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"Newmahr's decisions to use passages of creative representation to convey 'felt' experiences, as well as to use her own body as an instrument of intellectual inquiry to such an extent, bring a sense of depth and presence to the book that is often sorely lacking in such work." Katherine Frank, author of G-Strings and Sympathy: Strip Club Regulars and Male Desire "A fascinating, well-written, carefully researched book that illuminates a subculture about which we know very little... Never before have we had research that is so close to the community, that allows us inside this community's behavior, rationalizations, understandings, and lived experiences." Patricia Adler, co-author of Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction "An important contribution to the fields of crime/deviance and sexuality." Leon Anderson, author of Deviance: Social Constructions and Blurred Boundaries
Product Description
Representations of consensual sadomasochism range from the dark, seedy undergrounds of crime thrillers to the fetishized pornographic images of sitcoms and erotica. In this path-breaking book, ethnographer Staci Newmahr delves into the social space of a public, pansexual SM community to understand sadomasochism from the inside out. Based on four years of in-depth and immersive participant observation, she juxtaposes her experiences in the field with the life stories of community members, providing a richly detailed portrait of SM as a social space in which experiences of "violence" intersect with experiences of the erotic. She shows that SM is a recreational and deeply gendered risk-taking endeavour, through which participants negotiate boundaries between chaos and order. Playing on the Edge challenges our assumptions about sadomasochism, sexuality, eroticism, and emotional experience, exploring what we mean by intimacy, and how, exactly, we achieve it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There can't be many researchers who engage on the level that this author did in investigating marginalised sexuality. Coming from a "third-wave" feminist background, the author interprets her personal experiences alongside the interviews and observations to produce a multi-layered picture of a specific city's sadomasochist community. An ambitious book that was nine years in the making (including the research period), Playing on the Edge both discusses the trends and activities of the "scene" and its people, and develops theoretical understandings of SM that can potentially be used to understand a much wider range of human experiences, not just "kink". There are some truly powerful analytic tools being developed here that could broaden how we see many aspects of society.
Perhaps the most striking element is the use of "creative representation", retelling scenes of particularly powerful moments during the research to illustrate how the ideas discussed tied in not just theoretically, but with the lived experience of the researcher. This direct engagement lends the book not just academic significance from the theories developed, but provides a "punch" that can keep the average reader curious to understand how these activities are understood in the wider scheme of things, and just what SM people mean by "What It Is That We Do."
The depth and closeness with which the author researched her book result in a much more subtle and in-depth discussion of SM than is usual, and it is by turns enlightening, challenging and surprising. I highly recommend it to anyone curious about what sadomasochists really get up to.
Perhaps the most striking element is the use of "creative representation", retelling scenes of particularly powerful moments during the research to illustrate how the ideas discussed tied in not just theoretically, but with the lived experience of the researcher. This direct engagement lends the book not just academic significance from the theories developed, but provides a "punch" that can keep the average reader curious to understand how these activities are understood in the wider scheme of things, and just what SM people mean by "What It Is That We Do."
The depth and closeness with which the author researched her book result in a much more subtle and in-depth discussion of SM than is usual, and it is by turns enlightening, challenging and surprising. I highly recommend it to anyone curious about what sadomasochists really get up to.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A very good sociological study of a particular BDSM culture. Stacy plays as a submissive; and some of her preferences, like many in the BDSM scene, are unusual; but she paints a very interesting picture of the group she joined and learnt about BDSM from. Given how immersive her study was, I imagine that this is part of her way of being - but there's an implication that at the end of the study she just stopped being involved. Well worth reading if you want to know more about how the social structure of BDSM holds together.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
An essential contribution, but limited by its choice of subject.
2 Mar 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dr. Newmahr's ethnography on American sadomasochism is a solid contribution to expanding our understanding of the subject. Alternating between excellent examples and observations, and heavy, yet well explained and grounded theory, the author presents a comprehensive picture of the scene she has studied, as well as the attraction of it to its participants, both socially and pleasure-wise.
It should be noted, though, that Newmahr's research concentrates on public-play communities in which sadomasochism was not as strongly tied to sexuality as in certain other groups, meaning that her findings, accurate as they are, will not be immediately applicable to all SM contexts. Likewise, this is not necessarily a book for people who are sadomasochists, but rather a book about them. It is, however, a book every self-respecting scholar of sadomasochism, leathersex or kink should possess, and a reference which shows that the key findings of earlier SM ethnographers, such as Geoff Mains (who sadly is not quoted in it), still very much apply today.
Just as the sub-title says, this is a book about risk and intimacy, both of which are treated with the right sort of expertise, curiosity and respect.
It should be noted, though, that Newmahr's research concentrates on public-play communities in which sadomasochism was not as strongly tied to sexuality as in certain other groups, meaning that her findings, accurate as they are, will not be immediately applicable to all SM contexts. Likewise, this is not necessarily a book for people who are sadomasochists, but rather a book about them. It is, however, a book every self-respecting scholar of sadomasochism, leathersex or kink should possess, and a reference which shows that the key findings of earlier SM ethnographers, such as Geoff Mains (who sadly is not quoted in it), still very much apply today.
Just as the sub-title says, this is a book about risk and intimacy, both of which are treated with the right sort of expertise, curiosity and respect.
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