I don’t believe sex itself is liberatory but the creation of sexual art to express one’s desires, that’s different. Art is often a public act, the expression of a desire can lead to destigmatizing it. Think about how 50 Shades opened the door to general public tolerance of BDSM - ThreadSky

acvalens.net • 19 days ago

I don’t believe sex itself is liberatory but the creation of sexual art to express one’s desires, that’s different. Art is often a public act, the expression of a desire can lead to destigmatizing it. Think about how 50 Shades opened the door to general public tolerance of BDSM

Reposted from Ana Valens

I do want to be clear, between the increasing anti-trans bills, the heightening anxiety against adult content, the urge to ban LGBTQ material and 18+ art in one law… no matter what happens, I’ll continue creating queer smut. Always. Even if I reach a point where I have to go on TOR or mail it out

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charmingkobold.bsky.social•17 days ago

As someone who dabbles with sexual art but has rarely finished a project (sexual or otherwise) to a point that I was ready to share it publicly... I have mixed feelings about how this applies to me personally. 😅 But I definitely get what you mean.

desertheartsfan.bsky.social•19 days ago

looool 50 shades of shite did the exact opposite though

acvalens.net•19 days ago

It played a significant role in mainstreaming conversations about BDSM, even if the book itself was bad and dumb

desertheartsfan.bsky.social•18 days ago

Yeah, but not in a good way

gravitybreak.media•18 days ago

i don't understand. what negative effect did it have on the mainstream conception of BDSM compared to where it was at before that

evdogmusic.bsky.social•18 days ago

One thing was that many people read/saw Grey disrespecting Ana's boundaries and believed that was standard practice

squeakpony.latex.toys•18 days ago

Did they keep believing it, though?

desertheartsfan.bsky.social•18 days ago

There's been ENDLESS discourse about why and how, genuinely a cursory Google search will bring you a ton of answers..

gravitybreak.media•18 days ago

I'm asking you for your opinion, not the sum of all discourse in the world

manplow.bsky.social•18 days ago

The worst negative effect it had was presenting the most toxic & violent of BDSM practices as standard. Multiple women were murdered by men who then used what's now called the Fifty Shades of Gray defense - claiming that they were only trying to do BDSM & had gone too far.

tearyennui.bsky.social•18 days ago

Rough Sex as a legal defence for murder predates 50 Shades Of Grey by around 40 years. There were common law limits on its use by 1990. The books, at the very worst, merely inspired a less abrasive name

manplow.bsky.social•18 days ago

It is not unreasonable to say that 50SOG is absolutely responsible for the Public's perception of BDSM as largely recreational male-on-female violence. To this day when I mention BDSM to a vanilla, they bring up Fifty Shades as a reference point bc there is no other for them.

dtproductions20.bsky.social•18 days ago

I wouldn't say that it's an explicitly public act, it is an act that can that can be opted into by the public, But on a basic level public art needs to have more restrictions because it can't be opted out of without just not going into public

laurenfoxwrites.bsky.social•18 days ago

Yeah, the 'sex is liberation' does more for allonormativity than sex positivity.

chuckdraug.bsky.social•18 days ago

Even if the book is trash, it sure helped in some way to talk about BDSM even if it's to correct people.
Looking at when Gaiman went saying he was doing BDSM people called his bullshit out because as time went they're learning what real BDSM is.

chuckdraug.bsky.social•18 days ago

And I agree with you about art, be it drawings, photos, stories, videos... as an expression of our sexuality, desires and identity. As much as jerks want to censor it, no matter where we are from, we won't stop.

kateallday.bsky.social•17 days ago

Ah yes, one man successfully abusing several women and making them feel like it was experimentation or something they asked for certainly does set the bar for bdsm as a cultural talking point, just not in the way you think.

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