Bondage!

[Sablesword]

Is bondage a part of BDSM if it's done without any D/s and SM?

I prefer to see (and read about) inescapable-but-comfortable bondage, with the D/s kept light & fluffy if it's present at all, and the SM even more so - to the point of being left off completely. (Or to the point of being an ironic and fake torment, a la Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition: "Bring out the comfy cushion!")

(Even when it comes to tickling, I prefer pleasure-tickling, or tickling as a faux-torture rather than "Real Tickle TORTURE!!!" inflicted because it's even more agonizing than, e.g. whipping the victim hard enough to raise welts.)

But is it part of BDSM, if the DSM is left off?

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

Excellent, excellent question, sablesword. While I am indeed one of those who at times digs the rougher elements of discipline and tickling-as-torment, I also think I know where you are coming from with bondage-for-bondage's-sake.

Oddly, during my brief time on alt.com, I felt like a pariah for wishing to give OR receive simple bondage in and of itself. Are you familiar with the folks over at Harmony Productions and their principles of "Love Bondage"? I think that you and they might jibe quite well in theory.

 

[Violetta]

From a purely technical stand point, I would imagine that bondage is a part of BDSM, even if you do not actually do anything beyond sex or whatever while someone is securely bound. It would be like asking if dominating someone verbally or psychologically without them being bound is still BDSM even though there is only the D without the B or SM.

That said, I think even without the semantics argument, that it is a part of BDSM. One need not indulge in every aspect of a particular kink to say that they are indulging in it at all. For example, I myself only sometimes wear a collar when playing with my boyfriend, yet that does not mean we are not in a D/s relationship. So I would say that any one aspect of BDSM is not reliant upon the other three in being included, you can mix and match them all you want, or just take only the one you want for the time being.

 

[Sablesword]

Harmony Productions? Never heard of 'em That must have been someone else who bought all those issues of Bondage Life and Bondage Parade as they came out, back in the '80s and '90s.

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

Harmony Productions? Never heard of 'em That must have been someone else who bought all those issues of Bondage Life and Bondage Parade as they came out, back in the '80s and '90s.

:lol Have they gone the way of the dodo? I'd hate to hear that, as I loved the ethic behind their work. I don't wanna derail this thread, though...

 

[Sablesword]

Harmony has a site: http://www.harmonyconcepts.com/ but it looks like they're just recycling their archives rather than producing new material.

http://www.bedroombondage.com/ - site by Lorelei / Kristine Imboch who did a lot of work for Harmony (and had links to other (mostly) live websites of various Harmony alumni.)

I'm also a big fan of Restrained Elegance Not associated with Harmony, but what it presents has a good amount of overlap with the Harmony style. The videos do veer into BDSM territory (and I don't much care for videos in general, anyway) but I really like the photos: BIG photos, technically well-done, and very much in a "glamor" style (as opposed to the style I've mentally tagged "industrial-grotty"). And lots of bare feet.

(I'm a "if the model isn't barefoot she isn't in bondage, she's just... tied up." kind of guy.)

 

[the_jimmy_james]

Good.

But personally I'm of the belief that bondage can in fact stand on its own. The culture isn't called "BDSM" for nothing. The four go together and are indelibly, ah, bound. To put someone in bondage is to dominate them! Just as dear Violetta said, is it not domination when using commanding verbiage or psychology?

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

One of the things I've noticed about most people's idea of a "play session"/"scene"/"whatever" is, as soon as their partner is tied-up, it's immediately on to the discipline, be it tickling, clamps, wax, whipping, et al.

Few seem to allow for the time for the bound captive to simply revel in the helplessness of their situation. It's hot to me to see the captive roll around on the bed(or wherever), trying to free themselves and so on. I think this is why I prefer tickling as an incidental thing rather than the main course.

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

I'm also a big fan of Restrained Elegance Not associated with Harmony, but what it presents has a good amount of overlap with the Harmony style. The videos do veer into BDSM territory (and I don't much care for videos in general, anyway) but I really like the photos: BIG photos, technically well-done, and very much in a "glamor" style (as opposed to the style I've mentally tagged "industrial-grotty"). And lots of bare feet.

I like what I've seen of their stuff. That's mainly limited to just still shots n' such, though.

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

Harmony Productions? Never heard of 'em That must have been someone else who bought all those issues of Bondage Life and Bondage Parade as they came out, back in the '80s and '90s.

:lol Ah, a fellow pre-Net survivor!