作者：ItsPlay (http://itsplay.weebly.com/)
譯者：小林繩霧
圖片出處：CaliforniaJD@flickr, Folsom Street Fair, SF, 2014. CC-by-nc-nd 2.0.
按：本文為 ItsPlay 於《立場新聞》的投書，經作者同意翻譯與轉載。ItsPlay (http://itsplay.weebly.com/)為活躍於歐美與香港的 BDSM 實踐者、繩縛表演者、與研究者，感興趣的主題為踰越、展演性之實踐。本文於《立場新聞》刊登的標題為「BDSM 應走出私密，多公開討論」。此處則恢復原標題 BDSM: Mainstreaming and Identity. 如欲轉載本文，請附上完整作者資訊。
“BDSM” 通常意指束縛、規訓、支配、服從、施虐、與受虐的一些組合。BDSM (也被稱作 “kink” ——「禁羈」(譯註))是為了盡可能涵括禁羈社群內的眾多實踐而設計的縮寫。它取代了 B&D, D&S, 和 S&M 這些詞彙。雖然這些詞組有其用途，但並非所有的禁羈玩家（也稱作 “kinksters” —— 禁羈人）都可被歸類到其中一組。因此，BDSM 更適切地描述了互信的人們間知情同意的心理、情緒、和身體遊戲的複雜行為。
譯註: kink 一詞原為「彎曲」之意，在性別範疇中意指所有不平常的、「扭曲」的性偏好，和「直」的、香草的性做出區別。中文圈對此詞尚無一致之翻譯。
本文原用 Iya 所建議的翻譯「異色」，後來改為居懷昭在第⼀屆⽪繩愉虐情慾與⽂化學術研討會使用的翻譯「禁羈」。關於此翻譯的緣由詳見「有關 kink, 「禁羈」的譯名由來是？」一文。
很重要的是，禁羈社群參與者是被一套倫理規範著的。這可由兩組縮寫：SSC 和 RACK 概括。SSC 表示「安全(Safe),理智(Sane),知情同意(Consensual)」，而 RACK 的意思是「共知風險的兩願禁羈實踐(Risk Aware Consensual Kink)」。SCC 先於 1983 年被提出，RACK 則出現得較晚，在 1999 年。這些縮寫有多種不同的讀解方式，但禁羈人們大都同意：遵守 SSC 意味著知道如何安全地進行活動、進行中保持神智清醒、以及進行禁羈活動前應徵得所有參與者的正面同意。SSC 也常意謂所有參與者應避免使用酒精或藥物，以及應已達有同意能力的年齡。RACK 則是較謙遜的詞彙，僅意謂禁羈人應瞭解活動必有風險，並盡力減低身體或心理傷害的可能。很重要的，兩個詞彙都強調「同意」。這是禁羈遊戲的核心價值。
如果「同意」是一個核心價值，另一個核心價值則是「慾望」。兩人或多人進行的禁羈行為是他們所欲求的，有個事前協商的程序可提出所有人的期待，並滿足所有人的期待。協商也保證參與者目前的身體狀況（例如肌肉痠痛、氣喘等等）和心理狀態（例如排斥被打耳光、或討厭「閉嘴」之類的詞彙等等）都被留意。當討論到禁羈，即使簡單說來是一人剝奪另一人的權力，大家必須記得這些舉動都是知情同意的、被欲求的、以及經過協商的。
「知情同意、被欲求、經協商」是禁羈社群得教自己的 —— 以往並不總是如此。世界各地 SM 如何興起的文件與研究雖很缺乏，關於禁羈在二十世紀美國的根源還有些資料可查。1940 年代興起了一個以束縛與規訓為中心的男同志皮革次文化，被稱為「舊衛」或「皮革男」。他們把 SM 實踐稱做「工作」。當時的某些實踐中很可能並沒有主動、確認的「同意」，尤其在 24/7（伴侶其中一人在身體、心理、或情感上隨時控制著另一人）的關係之中。
1950, 60年代，許多人喜歡禁羈，但大部份禁羈人害怕萬一曝光造成的社會效應，大都秘密、地下化地進行實踐。直到 1970 年代禁羈社團開始形成，甚至更晚之後，禁羈人們才開始聚會，擁抱此身份。
第一個這類的社團是異性戀的 Eulenspiegel Society, 於 1971 年成立於紐約市。接著是 1974 年成立於舊金山、接納各種性向的 The Society of Janus。1978年，舊金山女同志禁羈團體 Samois 的成立讓我們看到了女同志的 BDSM 文化。該團體隨即出版了《Coming to Power》一書， 將 BDSM 當作一種女性主義實踐而辯護。1982 年，《Against Sadomasochism》一書出版。這本書收錄了反父權女性主義者們的文章，直接攻擊了 Samois 的書，質疑 BDSM「顯然是知情同意的」的說法，而將之歸因於「父權性意識形態。」
這段辯論呼應了自 1970 年代晚期開始的「性戰爭」歷史脈絡：擁性與支持禁羈的女性主義者對抗基進、反父權、反色情的女性主義者。性戰爭（以及同時的愛滋流行，以及美國政府「打擊異類性向」的保守措施）促使禁羈人選擇他們的政治立場，作為一個社群開始凝聚出一些核心價值。「安全、理智、知情同意」的觀念也大約在這時產生。
同時，「新衛」開始出現。男同志的「舊衛」仍有著權力角色穩固而少流動、以及把 BDSM 當做「工作」的特徵。而「新衛」則是異性戀的、雙性戀的、泛性戀（被吸引時不在乎生理性、性別、或性身份）的。「新衛」的 BDSM 角色是彈性的，把 BDSM 視為遊戲而非工作。「新衛」常被說成「不懂事、只追流行」，但他們的興盛可能鬆動了反禁羈的污名，使以往因性向或遊戲方式不同而分散的禁羈人建立起更廣大的社群。
即使社群在世界各地興起，禁羈人仍得時時面對挑戰。1990-91 年間，英國發生了有名的「Spanner 案」：一些參與知情同意的 BDSM 活動的禁羈男同志被送上法庭，傷害罪定闕。1997 年他們上訴至歐洲人權法庭，然而後者仍維持英國判決。這又是 BDSM 被選擇性地入罪及渲染的一例，也延伸著當時的想法，將禁羈與凌虐並論，並將禁羈人安上心理疾病的標籤。這種病理化很大部份來自於《精神疾病診斷與統計手冊》(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 可說是美國心理學的聖經)直到最近仍將禁羈歸類為一種疾病。
2013 年，《精神疾病診斷與統計手冊》第五版出版，終於將參與禁羈行為從心理疾病的分類中移除。但在那之前，參與 BDSM 的人仍常在離婚官司中失去孩子的監護權，並在各種官司中被歸類為有心理疾病的。現在，醫學與法律機構逐漸瞭解實踐 BDSM 並不表示該人有病。事實上，流行文化被諸如《格雷的五十道陰影》小說與電影、《單身毒媽(Weeds)》等熱門時段美國電視節目中對禁羈的描寫，以及色情片中的「偽」禁羈所淹沒。禁羈社群繁盛成長，禁羈實踐似乎也更加頻繁，有些統計甚至說世界上每十個成人中有兩個是喜歡禁羈的。
