Thread:User talk:Nebuchadnezzar/Sub space/reply (5)

Yeah, "religious" experiences are at base the same cognitive mechanism filtered through culturally relevant beliefs, which is the case for many other things as well. In fact, people attempting to graft their religious beliefs onto BDSM is not uncommon (it's just like "real life," but pervier!), in my experience, though when it happens it tends to be some New Age nonsense, pop Eastern mysticism (Jebus, Yahweh, and Allah frown upon kinky sex), or "sacred feminine"/goddess-worship guff (I blame it on the female supremacists). Which is why I'm grateful that my mistress is an even bigger atheist thumper than me -- nothing ruins kinky sex faster than quantum woo! (Now there's a sentence that should never have to be typed.)

Anyway, "subspace" and BDSM in general is not necessarily related to pain, that's just a misconception based on pop culture stereotypes. I'm actually fairly boring for a pervert -- D/s is the only essential element of it for me, though pain can amplify it, but it's not the central point for me most of the time. Some people need pain -- the technical term for them is "pain sluts." If you're serious about trying it, though, thumb through the RW-Recommended Wipipedia and see what sounds like fun. I wasted quite a bit of time not recognizing my own kinky proclivities because I thought BDSM was just about people in gimp masks beating the shit out of each other. I hope that image changes as it becomes more acceptable, but it's still pretty rare to see a depiction of BDSM in the media that's not totally cartoony.