The use of gender in the interpretation of BDSM

In this article, we explore the ways BDSM practitioners negotiate gender. Based on 32 in-depth interviews with BDSM practitioners and thousands of message board posts from the then-largest online BDSM community in the USA, we explore the explanatory frameworks BDSM practitioners use to (1) downplay and (2) emphasize dominant notions of gender to make sense of BDSM practices and experiences. In so doing, we discuss some ways BDSM practices and interpretations may both challenge and reproduce broader societal patterns of gender inequality. In conclusion, we draw out implications for understanding (1) variation in the utilization of gender beliefs and assumptions within BDSM cultures, and (2) the consequences these patterns have for the reproduction of gender inequality