(The four monkeys. Originally, the three wise monkeys represented virtues in Asia. In the Western world, though, they have become a symbol for turning a blind eye. Picture courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Last Friday, the Russian Lower House, the State Duma, passed with big majority a draft bill at the first reading which is supposed to ban "gay propaganda" towards minors. The law not only constitutes a de facto ban on any public demonstrations for gay rights, gay pride parades, gay film festivals and the like. It means that even giving a health information brochure or an academic textbook mentioning homosexuality to a minor might be viewed as an offence. Conceivably, even a kiss in public could get a gay couple into trouble (after all, there might be children somewhere within viewing distance).
So, the bill is disguised as a measure supposed to protect minors. What it really is about becomes clear when one takes the following numbers into account: a study in 2010 revealed that 74 percent of the Russians who were interviewed deemed homosexuality immoral respectively a mental illness. A study from 2012 showed that 86 percent of the respondents were in favour of a bill against "gay propaganda". The orthodox church plays an important role in the matter, preaching of homosexuality as being sinful.
The Russian enclave Kaliningrad Oblast already has a law that bans "gay, bisexual and paedophiliac propaganda" not only towards children, but in general. The conflation with paedophilia already shows how homo- and bisexuality are seen here, and how they are being criminalised. As if there were no difference between consensual sex among adult men or women and the abuse of minors. Of course, there is no clear definition of what "gay propaganda" even means. Thus, homosexuals can't know what, exactly, could get them into trouble. Two men holding hands in public might lead to an arrest. Not to mention the general risk of being physically attacked by homophobes.
The legal situation in Germany is very different and there is generally a higher acceptance of homosexuality. Even our foreign minister is gay, as is the mayor of our capital city, Berlin. But still, until 1969 homosexual acts between men (it's always just homosexuality between men that seems to be the problem!) was liable to prosecution. And it's only since 1994 that the legal age for sexual acts is the same as for heterosexual sex. Furthermore, the situation seems to be getting worse again in recent years, especially among young people. "Schwul" ("gay") is the most common swearword among German pupils, often used as an adjective in the sense of "bad". Especially young male muslims have prejudices against homosexuals. But it's not only them. Many young homosexuals are scared of outing themselves and of showing their homosexuality in public. Stupid and hurtful comments are common reactions, and sometimes physical violence against homosexuals happens as well.
(My favourite M/M video producer, Spanking Central, recently published a new instalment of the great "Dojo Discipline" series. Picture courtesy of Spanking Central.)
As an avowed fan of M/M spankings, I am convinced that the situation in our community isn't any better. I already wrote a huge post about a discussion on Chross's site about x/M spankings where lots of homophobia showed and about Chross's wonderful decision to open his discussion board to x/M spankings despite of the vocal protests of some readers. In my opinion it is always the same pattern when it comes to M/M and homophobia, only that usually there isn't anyone like Chross who decides to be inclusive despite the protests. When it comes to M/M, you've always got a small but very vocal homophobic minority screaming: "We don't want that! Get it out of this forum / blog / website!" Then you've got some more people who pretend that they aren't homophobes, but support the "We don't want that!" approach arguing that it just isn't their personal preference and that the M/M fans should find another place which is explicitly for M/M spankings. And then there is the huge majority of people who simply watch silently because they don't care about M/M either way.
Now, don't get me wrong. I've said this several times and I say it again: I don't expect others to like M/M spanking or watch M/M clips, never mind participate in M/M play. Everyone has their personal preferences and that's okay. But there is a huge difference between 1) simply having personal preferences and leaving other people to theirs, and 2) campaigning to rid discussion boards or link lists of anything that doesn't match one's personal preferences. The homopobes of the spanking community aren't just not interested in M/M material; they don't want any of it anywhere on the sites they visit.
Kelley recently wrote about a new M/M spanking video producer she likes. The site is called Straight Lads Spanked and features formal spanking scenarios between straight men. Of course, her posts about the site caught my interest because it's always nice for me to see M/M spankings featured on other blogs. In one of her posts, Kelley admitted that she liked the site's approach of using straight guys for formal M/M spankings. One reason she gave was that she isn't sexually interested in gay men and they wouldn't be interested in her, which makes it more difficult for her to relate to them when watching a clip. Another reason Kelley mentioned was that she wants to see asexual discipline scenes and finds those easier to imagine with straight guys. I have to admit that several of Kelley's arguments don't make much sense to me. For instance, the asexual discipline argument would mean that formal M/F scenes should only be filmed with gay and lesbian actors, because only then could you make sure that they aren't into each other. I have never heard anyone suggest that. But still, we are only talking about personal preferences here.
What made me sad, though, was a comment written by Bonnie. She wrote in reply to Kelley's first post about the new site: "You will hear no complaints from me about photos of cute young men. I wasn't aware of this site. As you say, most M/M spanking sites, at least the ones with pictures, seem to progress rather rapidly from spanking to gay sex. Not that that's necessarily bad, but my readers tell me they don't want to see it." And that's exactly the difference between personal preferences and the point where people try to exclude others because their preferences are different from one's own. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the line is drawn when it comes to sexualised spankings between men, the point when the spanking becomes clearly linked to gay sex.
