BDSM
BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics[1].
Sources: grade B×1, grade C×10. Last checked 8 October 2026. What the grades mean
BDSM is an umbrella term for certain kinds of erotic behaviour between consenting adults, and it encompasses various subcultures[2]. Terms for roles vary widely among those subcultures[2]. The initialism is first recorded in a Usenet post from 1991[3].
Top and dominant are widely used for the controlling or physically active participants, while bottom and submissive are widely used for the controlled or physically receptive ones[2]. The interaction in which control is surrendered to the top is sometimes known as power exchange[2]. People who change between roles are called switches, and the precise definition of roles is a common subject of debate[4].
BDSM actions can take place during a specific period agreed by both parties, called play, a scene or a session[5]. Explicit sexual activity may occur within a session, but it is not essential[5]. BDSM is commonly mistaken as being all about pain, whereas practitioners are primarily concerned with power, humiliation and pleasure[6]. Many activities involve no pain at all, just the exchange of power and control[6].
In the later 20th century, BDSM activists protested against the older psychiatric models of sadism and masochism, which were built on the observations of psychiatric patients and on an assumption of psychopathology[7].
Sources
- Source grade CWeiss, Margot (2015). "BDSM (bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadomasochism)". The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality . pp. 113– 196. doi : 10.1002/9781118896877.wbiehs043 . ISBN 978-1-4051-9006-0 . doi.org
- Source grade C"Dictionary of BDSM Terms" . Archived from the original on 2 December 2014 . Retrieved 26 November 2014 . xeromag.com
- Source grade C"BDSM n. (in entry B, n. )" . Oxford English Dictionary Online (draft ed.). Oxford University Press. June 2013. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015 . Retrieved 29 November 2015 . oed.com
- Source grade CGrau, Johnson (1995). "What do B&D, S&M, D&S, "top", "bottom" mean" . Leather Roses. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008 . Retrieved 27 January 2008 . leathernroses.com
- Source grade CMiller, Phillip; Devon, Molly; Granzig, William A. (1995). Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism . Mystic Rose Books. p. 55 . ISBN 978-0-9645960-0-9 . archive.org
- Source grade CBarker, Iantaffi & Gupta 2007 , p. 13
- Source grade CKrueger & Kaplan 2001, p. 393: "The DSM nomenclature referring to sexual psychopathology has been criticized as being vague and not having undergone DSM field trials." ( Note: "DSM" here is not related to "BDSM". It is the standard abbreviation for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders .)
- Source grade CBill Henkin, Sybil Holiday: Consensual Sadomasochism : How to Talk About It and How to Do It Safely , page 64, Publisher: Daedalus Publishing Company 2006, ISBN 978-1-881943-12-9
- Source grade CDossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Topping Book , page 72, Greenery Press (CA) 2002, ISBN 978-1-890159-36-8
- Source grade CWiseman, Jay (1998). SM 101: A Realistic Introduction . California: Greenery Press. ISBN 978-0-9639763-8-3 .; Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Topping Book , page 71, Greenery Press (CA) 2002
- Source grade BRatcliff SE, Wright S, Herbenick D, Sunassee AA, Cummings K, Zachary T, et al.. Why Sexual Choking Is Not as Safe as You Think: A Call to Action from Sex Researchers and Kink Educators. Arch Sex Behav. 2026;55(6):2397-2412. doi:10.1007/s10508-026-03481-7
Every claim was checked against its source before publication. Last checked 8 October 2026.