Why DO I EDUCATE ABOUT BDSM?
- BDSM is more prevalent than you think.
- This population is generally forced to be hidden by stigma surrounding their practices.
- This stigma is further perpetrated by lack of knowledge by caregivers, social workers, psychologists, and the media.
- It becomes a vicious cycle.
- It is our JOB to keep our clients safe, but if we don’t understand the practice or are biased by our own perception, how can we do that effectively?
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO YOUR ORGANIZATION?
MEDICAL FIELDS
Learn to recognize incidental injuries and instruct your patients on safe practice.
DENTISTRY
Manage dental damage from improperly used gags and incidental bruising on the soft palette.
SOCIAL WORK
Couples who practice BDSM are often stigmatized, especially if they have children (who likely have no idea of what their parents are doing). Can you now differentiate between BDSM and abuse?
PSYCHOLOGY
Do you feel competent in discussing the basic framework and BDSM with your patients?
SPEECH PATHOLOGY
Communication and safe words are integral to the framework of BDSM. Think outside of the box to help facilitate clear and accurate communication.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Being able to differentiate between BDSM and abuse is important to investigations related to sexual assault.
LEGAL AID
As an attorney, an argument could be made to suppress the sexual history of your client, as the stigma of BDSM could certainly be seen as too prejudicial.
PHYSICAL THERAPY
People with injuries and disabilities still practice BDSM, and how can they do it without causing further damage to an existing injury or disability?
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
BDSM practitioners need advanced knowledge of safety and health.
PHARMACY
Pharmacologists need to understand basic BDSM practices in order to educate patients of possible adverse effects of medication on practitioners
FORENSIC SCIENCE
Can you identify the difference between evidence of normal BDSM practice and evidence of criminal sexual sadism?
SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE
BDSM framework includes discussion of healthy boundaries, open communication with partners, agreement and discussion of deep, surface, non-consensual, and scene consent, and requires aftercare. These are all sex-positive topics that can be taught in 'vanilla' sex education.
STATE/REGIONAL PRESENTATIONS
South Carolina HIV, STD & Viral Hepatitis Conference
- 2016 - Feathers and Ice and Everything Nice: Demystifying BDSM
- 2016 - Pioneer: Preventing STIs in Women with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- 2016 - Project TEASE: It’s all about sex.
- 2017 - Feathers and Ice and Everything Nice: Demystifying BDSM
- 2018 - Active Consent: What the #MeToo Movement can Learn from BDSM
- 2019 - Feathers and Ice and Everything Nice: Demystifying BDSM
- 2019 - Applied Practice Within the Community: Taking Out the Toys
- 2021 - Feathers and Ice and Everything Nice: Demystifying BDSM
- 2021 - Come As You Are: Inclusion and BDSM Practice
- 2022 - Removing the Gag: Successful Communication with Clients in the BDSM Community
- 2023- Feathers and Ice and Everything Nice: Demystifying BDSM
- 2023 - Removing the Gag: Successful Communication with Clients in the BDSM Community
UNIVERSITY PRESENTATIONS
University of South Carolina-PharmD Candidates
- 2022 - Feathers and Ice and Everything Nice: Pharmacological Considerations in BDSM Practice
University of Florida-Forensic Science Association
- 2024 - From Coitus to the Courtroom: Differentiating Criminal Sexual Sadism from BDSM-related Sadomasochism
Be curious.
Here are a few clips from previous presentations.
