On Wed, 16 Feb 2005, John Klein wrote: > Fair enough. Our two 'mosts' may not overlap there, though. I think 'most' was an overstatement on my part. Please replace 'many'. > On the other hand, I have personal knowledge of several members of this > community who have not been abused, or even severely traumatized, at any > point in their lives. That's not to say that childhood abuse can't be a > source of sadistic or masochistic behavior (it would be foolish to deny > that), simply that I'm not willing to say "all BDSM behavior is based on > childhood trauma", since counterexamples exist. Oh, by all means. I never meant to imply a totality. More of a one-way function -- childhood trauma inclines the child to variant sexual expression, one avenue of which is BDSM. Other avenues include complete withdrawal >from the sexual battlefield or enthusiastic, albeit shallow, pursuit of carnality. > "All BDSM behavior is > psychological" is even more difficult. If I like a certain flavor of > potato chips, is that because my parents got them one time for that really > great birthday party when I was seven, or because my taste buds happen to > react well to their components? Or is it even a clear-cut case of > either/or? My guess would be 'inclines, but does not compel.' pe