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Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures | 
 enlarge | Authors: Charles Moser, Peggy J. Kleinplatz
Publisher: Routledge
Category: Book
List Price: $59.95
Buy New: $55.00
You Save: $4.95 (8%)
New (8) Used (3) from $55.00
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 346053
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 365
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 1560236396
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.775
EAN: 9781560236399
ASIN: 1560236396
Publication Date: August 9, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A comprehensive exploration of the entire sexual subculture that lies on the cutting edge of society. Though vilified by society at large - all the way from the religious right to the feminist left - these interdisciplinary discussions of the latest high-quality research shed surprising light on SM practitioners, and their out-of-the-mainstream activities. Leading experts reveal the latest valuable information, research findings, and rational thought about sexuality that lies beyond "vanilla." To gain a broader understanding of human sexuality, the study of SM is crucial for what it reveals about us as sexual beings. "Sadomasochism" reveals many facets of extraordinary sexual practices and how and why pain holds an important and pleasurable place in SM practitioners' private lives. The realization of SM desires and their acceptance are explored in detail. This unflinching look at the world and the people of SM will guide scholars and lay people alike into a more sensitive, sex-friendly viewpoint of the people society calls "kinky." Topics in "Sadomasochism" include: the five components of sadomasochism; a review of SM literature; the variation of perspective about an individual's conception of precisely what constitutes SM; research into the commonly held assumption that SM desires stem from dysfunctional families; spanking; owner-slave relationships; SM as a lifestyle; research into the mental health, values, and motives of self-identified SM participants; online SM interaction versus "real life" SM; the Spanner case and its implications in consensual SM play; and the history of legal conceptions about SM. The topics also include: legal oppression of SM participants; reasons to remove sadomasochism from the International Classification of Diseases and the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"; information on BDSM-oriented groups in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, and the United States; the need for therapist sensitivity in sexual therapy; and ten lessons therapists can learn from those clients engaged in extraordinary sex. "Sadomasochism" is valuable, insightful reading for mental health professionals, students, sex educators, sex counsellors, sex therapists, sex researchers, sexual health workers, sociologists, those in the sexual minority, and anyone interested in learning more about the sexual pleasures that lie beyond the traditional.
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| Customer Reviews:
Important November 9, 2006
W. F. Umbaugh (San Francisco Bay Area)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an important first book in out new understanding of sexuality. While not a book about SM per se, it is a compendium of papers on who does BDSM, the environment that SM has to live with and what people can learn sexually from those who are more sexually adventurous than most people.
See a full review in my column, Getting Started at [...]
Rick Umbaugh
qui bene amat bene castigat
An excellent, successful and noteworthy book. October 10, 2006
Michael P. Schaal (Burlington, Vt.)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is an excellent and successful book. The Editors are very knowledgeable about Sadomasochism and have each written about S/M elsewhere. Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures, is an ambitious undertaking in that it addresses a wide range of issues that confront those who practice S&M as part of their overall sexuality, or as a lifestyle. Of special interest to me was the chapter that explores Sadomasochism utilizing a comprehensive battery of psychometric tests. The result is that four myths that were or are widely believed regarding S/M are systematically devastated, utilizing empirically sound research methodology. This book has an international flavor touching on the subject as it manifests in nations outside of the North American continent. Also discussed are clinical, legal and human rights issues facing S/M participants in the United States and Europe. I found the chapter on Spanking, which is really about techniques for neutralizing stigma, to be somewhat condescending. Otherwise this book is affirming of S/M without taking an advocacy position. This book positively contributes to a view of Sadomasochism that moves away from pathology, toward a proactive and responsive view of sexuality that lies beyond the conventional wisdom of what is normal. I recommend it to all who are interested in the subject, including practitioners, physicians and sex therapists.
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