L&R July 2017 Magazine
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egulated in the context of violence or the context of sexuality. One point she makes is if<br />
legislation is made in the context of regulating it around sex then aren't we simply giving<br />
the patriarchy further control over women's expression of sexual identity.<br />
Current feminist viewpoints<br />
Current feminist viewpoints on BDSM practices continue to be controversial and at odds<br />
with one another. Some feminists view SM as an ideal feminist expression of sexual<br />
freedom while other feminists say that BDSM, and more particularly SM, reinforce<br />
patriarchy and that these practices are contradictory to feminism. Feminists who view<br />
BDSM as contradictory to feminism also often believe that women who engage in BDSM<br />
practices, and specifically those who play a submissive role in them, have been led by<br />
sexist power structures to believe that they enjoy these acts. This feminist viewpoint<br />
argues that the individuals who enjoy playing a submissive role in the bedroom only<br />
enjoy it because they have been led to believe that it is what is expected of them and<br />
that they should enjoy it. This viewpoint argues that if these individuals, particularly<br />
women, were able to explore their sexual desires without the influence of a sexist power<br />
structure that they would come to very different conclusions about what they enjoy.<br />
Perspectives on lesbian BDSM<br />
Lesbian SM (Sadism, Submission, Masochism) has been problematic in the analysis of<br />
feminist viewpoints on BDSM, especially with regards to whether or not lesbians are<br />
recreating patriarchal structures. Many academic critics do not even tackle the idea of<br />
lesbian BDSM. Maneesha Deckha in her article, "Pain, pleasure, and consenting women:<br />
Exploring feminist responses to S/M and its legal regulation in Canada through Jelinek's<br />
The Piano Teacher admitted that covering lesbian BDSM made her theories too<br />
convoluted to see. Such lesbian erasure has been fairly common in second and third<br />
wave feminism as lesbian identity has frequently been subsumed in feminist identity. This<br />
concept is explained by Calhoun in "The Gender Closet: Lesbian disappearance under<br />
the sign 'woman'"Some, such as Deckha, believe that although lesbians do practice<br />
BDSM, they are doing so in an effort to merely recreate the patriarchal power structure in<br />
the rest of society.
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