The New York Times featured an article on BDSM today. It wasn’t anything too surprising. Just the obligatory mention of 50 Shades of Grey and commentary on how BDSM is moving more into the mainstream. It’s nice to see a positive non-judgmental article in a major newspaper, but that’s nothing too unusual these days. What did surprise me was the photograph they featured with it (viewable here).
The 50 shades phenomenon has triggered a lot of BDSM articles and most of them either feature stock images of equipment (handcuffs, gag, etc.) or a cliched dominatrix trope (leather boots, a coiled whip on a hip, etc). The dominatrix photograph doesn’t make much sense given that 50 shades was a maledom story, but using an attractive women in a sexy outfit to sell a story isn’t exactly unusual. What surprised me about the NY Times images was that it actually featured a femdom image with both a man and a woman in it. That’s rare in my experience. Most mainstream articles are happy to describe BDSM play but rarely feature an image of it.
This isn’t to say D/s pairs can’t be seen in mainstream media. Fashion photographers seem to love that dynamic. I regularly stumble across arty fashion shots that have models portraying ideas of dominance and power. So it would seem mainstream publications are happy to use D/s pairings to sell entirely unrelated products, but are reluctant to use them in factual stories about real D/s. That must make sense to someone, but that someone isn’t me.
This image is from a fashion shoot called ‘The Night Porter’ by the photographer Harvey Miedreich for The Libertine. I found it on the Undiscovered Limits (aka Untamed Dark Mane) tumblr.
Hi Paltego:
I read the same article. As you said nothing surprising or remarkable about it except that…hey..wow…there was a three page article in the NY Times about BDSM! I thought it was cool simply because they put it out there. I also liked the photo they chose; a dominant woman sitting on her throne with a male slave kneeling before her. I thought it was a bold choice. Not too shabby.
I was going to blog about the article myself and still might. Not really sure what to say about it though except that it made me feel good to see my favorite newspaper acknowledge my sexual preference.
Hey hmp,
It was a good article. There have been a bunch of similar ones, but it was nice to see one in the NY Times rather than the more lifestyle/culture oriented publications. I also liked the fact they kept the 50 shades references to a minimum. I think it’s pretty much impossible to write this kind of article without mentioning that book, but at least the writer didn’t focus on it.
I’ll look forward to reading your thoughts on it should you blog about it 🙂
-paltego