基於這些理由，現代禁羈的挑戰之一是如何與其日益主流的狀態協商。當新人進入了 BDSM 世界，他們也許不重視知情同意，沒有足夠的技術與訓練，或不了解禁羈的精神。例如，他們可能認為禁羈就是男人支配著服從的女人（如同媒體所常呈現的）。但女性服從、男性支配只是眾多禁羈實踐與心理狀態之一，這種多樣性需要被瞭解。也許隨著越來越多人對禁羈好奇，禁羈的多樣性可以得到更多被瞭解的機會。隨著網路的興起，各種形式的禁羈實踐都引起人們極大的興趣。影片與畫面得到全球性的歡迎，許多技術手冊出版，從夜店到藝廊的各種場所都安排過禁羈表演，上百的網站與部落格為未來的實踐者提供教學。
這種主流化雖發生著，目前禁羈活動的實際參與者仍是各地區的禁羈社群成員，大部份瞭解同意、欲求、和協商的必需性，以及社群的多樣性。而同時，社群之外的人卻不見得瞭解。回顧我們的 BDSM 實踐，顯然地，這是一個很複雜、並且仍在演化中的田野。因此，禁羈必須在主流媒體中被公開且誠實地討論，使得關於 BDSM 實踐的對話可以開展並延續，方能讓我們對這複雜的群體與實踐更加地了解。
BDSM: Mainstreaming and Identity
BDSM commonly refers to some combination of bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadism, and masochism. BDSM (otherwise known as kink) is an acronym designed to be as inclusive as possible, embracing the many practices within the kink community. It replaces the terms B&D, D&S, and S&M. While these couplings are useful, not all kinky players (also called kinksters) are involved in these specific pairings, so the term BDSM is more appropriate to describe the complex set of behaviours involving consensual mental, emotional, and physical play between trusting individuals.
Importantly, participation in the kink community is governed by a set of ethics. These are best outlined by two acronyms: SSC and RACK. SSC stands for Safe, Sane, and Consensual, and RACK means Risk Aware Consensual Kink. The term SSC came first, in 1983. RACK came later, in 1999. These acronyms can be interpreted in multiple ways, but generally kinksters agree: to follow SSC means to know how to do your chosen activity safely, to be in a sound mental state, and to obtain active consent from all parties before engaging in kinky activities. SSC often also means all parties should abstain from using alcohol or drugs and should be of consenting age. RACK is a more moderate term, meaning that kinksters should be aware of the risks involved in their activities and attempt to reduce the potential for causing physical or mental harm. Importantly, both acronyms emphasise consent, a core value within kink play.
If consent is one core value, another is desire. The actions two or more people take within kink are desired, negotiated beforehand so that expectations are set and met. Negotiation also ensures that participants’ current bodily states, such as having a sore muscle or an asthmatic condition, and mental states, such as an aversion to slapping or to hearing the phrase “shut up”, for example, are noted. When considering kink, which at its most basic is one person taking power from another, people must remember that these actions are consensual, desired, and negotiated.