Now, I have already admitted earlier that I generally prefer formal spanking scenarios without sex, especially in videos, no matter which gender constellation we are talking about. But Bonnie's link list includes lots of blogs and Tumblr blogs with very explicit pictures and stories of heterosexual action as well. No one seems to have a problem with that. I have to admit that some Tumblr blogs are very difficult for me to bear, not only because of the pictures, but also because of the oftentimes dumb "Bend over you whore slut pussy!" comments they are accompanied by. I would never ask Bonnie to delete these blogs from her link list, though. I just don't look at them! But apparently, the same level of tolerance can't be expected from others when it comes to M/M sex. I mean, we are neither talking about pictures or posts which are actually on Bonnie's blog, nor do any pictures show up in her link list. All we are talking about are a couple of links and maybe the first two or three sentences from the linked blog post being visible in the list. That's all! But apparently, the danger of stumbling across gay sex between men by clicking the wrong link is too horrifying a prospect for some people. And so they demand that such links be removed altogether, even if they constitute only 5 percent of the total, if that.
Spanking Tube is another example. Ludwig and I had a very lively discussion with Mija and Paul quite a while ago because Spanking Tube hides M/M videos under a separate label and doesn't include them in the "Newest Videos" and "Favourite Videos" lists which are the most favourite search options. The four of us agreed that this treats M/M videos and their fans as second class citizens of the site. The part where our views differed, though, was whether given the homophobia in our scene featuring M/M videos at all was already an improvement compared with other sites which don't allow M/M spankings in the first place (Ludwig's and my view), or whether this was maybe even worse because Spanking Tube is making more money by also including M/M videos but at the same time treats M/M fans as second class citizens who should be kept out of sight (Mija's and Paul's view). I don't know whether my assumption was correct that, given the homophobia in our community, featuring M/M even in a separate corner entails a higher risk of losing viewers than a chance of making more money, but Paul has written a new post only a short while ago about Punished.net, a new site of the same company which also owns Spanking Tube, on which M/M is now completely banned.
Of course, there are positive news as well: Dreams Of Spanking has been voted Most Improved Spanking Site of the Year on The Spanking Spot, a pure x/F site. From several reviews, I know that for many viewers the M/M scenes which are featured on Dreams Of Spanking are a downside because they are not interested in them. Still, the mixture obviously does not scare away too many people and did not prevent the site from winning a democratic vote on an x/F site. Furthermore, Pandora has just published pictures from her latest M/M shoots and I'm looking forward to watching the final clips. Pandora's partner Tom, who is a heterosexual man, tops other guys in the clips. Ludwig just told me that he would be fine with doing a M/FM video for me as a top if I wanted it. And Donpascual, who already wrote about M/M spankings from a heterosexual man's view in a guest post, told me how naturally M/M spankings were handled at some of the kinky events he had attended, no matter which sexual preferences the play partners involved had. Kelley wrote about her liking of M/M and introduced a new M/M site featuring interesting formal scenarios, as I already mentioned above. Dana Kane has published a vote on M/M spankings and while M/M spankings of course don't cater to everybody's taste, it seems like she didn't get an overwhelming amount of "that's horrible because it is gay" comments so far.
So, what's the conclusion? And what does this have to do with BDSM and adult consensual spanking in general, if anything? Well, Pixie recently answered the question whether she thinks that spankos will have to be closeted forever or whether our kink will one day be fully accepted by society on her blog. Pixie was rather cautious concerning the aspect of full acceptance. The conclusion of my post is that I fully agree with her.
Maybe it's because Ludwig, the university trained historian, and I have now been a couple for almost four years. Maybe I have become as pessimistic as he is on many of these issues. But the truth is, in my opinion there will always be a lot of stupid people out there. People who are scared by sexuality in general and everything that's different from the statistical norm and from their personal preferences in particular. People who are too dumb to distinguish between homosexuality and paedophilia. People who can not distinguish real violence and abuse from BDSM and consensual adult spanking. So, I don't think that our kink will ever be fully accepted. Heck, even in our spanking community, where one would expect people to be a little enlightened about such issues, there is effectively just as much prejudice and intolerance as in our society as a whole.
I am lucky because I live in a country where different sexual preferences are widely accepted. A country where I don't have to be afraid of prosecution because of my fetish. I have friends to whom I can talk openly about who I am, including my kink. I think that's all I can ask for. But full acceptance in society as a whole? I don't believe that this is ever going to happen.
What made me sad, though, was a comment written by Bonnie. She wrote in reply to Kelley's first post about the new site: "You will hear no complaints from me about photos of cute young men. I wasn't aware of this site. As you say, most M/M spanking sites, at least the ones with pictures, seem to progress rather rapidly from spanking to gay sex. Not that that's necessarily bad, but my readers tell me they don't want to see it." And that's exactly the difference between personal preferences and the point where people try to exclude others because their preferences are different from one's own. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the line is drawn when it comes to sexualised spankings between men, the point when the spanking becomes clearly linked to gay sex.
