Consent Norms in the BDSM Community: Strong But Not Inflexible

Abstract

The BDSM community is generally regarded as having strict consent practices, such as safewords and explicit negotiations. However, no research to date has examined the flexibility of norms around these consent practices. The present study was designed to investigate the nuances of consent communication norms among BDSM practitioners, specifically the degree to which relationship context impacts the depth and nature of consent negotiations. A total of 202 BDSM practitioners (89 women, 64 men, and 49 gender expansive individuals) between the ages of 18 and 83 years (M = 40.2, SD = 13.2) recruited from the Science of BDSM Research Team newsletter rated the acceptability of consent communication practices in the context of either pick-up play (BDSM activities conducted between people who have just met) or scenes in romantic relationships (BDSM activities conducted between romantic relationship partners). Participants generally endorsed stringent consent communication but showed greater flexibility in consent communication practices in longer-term relationships than short-term relationships. Additional results demonstrated that although intoxication was generally considered unacceptable during consent communication, intoxication during consent communication was considered more acceptable in existing relationships than new relationships and for non-BDSM sexual activities than for BDSM activities. Results demonstrate nuance based on context within strong consent norms in the BDSM community.