BDSM As Leisure Play

BDSM As Leisure Play

Villanelle​(staff) • Jun 5, 2016

CARAS recently posted an article focused on a new study by The Center For Positive Sexuality in Los Angeles that examined whether or not BDSM is a lesiure activity:

https://carasresearch.org/announcements/bdsm-as-serious-leisure-new-study

The study produced this result:

"RESULTS: Most BDSM experiences met leisure criteria. Participants reported that "most of the time or nearly always" BDSM was associated with a sense of personal freedom (89.7% of participants), pleasure or enjoyment (98.5%), sense of adventure (90.7%), use of personal skills (90.8%), relaxation or decreased stress (91.4%), self-expression or exploration (90.6%), and positive emotions (96.6%). BDSM seemed to function as primarily serious, rather than casual, leisure, but important statistical differences were observed based on specific BDSM identities."

My question to you is, do you consider BDSM to be a leisure activity?  And for your reference, here's a definition of the word "leisure" courtesy of Miriam Webster:

"freedom provided by the cessation of activities; especially :  time free from work or duties"

The point I find interesting is that many people who engage in BDSM have duties or other obligations related to their BDSM relationships.

Thoughts?