ok all you freaks! Come on out, let us humiliate you, you know you like it.
Okay, I'm game. Well, while I wouldn't specifically identify this as a predisposition or specific urge, I'd be open to the experience. I already know my personality tends me towards being switch/submissive (since I am slightly machocistic)
What effects do you suppose it has on children if they know about these activites? Do you think the children are predisposed to such activity if they are raised ina home where it is known to go on between the parents?
This would be like asking "do you think the children are predisposed to being gay if they're raised in a home..." Why? Not because I'm dismissing the question, but because it requires a complex answer considering at least the following:
- Keeping in mind the distinction between predisposition and behavior, to what extent in an individual can we consider engaging in BDSM behavior a manifestation of a predisposition? For example, I would do it as a novel experience or as a way to explore intimacy and trust in a relationship, but I would not consider it a cornerstone of my sexuality or mutual interactions.
- We generally assume that one cannot really consider something unless they are exposed to it first, and in this case, were can say that knowledge of BDSM behavior opens one to the possibility of engaging in the behavior but as to whether and how it actually influences them would require a case-by-case multifactorial analysis covering all domains of life from within and without. One's perception of it could be positive from experience/knowledge/reflection, others could be negative, etc.
- How does the BDSM practice manifest anyway? I've outlined one way of looking at it below.
Can parents who are involved in such activites rasie children with good societal morals?
I don't see why not. The way I saw BDSM (and the way it is increasingly being explored in popular media...notably
House) is as part of a reciprocal facet of relationships. Ideally, in a consensual environment, it is an act of control and trust. Of course,
prima facie, it does appear to blur the lines between consent, and I do think that there'd be cases where BDSM is manifest in what one could call an abusive relationship (this can reflect the cases of "wife who always returns to wife-beater").
Perhaps the reason why this can be such a controversial topic is because our liberalist axiology has given rise to misconceptions. Proper consideration to the values of submission/domination with regard to our individualistic ideal (I am master of my own domain)
Of concern to me, presuming mutual benefit, is the possible medical dangers of some of the practices. For example, the heavy sadomachocism
(drawing blood, strangulation, torture, prolonged contortion/confinement) can be somewhat dangerous and the trauma can cause varying degrees of physical injury. However, for me, it is a matter of making them aware of the potential problems and up to them to mediate their conduct afterward.