Table Of ContentSOCIOLOGY, SEXUALITY
N
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“A fascinating, well-written, carefully Representations of consensual w
researched book that illuminates a sadomasochism range from the m
subculture about which we know dark, seedy undergrounds of crime
a
very little. Never before have we thrillers to the fetishized pornographic h
had research that is so close to images of sitcoms and erotica. In r
the community, that allows us this pathbreaking book, ethnographer
inside this community’s behavior, Staci Newmahr delves into the
rationalizations, understandings, social space of a public, pansexual
and lived experiences.” SM community to understand
sadomasochism from the inside out.
—Patricia Adler, co-author of
Based on four years of in-depth and
Constructions of Deviance: Social P
Power, Context, and Interaction immersive participant observation, Playing on the Edge
she juxtaposes her experiences l
a
in the field with the life stories of
“Newmahr’s decisions to use
y
community members, providing a
passages of creative representation
Sadomasochism, Risk, and Intimacy
to convey ‘felt’ experiences, as richly detailed portrait of SM as a i
social space in which experiences of n
well as to use her own body as an
“violence” intersect with experiences
instrument of intellectual inquiry g
of the erotic. She portrays SM as a
to such an extent, bring a sense of
recreational and deeply gendered
depth and presence to the book that o
risk-taking endeavor through which
is often sorely lacking in such work.”
participants negotiate boundaries n
—Katherine Frank, author of
between chaos and order. Playing on
G-Strings and Sympathy: Strip Club
the Edge challenges our assumptions t
Regulars and Male Desire
about sadomasochism, sexuality, h
eroticism, and emotional experience,
e
exploring what we mean by intimacy,
Staci Newmahr is an ethnographer.
and how, exactly, we achieve it.
Her work plays with intersections E
of risk, eroticism, and gender. She
d
is currently Assistant Professor of
g
Sociology at Buffalo State College.
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Cover illustration courtesy of Meitar “maymay” Moscovitz;
photoediting by Kaylene Waite.
INDIANA
University Press
Bloomington & Indianapolis
Staci Newmahr
iupress.indiana.edu
1-800-842-6796 INDIANA
Playing on the Edge
Playing on the Edge
Sadomasochism, Risk, and Intimacy
Staci Newmahr
Indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2011 by Staci Newmahr
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American
University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to
this prohibition.
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
o
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Newmahr, Staci.
Playing on the edge : sadomasochism, risk, and intimacy / Staci Newmahr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-35597-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22285-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Sadomasochism. 2. Sexual dominance and submission. 3. Sadomasochists—Case studies.
I. Title.
HQ79.N49 2011
306.77’5—dc22
2010035371
1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12 11
Portions of earlier versions of this work have appeared in Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
37 (2008), Symbolic Interaction 33 (3) (2010), and Qualitative Sociology 33 (3), (2010). All works
were written by Staci Newmahr and reprinted with permission of Sage Publications, University
of California Press, and Springer, respectively.
For my mother, Irene,
who taught me to be comfortable with risk,
for Riordan,
whom I hope to teach the same,
and for Paul,
for whom there simply are no words great enough.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part 1: People
1. Defiance: Bodies, Minds, and Marginality 23
2. Geeks and Freaks: Marginal Identity and Community 39
Part 2: Play
3. Tipping the Scales: Striving for Imbalance 59
4. Fringe Benefits: The Rewards of SM Play 81
5. Badasses, Servants, and Martyrs: Gender Performances 103
Part 3: Edges
6. Reconcilable Differences: Pain, Eroticism, and Violence 123
7. Collaborating the Edge: Feminism and Edgework 144
8. “What It Is That We Do”: Intimate Edgework 166
Concluding Notes: Erotic Subjectivity and the Construction of the Field 187
Glossary 203
Notes 205
Bibliography 211
Index 221
Acknowledgments
Many open-minded and generous people took a leap on this project with me, or
for me. I appreciate their adventurousness and their confidence.
I am ineffably grateful to Judy Tanur, my mentor and friend. Her encourage-
ment and support energized this project from the moment of its inception over
a decade ago until the last word was written. My thinking and my writing have
benefited tremendously from her steadfast commitments to theoretical preci-
sion and methodological rigor.
Aisha Khan’s unflinching support for this project was a source of inspiration
and sustenance from the very beginning. Our conversations about the scene were
always exciting and intellectually catalytic. I thank her for her brilliant and con-
tagious energy, and for helping me to trust myself.
I thank Javier Auyero, for breathing life into ethnography in our department,
for tirelessly reading draft after draft of my work, and for never pulling his punch-
es. I appreciate also the efforts of Naomi Rosenthal, in finding entry points into
this project, in challenging me to think differently, and in letting me know what
I was up against. I owe thanks also to Erich Goode, Marc Olshan, and Bob Zuss-
man, all of whom helped hone my thinking in the early stages of this project.
My colleagues at Buffalo State College have been supportive from the
moment I arrived there. Gerhard Falk and Tom Weinberg encouraged me and
regularly expressed confidence in the book. Virginia Grabiner read excerpts
and provided me with helpful responses, and Cheryl Albers graciously provided
valuable feedback on a tricky chapter in the final hour. