The possibilities of the Internet were promptly adopted in order to offer information services on BDSM. Since mid 2005 there is are a growing number of podcasts dealing with the topic of BDSM. The increasing grow of video platforms like YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
set the technological base for a still growing number of self produced information clips on video dealing with the subject.
- Certified Sound (Exploring kink and sexuality along with humor and music.)
- Diary of an S and M Romance (Podcast audiobook of Dollie Llama and ThornDaddy's book "Diary of an S&M Romance")
- KinkyCast (Information, interviews and stories on BDSM and fetish)
- Rope Weekly (Information on Shibari)
- The Room (A couple on BDSM and their relationship)
- Submission and Coffee with Dollie Llama (24/7 D/s couple podcast)
- Submissive Ophelia podcast (Lifestyle/pro submissive woman married in a 24/7 relationship)
- The Dungeon Place podcast (Discussion and education about fetish, kink, and sexuality)
Magazines
During the last decades a wide variety of periodical publication were published dealing with BDSM. Besides small independent publishing companies, organized groups were active in this field. Many have stopped publishing or transferred operations to the Internet.The German language Schlagzeilen magazine started in 1988 as a group's internal newspaper and is the most important BDSM publication in German speaking countries today.
See also
- Sadism and masochism in fictionSadism and masochism in fictionThe role of sadism and masochism in fiction attracts serious, scholarly attention. Anthony Storr has commented that the volume of sadomasochist pornography shows that sadomasochistic interest is widespread in Western society; John Kucich has noted the importance of masochism in late-19th century...
- Sadism and MasochismSadism and masochismSadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
- Marquis de Sade in popular cultureMarquis de Sade in popular cultureThere have been many and varied references to the Marquis de Sade in popular culture, including fictional works, biographies and more minor references. The namesake of the psychological and subcultural term sadism, his name is used variously to evoke sexual violence, licentiousness and freedom of...