Many of us have favorite fantasies and activities. Others are more spontaneous in their negotiations and their desire to explore new areas. Each person helps to create the scene, and the limits of both the top and the bottom are respected.
Over the past centuries, sadomasochistic behaviors have been practiced in order to fulfill sexual desires. Researchers who have looked into this behavior find themselves with no clear definition. In short, sadomasochism is labeled as a way to be sexually aroused by unusual stimuli, a diagnostic category given by the American Psychiatric Association to describe atypical patterns of sexual arousal or behavior that may become problematic in the eyes of the individual or society.
Sadomasochistic behaviors have been seen throughout history. Dating as far back as ancient Egypt, and to writings such as the Kama Sutra of the Hindu culture in India, sexuality was seen as an art form to be revealed.
In the book Bound to Be Free, authors Moser, Ph.D., M.D., and JJ Madeson (1996), explain the history of sadomasochism. According to Sigmund Freud, (who termed sadomasochism by combining two terms, "sadism", and "masochism") sadomasochism is "probably the least understood and the most feared sexual behavior." .
Sadism comes from the name of the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), a noble French sexologist. Masochism comes from the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895). Both men were positive, moral, and creative, and highly recognized for it. De Sade and von Sacher-Masoch were fearless in their erotic fantasies, and they can show us how our fiercest fantasies come from the same place as our most tender loves.
Still, Freud's successors in psychoanalysis continue to see sadomasochism as a mental illness despite the research indicating that sadomasochistic behaviors are indeed not pathological, and do not cause real harm. .
Such research forced the 1980s decision of the American Psychiatric Association to remove sadomasochism as a category in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
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