This was basically the topic of the shitty essay Bernie wrote in college that they tried to smear him with a few times.

Honestly though I think this is probably reasonable; our desires are affected by our social climate, I don’t know why sex and kink would be exempt. That being said, having partaken in a good amount of light bdsm, its pretty fun when both partners are into it, regardless of what motivates it.

This used to bother me, but eventually I realized that my entire personality is shaped by the society I grew up in. There’s no reason to think sex stuff should somehow be the one magic thing that comes entirely from some concept of the self that’s uncorrupted by society.

It’s fine, it’s just kink stuff.

You almost certainly also have kinks that in other times or in other places would be thought as weird - like, they’d all be thinking “wtf is with these 2020 people and their obsession with tits, tits aren’t even the sexiest part of a person”. The 90s had a weird obsession with small asses on women and now it’s all about curvy ladies for example.

Is BDSM that popular? I don’t know the numbers, but I think it’s still pretty niche. And then to what degree? Like being blindfolded versus someone stomping on your bits. I always think about this question with pedos. Like is there some trauma that triggers the fetish, brain chemistry, sociopathology, capitalism, or some genetic disposition?

I find it to be a good stress reliever and an excellent way to explore and reinforce boundaries/trust. Our fucked up society def plays a part tho, half my fantasies are just me coping with trauma from being treated like a financial object growing up.