S&M. Dominant, Submissive. If Fifty Shades of Grey is what pops into your head when I say these things… well then, shame on you. You deserve a spanking. And not in a sexy way. That film holds all the sadomasochistic impact of being whipped lightly with a silver necktie. And then whining about it.

Here. Have some schooling… I rather like this little excerpt from Wikipedia’s entry for ‘Sadomasochism‘.

“The two words incorporated into this compound, “sadism” and “masochism,” were originally derived from the names of two authors. The term “Sadism” is derived from the name of Marquis de Sade. Not only did he practice sexual sadism, he also wrote novels about these practices (best known is Justine ). The term “Masochism” was named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. He practiced masochism and wrote novels expressing his masochistic fantasies.”

Even better is this little bit from the same site, that very well describes an element of Sadomasochism that Laura and I discuss in this episode.

“Richters and colleagues (2007) examined the common belief that people with sadomasochistic sexual interest are damaged or dangerous. Their research found that BDSM is simply a sexual interest, and it is not a pathological symptom of past abuse or difficulty with sex.”

Thank you. Thank you very much. As much as Laura and I are not, ourselves, of this particular sexual persuasion (though, without question I skew Dominant, and she, Submissive) we both find the idea that it would require a damaged psyche to find it appealing, deeply irritating.

I think our selections this time around will help combat that viewpoint as well. Both Secretary (2002) and Venus in Fur (2014) will offer plenty of non-S&Mers a delightfully sexy entry into the genre.

For the Pinterest album to go along with this episode, click here.