Madonna and Michael Jackson used it to make themselves appear…edgier. Waiting for their little darlings to finish soccer practice, stylish young suburban mothers read 50 Shades of Grey behind the wheels of their SUVs. Such notable public figures as Angelina Jolie — whose Maleficent seemed aimed at a submissive male audience — have made no secret of their kinkiness.

 

Kink is everywhere in modern life.














 

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In this age of scrupulous political correctness, though, while homosexuality is accorded virtually universal respect by enlightened people, kink (by which I mean everything from sadomasochism through fetishism to transvestism) has somehow managed not to cease being widely feared or reviled, even though its practitioners are drawn to it no less naturally  — and no less inextricably — than their gay brothers and lesbian sisters are drawn to their own eroticism. 

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Until we all have the identical nerve endings, it’s irrational, absent coercion or exploitation, for one person to condemn the means by which another gets off. And yet kink continues to be widely viewed as depraved, or even pathological, as homosexuality ceased to be decades ago. Mention kink to average people and they visualise leather-clad women savagely flogging helpless bound men for the joy of it (or, thanks to 50 Shades, the obverse). The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases continues to list it, immediately after pedophilia! For the vast majority of its practitioners, though, kink isn’t about inflicting cruelty, but bestowing pleasure, or even expressing love. 

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Popular misconception notwithstanding, the vast majority of those predisposed to kink are gentle and considerate, better educated than average, devoted parents, devoted sons and daughters, ethical and conscientious.