The kink community has had to teach itself that this is the case. It wasn’t always so. Though there is a lack of documentation and scholarship on the worldwide emergence of SM, some information is available regarding kink’s origins in twentieth century America. During the 1940s, a gay leather subculture which revolved around bondage and discipline began to emerge. Known as the “Old Guard” or the “Leathermen”, it called the practise of SM “work”. Arguably at the time, the idea of active and affirmative consent was absent from some practices, especially within 24/7 relationships – those in which one partner maintains control over the other at all times, whether through physical, mental, or emotional means.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, kink continued to attract practitioners, though the majority of these kinksters kept their practices secret and hidden, fearing the social consequences should their hobbies be discovered. It was not until or even after kink societies began to form in the 1970s that kinky people came together to embrace their identities.
The first such society was the heterosexual Eulenspiegel Society which formed in New York City in 1971, followed by The Society of Janus, founded in San Francisco in 1974 for kinksters of all sexualities. The 1978 founding of Samois, a lesbian kink collective in San Francisco, recognised lesbian BDSM culture. The group soon published Coming to Power, a defense of BDSM as a feminist practice. The publishing of Against Sadomasochism in 1982, an anthology of essays by anti-patriarchy feminists, directly attacked Samois’ publication, challenging the “apparent consensuality” of BDSM while associating it with “patriarchal sexual ideology”.
The debate that ensued corresponds with the broader historical context of the “sex wars” that had been taking place since the late 1970s, in which sex-positive and kinky feminists went up against radical anti-patriarchy, anti-porn feminists. These sex wars (along with the AIDS epidemic and a conservative “assault on alternative sexualities” in American government) became a call for kinksters to assume a political stance and consolidate around a set of core values as a community. This roughly coincides with the emergence of the idea of SSC.
Concurrently a “new guard” began to appear. The gay male Old Guard was still characterised by static power roles rather than fluidity, and a conception of BDSM as “work”. The new guard was heterosexual, bisexual, and pansexual (attracted to people regardless of biological sex, gender, or gender identity). It saw roles as flexible, and envisioned BDSM as play rather than work. The new guard was often described as “uninformed or purely fashionable”, yet their influx may have lessened anti-kink stigmas, and built a broader community around kinksters previously divided by sexual orientation or play-type preference. Despite the emergence of kinky communities around the globe, kink remains embattled.
In 1990-91, England saw the Spanner Case, the infamous trial of a group of kinky gay men involved in consensual BDSM acts, who were subsequently convicted of assault. The men appealed this decision at the European Court of Human Rights in 1997, which then ruled to uphold England’s verdict. This decision continued the precedent for the selective criminalisation and sensationalisation of BDSM, furthering contemporary ideas that wrongly align kink with abuse and label kinksters as mentally ill. Much of this pathologisation stems from the fact that the DSM (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which serves as the “bible” of American Psychology) classified being kinky as a disorder until very recently.
In 2013, the 5th edition of the DSM was published, and it removed participation in kink from the category of mental disorders. But prior to this date, people who engaged in BDSM often lost custody of their children during divorce proceedings and were regularly categorized as having a mental disorder during court cases of all types. Now, medical and legal institutions are coming to realise that practicing BDSM does not show that one has a disorder. In fact, popular culture is inundated by the 50 Shades books and movies, portrayals of kink in primetime American TV shows such as Weeds, and pseudo kink in porn. Kinky ommunities are flourishing and kink participation appears to be increasing in frequency, with statistics reporting that 2 in every 10 adults worldwide are kinky.
For these reasons, one challenge facing modern kink is how it will negotiate its increasingly mainstream status. As newcomers enter the world of BDSM, they may not emphasize consent, have the proper skills and training, or understand kink’s ethos. They may, for example, see kink simply as a forum for men to dominate submissive women (as the media often narrowly portrays it). But female submission to male dominance is just one among many practices and mentalities in kink, and this diversity needs to be recognised. Perhaps it is, as more and more people become curious. Certainly, with the rise of the world wide web, there has been a surge of interest in all forms of kink. Videos and images have gained global popularity, technique books have been published on the subject, venues from clubs to art galleries showcase kinky performance, and hundreds of websites and blogs teach would-be practitioners how-tos.
But despite mainstreaming, presently the attendees of kinky events are members of regional kink communities, most of whom appreciate the need for consent, desire, and negotiation, and the diversity of the community. Meanwhile, those outside of the community may not recognise these things. Reflecting on BDSM practices, it becomes clear that this field is complicated and evolving. As such, kink must be discussed openly and honestly in mainstream media, so that conversations about BDSM practices can be opened and continued in order to enable a better understanding of this complex group of people and practices.
ItsPlay is a scholar/practitioner of BDSM who studies transgressive performative practices.
http://itsplay.weebly.com/[:en]This is a Chinese translation of the article BDSM: Mainstreaming and Identity by ItsPlay, published on The Stand News on 31st January, 2016.
ItsPlay is a scholar/practitioner of BDSM who studies transgressive performative practices.
http://itsplay.weebly.com/
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