This post is on the Other BDSM web board.
| Mon 9 May 11, 7:31 AM Gentledom14 UK(CA), 6 yrs      |
Ive noticed that quite a few people have started to place posts in a thread claiming that the"scene" isnt as good as it was years back, Claiming all these newcomers and wannabees,H&S and fashion police are spoiling the once great lifestyle, whether its at munches, clubs or online. But was there really a golden age for BDSM, I for one remember IC ten years back and they were still filled with all the different kinds of people you find on ic today, has it really got any worse? when do any you feel was the golden era or has it improved in your eyes?.
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” | ||
| 9 May 11, 8:04 AM Ian_2007 UK(N), 4 yrs |
Hmmm, I was briefly on IC during the first half of the decade; I seem to remember it being somewhat different, though not any more useful for my purposes of finding a partner *sigh*
To answer your question, probably pre-Internet**. In the old days, it was remarkably hard to make a profit from small groups like BDSMers. So it was, by definition, nearly all about fun. Nowadays, the Internet lets you milk even the most minority fetish as a cash cow. So it's all businesses, and events (more businesses) and tarts (more businesses)
Plus, in those days, you didn't get folk publishing their most intimate details for the amusement of three billion people and then belatedly bleating about "privacy" and "victimisation" (**Well, OK, I've been using the Internet since 1984.... what I mean is pre-the-discovery-of-the-Internet-by-the-popular-pr ess-in-the-mid-1990's!) Edited 9 May 11, 8:07 AM by Ian_2007 | ||
| 9 May 11, 8:10 AM Lady_Anna_Bradford UK(BD), 5 yrs   |
I think you'll find that the 'tarts', as you like to call us, were around long before you, and your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were ever thought of. We have more history than Teh Scene will ever have.
"If no sexual offence is being committed it seems very odd indeed that there should be an offence for having an image of something which was not an offence," Lord Wallace of Tankerness | ||
| 9 May 11, 8:17 AM Gentledom14 UK(CA), 6 yrs |
I used to have to buy spanking mags as a teen, preinternet, i would say the flow of money has always raised its head in some form. I would have said the net had improved finding contacts within the lifestyle “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” | ||
| 9 May 11, 8:35 AM freddiein40s UK, 6 yrs |
Drafted | ||
| 9 May 11, 8:35 AM Tanos  UK(M), 14 yrs   |
I think we're in the Golden Age of BDSM now, and have been since the turn of the century. BDSM as a subculture has never had this breadth of activities, of knowledge in depth about what can be done, of events, and the accessibility of it all. :T: www.tanos.org.uk | ||
| 9 May 11, 8:52 AM WykD_Dave UK(DE), 9 yrs  |
Information flows more freely now than ever before. There's more knowledge about safety and the effects of activities than ever before. There's more chance that you'll read about an idea that you'd never have thought of yourself but that might turn out to be your thing if you try it than ever before. On the other hand There are probably more idiots and pretenders (especially on line) than ever before. It's easier for someone to be a stalker than ever before. It's easier for the predatory to hunt for newcomers than ever before. It's easier for someone with no skills to read up and talk the talk than ever before. Good and bad was there before and good and bad is still there now.
There might be one but the limiting factor will remain as always, human nature. I would like to think that there could be one though. ETA: I do think though that things are better now than ever before. RopeTopia for inofmation, tutorials, galleries and bondage education Edited 9 May 11, 8:54 AM by WykD_Dave | ||
| 9 May 11, 9:01 AM Baron_Morgan UK(N), 6 yrs |
I agree. The scene in the early '90s was wonderful, but it was for the bold few, while nowadays everything is out there for the taking. There's also more tolerance than there was, although we still have a long way to go, and I'd say the finacial situation is less exploitative than it used to be, if anything. So yes, this probably is a golden age, and hopefully only the dawn of one.
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| 9 May 11, 9:06 AM Ariane 8 yrs |
I have to agree. It's even overlapping with mainstream enough to buy toys in the local mall. Maybe Internet bdsm is getting jaded from the inevitable effect of on-line communications, but the real time scene has plenty to offer, although admittedly the price has got high for many events and toys. | ||
| 9 May 11, 9:09 AM hollythedolly UK(NN), 2 yrs  |
I think the golden era of bdsm. Is the era of it you've enjoyed the most in public or in private. Or have i just made it up to suit myself. If so i like my definition | ||
| 9 May 11, 9:41 AM Gentledom14 UK(CA), 6 yrs |
I think your right, i guess if your past your 40's and had a great group of friends in the scene twenty years back then those times will always seem more golden. Maybe in the same way music was far better back then to many.. Finding equipment was so hard to find in the 90's and when you did find it you were ripped off something rotton. Trolls and the like have been with us from the very begining of the net, people are a lot wiser now on net safety. but the way some people talk they have only been with us a few years.
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” |
