Poll Follow-Up

[queerbychoice]

A few observations about the results of my bondage poll . . .

• Bondage seems to be practiced by a slight majority of my respondents, although I myself am Ms. Vanilla.



• I have to inform the 4 of you who said that you engaged in bondage specifically in order to be unconventional that you don't seem to be impressing anyone, since only 6 of 42 people who've answered the poll so far said that they think bondage is nonconformist. Sorry - maybe you could try becoming a furry.



• 21 respondents see bondage as a sign of sexual liberation, compared to only 4 respondents so far who see it as a sign of puritanism. However, out of 22 respondents who have engaged in bondage, 12 of you said that one of the reasons it appealed to you was as a way to free yourselves from sexual shame by pretending you have no control over what's happening. Although this does make bondage a way of sexually liberating yourselves, it seems to suggest that it's also a sign of the puritanism that instilled the sexual shame in you in the first place. (Which is not to say that puritanism would apply to all bondage practitioners, since many did not cite this as a reason; nor does it mean that all non-bondage-practitioners are necessarily lacking the same sexual shame.)



• One person stated that they would prefer that there be laws against consensual bondage. However, this person also stated that consensual bondage is "a sign of sexual liberation," "great fun for me!," "scary to me, in a good way," and "something I want to help make vastly more popular." Wanting to pass laws against things for the purpose of making them vastly more popular could be an interesting approach, and perhaps passing laws against acts that one participates in and greatly enjoys in could be attributed to some odd form of masochism, but, er, I think it's more likely that this person just accidentally checked a box they didn't intend to. ;-)



• A lot of my readers have still not taken my poll yet, and you should all go do that.

Comments

[sarianna.livejournal.com]

I <3 bondage. It rocks. I only wish it didn't cost quite so much.

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Hmm, but surely it's more your pickiness about the materials used than bondage itself that costs money . . .

[sarianna.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. I'm not too keen on cutting off circulation or strangling anyone. Especially myself. Eep.
I would mention the alternatives I've found, but I fear that would be TMI, so I will shush now.

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Okay, I must be more ignorant of the material requirements than I had realized.

Incidentally, and completely off-topic, I need to thank you for causing me (via Mikie) to become aware of being_homeless's journal. She's wonderful.

[sarianna.livejournal.com]

It can be done cheaply, but not as safely.

Oh, no prob! I've met her in person, too, actually, she's a fun person to hang around. =)

[mobledqueen.livejournal.com]

I loved your poll.

[yay4pikas.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'd really call bondage nonconformist, although I picked that option -- but I think it's fair to say that it is not the normal vanilla sexual behavior.

Of course, doing it strictly to be nonconformist seems to be slightly pointless. Why bother if it doesn't turn one on?

Most of my answers didn't precisely describe my views on bondage, to be honest -- they were just the closest matches.

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's fair to assume that doing it to be nonconformist means that it doesn't turn you on. I think people a lot of people are turned on precisely by the idea of being nonconformist.

[yay4pikas.livejournal.com]

I have to inform the 4 of you who said that you engaged in bondage specifically in order to be unconventional that you don't seem to be impressing anyone

I was going off that, although it didn't occur to be that the unconventionalness might be the turn on. I'm not exactly at my most coherent today. ;-)

[violin.livejournal.com]

I have to inform the 4 of you who said that you engaged in bondage specifically in order to be unconventional that you don't seem to be impressing anyone, since only 6 of 42 people who've answered the poll so far said that they think bondage is nonconformist. Sorry - maybe you could try becoming a furry.

Which makes this another great oppurtunity to mention Brunching's fantastic Geek Heirarchy (http://www.gtf.org/ram/geek.gif)