Renegotiating Dyke + Queer BDSM

Abstract

Definitions commonly try to freeze fluid situations that refuse to be contained, reducing complex phenomena to manageable units of knowledge. In contrast, from the perspectives of the dyke + queer BDSM practitioners I interviewed, no general definition of BDSM can be offered, not even of dyke + queer BDSM, since people make very different connections to that term, assign diverse meanings to it and are emotionally invested in it in different ways. My interview partners defined their own BDSM practices, identities and relationships in varying, sometimes contradictory, ways. Often, the same practices had different meanings to the same person over time, with different partners or in various contexts. Therefore, research that tries to find a generalized definition of BDSM has to fail, or has to prioritize specific views and experiences over others. In this chapter, the meanings that interview partners assigned to their BDSM identities and practices will be reconstructed in an attempt to delineate the ongoing renegotiations of what dyke + queer BDSM is to various individuals engaged in it.