(Straight Lads Spanked, the new producer Kelley wrote about. Picture courtesy of Straight Lads Spanked.)
Now, I have already admitted earlier that I generally prefer formal spanking scenarios without sex, especially in videos, no matter which gender constellation we are talking about. But Bonnie's link list includes lots of blogs and Tumblr blogs with very explicit pictures and stories of heterosexual action as well. No one seems to have a problem with that. I have to admit that some Tumblr blogs are very difficult for me to bear, not only because of the pictures, but also because of the oftentimes dumb "Bend over you whore slut pussy!" comments they are accompanied by. I would never ask Bonnie to delete these blogs from her link list, though. I just don't look at them! But apparently, the same level of tolerance can't be expected from others when it comes to M/M sex. I mean, we are neither talking about pictures or posts which are actually on Bonnie's blog, nor do any pictures show up in her link list. All we are talking about are a couple of links and maybe the first two or three sentences from the linked blog post being visible in the list. That's all! But apparently, the danger of stumbling across gay sex between men by clicking the wrong link is too horrifying a prospect for some people. And so they demand that such links be removed altogether, even if they constitute only 5 percent of the total, if that.
Spanking Tube is another example. Ludwig and I had a very lively discussion with Mija and Paul quite a while ago because Spanking Tube hides M/M videos under a separate label and doesn't include them in the "Newest Videos" and "Favourite Videos" lists which are the most favourite search options. The four of us agreed that this treats M/M videos and their fans as second class citizens of the site. The part where our views differed, though, was whether given the homophobia in our scene featuring M/M videos at all was already an improvement compared with other sites which don't allow M/M spankings in the first place (Ludwig's and my view), or whether this was maybe even worse because Spanking Tube is making more money by also including M/M videos but at the same time treats M/M fans as second class citizens who should be kept out of sight (Mija's and Paul's view). I don't know whether my assumption was correct that, given the homophobia in our community, featuring M/M even in a separate corner entails a higher risk of losing viewers than a chance of making more money, but Paul has written a new post only a short while ago about Punished.net, a new site of the same company which also owns Spanking Tube, on which M/M is now completely banned.
Of course, there are positive news as well: Dreams Of Spanking has been voted Most Improved Spanking Site of the Year on The Spanking Spot, a pure x/F site. From several reviews, I know that for many viewers the M/M scenes which are featured on Dreams Of Spanking are a downside because they are not interested in them. Still, the mixture obviously does not scare away too many people and did not prevent the site from winning a democratic vote on an x/F site. Furthermore, Pandora has just published pictures from her latest M/M shoots and I'm looking forward to watching the final clips. Pandora's partner Tom, who is a heterosexual man, tops other guys in the clips. Ludwig just told me that he would be fine with doing a M/FM video for me as a top if I wanted it. And Donpascual, who already wrote about M/M spankings from a heterosexual man's view in a guest post, told me how naturally M/M spankings were handled at some of the kinky events he had attended, no matter which sexual preferences the play partners involved had. Kelley wrote about her liking of M/M and introduced a new M/M site featuring interesting formal scenarios, as I already mentioned above. Dana Kane has published a vote on M/M spankings and while M/M spankings of course don't cater to everybody's taste, it seems like she didn't get an overwhelming amount of "that's horrible because it is gay" comments so far.
(Preview picture for one of the new M/M clips on Dreams of Spanking featuring Thomas Cameron as the top. Picture courtesy of Dreams of Spanking.)
So, what's the conclusion? And what does this have to do with BDSM and adult consensual spanking in general, if anything? Well, Pixie recently answered the question whether she thinks that spankos will have to be closeted forever or whether our kink will one day be fully accepted by society on her blog. Pixie was rather cautious concerning the aspect of full acceptance. The conclusion of my post is that I fully agree with her.
Maybe it's because Ludwig, the university trained historian, and I have now been a couple for almost four years. Maybe I have become as pessimistic as he is on many of these issues. But the truth is, in my opinion there will always be a lot of stupid people out there. People who are scared by sexuality in general and everything that's different from the statistical norm and from their personal preferences in particular. People who are too dumb to distinguish between homosexuality and paedophilia. People who can not distinguish real violence and abuse from BDSM and consensual adult spanking. So, I don't think that our kink will ever be fully accepted. Heck, even in our spanking community, where one would expect people to be a little enlightened about such issues, there is effectively just as much prejudice and intolerance as in our society as a whole.
I am lucky because I live in a country where different sexual preferences are widely accepted. A country where I don't have to be afraid of prosecution because of my fetish. I have friends to whom I can talk openly about who I am, including my kink. I think that's all I can ask for. But full acceptance in society as a whole? I don't believe that this is ever going to happen.