Posted by Minimum_Risk on Mon 21 Dec 09, 3:27 PM to Minimum_Risk's blog.
Apparently, mission statements are a good thing, so let's have a go...
Central idea: Arising from Admin's suggestion in this thread , and a bit of digging about, there seems to be considerable consensus that a) most accidents do not need to happen. And b) too many threads get messed up with people repeating done to death arguments about safety.
What we want is no bullshit, sound info from people who really know their stuff, yes? We have some very experienced and clued up people right here on IC, who demo up and down the land, and they are willing to share. And instead of those interminable repetitious arguments, just post a link to the relevent group thread and that will do.
So.... we are endeavouring to pull together the best risk minimisation info we can, on a range of topics. Doing a good job of that is quite a major task, especially this time of year, so it's going to take a while, I'm afraid.
The articles commissioned so far include:
Rope, including suspension, though that may be better as a stand (hang?) alone article.
Knife play.
Needles.
Electrics. (That's a big one!).
Single tails.
CP weaponry in general.
Breath play.
Thinking of doing one on how to use sites like IC safely, but that's a biggie too!
Any others?
There is, of course, a legitimate concern that reading even the very best safety info on the net is only partial knowledge, not hands on, not like expert tuition, not like careful and considered experimentation, and still no substitute for common sense.
What we don't want to do is make the people think they are all clued up and competent with something with serious risks attached to it, just because they have read some well intentioned articles here. So that has to be really clearly spelt out, in nice big letters.
But here, we are definitely not talking about regulating, 'one true way' stuff, we are just trying to provide useful information, food for thought, to make as much collective experience as we can available for you to take and make of what you will. Wrapping kink in the cotton wool of health and safety is not our mission.
What we cannot change is the simple fact that you, and yours, are responsible for your own actions. Even a kid's book like Swallows and Amazons starts with 'If not duffers, will not drown, if duffers, better drowned!'.
So never forget that the best resource anywhere is right there, between your own ears, and those of your partner(s). So communication is always key, and bottoms have responsibilities as well as tops, so this is for them too - it's every bit as much a 'people thing' as it is about technique.
And alas, not even the experts always agree. It's a rare day when they do. Many of the topics we aim to cover are far from exact sciences.
So I reckon the best way to do this is for some brave soul to write an article, and we have a separate thread for the discussion, which has worked well with the professionals group.
If an omission, or an oops, shows up in the discussion, that article can be amended.
Seems a worthy objective, don't you think?
By @Jahc99 . If you would like to help run the group, please get in touch.
Edited to enable replies!
Edited Mon 21 Dec 09, 9:34 PM by Minimum_Risk
| 21 Dec 09, 3:56 PM JudyInDsGuise UK(E), 9 yrs |
Other than to piss off members who aren't interested in the subject, why have two blogs for everything? Thankfully, the Pro Domme group seems to have stopped doing this pointless double-posting. Can you imagine if *every* blogger did this? Also, I can't see how one person's opinion is an "antidote" to anything (other than that person's need express their opinion). People will/should still post on the main boards; many ICers never look at the blogs at all. Pointing to one persons opinion on how to do something safely is, IMO, never going to be as good as gathering many opinions and making your own decision (as you seem to be in agreement with in your OP, which begs the question 'what's the point of the group?'). judy
I must be only one in a million (© David Bowie) | |
| 21 Dec 09, 3:59 PM Jahc99 UK, 5 yrs  |
Constructive as ever, Judy, thanks you. Why poison your liver when I could eat it for you? | |
| 21 Dec 09, 4:00 PM JudyInDsGuise UK(E), 9 yrs |
Address the points raised constructively and you can make any post constructive. judy I must be only one in a million (© David Bowie) Edited 21 Dec 09, 4:01 PM by JudyInDsGuise | |
| 21 Dec 09, 4:11 PM Jahc99 UK, 5 yrs |
OK. The idea behind having a stand alone article which takes the best we can gather should be pretty self explanatory - it will aim to be the distillation of the best we can find, all in one place. That should save people reading an entire thread maybe 96 posts plus long. As for 'just one person's opinion', well, the point is to gather expert opinion - and subject it to peer review before posting it. Many people have put many years of effort into researching these areas, have a look at Esinem's work on nerve damage with rope, for example. Their opinion is valuable and worth hearing. I find your assertion that people who do demos and provide safety info at their own time and expense is just 'that person's need express their opinion' to be very wide of the mark, as well as rather patronising. Some of us do actually give a damn - if we can help avoid avoidable accidents and mishaps, then that is well worth doing. As for continuing to post on the boards, we will provide a link to the relevent group article and hope that that saves whatever thread it is from getting side tracked - I suggest you read the comments in the thread linked to in the OP. If, however, people wish to continue debating safety in those main board threads, that's up to them, and Admin, of course. Why poison your liver when I could eat it for you? Edited 21 Dec 09, 4:17 PM by Jahc99 | |
| 21 Dec 09, 4:23 PM JudyInDsGuise UK(E), 9 yrs |
Thank you. I can now see why you thought my post wasn't constructive - apparently you didn't actually read it. I'll just say "don't put words in my mouth/font" and leave it at that judy
I must be only one in a million (© David Bowie) | |
| 21 Dec 09, 4:30 PM Minimum_Risk 2 yrs |
Please be aware that I will not tolerate nonsense like this in the group. If you do not share the group's objectives, you are cordially invited not to read it. Keep it on topic, or it will be hiden. Edited 21 Dec 09, 4:31 PM by Minimum_Risk | |
| 21 Dec 09, 4:49 PM MissP UK(EN), 8 yrs |
This is a really thorny one. If someone follows your advice, and then a disaster happens, it's more than possible the the police or a court may come knocking on your door, as you're the bloke on the internetty who told him (or her!) how to do it! I personally wouldn't want that responsibility. On the demo side - I've seen some effing awful, as excruciatingly badly done demos. Who's doing the selection and vetoing?
I appreciate you're trying to do a "good thing", but when a great deal of it potentially involves illegal practices, I'm not at all sure about it all | |
| 21 Dec 09, 4:58 PM Minimum_Risk 2 yrs |
Indeed, I do wonder what I have let myself in for here, but then, safety advice is offered every day anyway. The idea is just to do so in a more organised and coherent way. Plus the idea is definitely not to say 'do this and you will always be safe', but to say 'avoid this, it's well iffy!', and make it very clear that we cannot possibly anticipate every possible scenario. If anyone has any specific legal expertise in this area, I'd appreciate a memo. Edited 21 Dec 09, 5:10 PM by Minimum_Risk | |
| 21 Dec 09, 7:06 PM Minimum_Risk 2 yrs |
At the moment, only me! I would like assistance with that. The basic process, to date, has been to think of all the people I have seen do really good demos, or write well informed informative stuff and show an obvious commitment. So I contacted them, and asked them and others for further recommendations. Very pleased to say that all, without exception, have agreed to contribute, and they are happy for others to have a ganders first and see if we can find any weaknesses. So it'll be as peer reviewed as practically possible. It's never going to be perfect, but one can only do what one can do. It may be a bit of an experiment, but one I think worth trying. |
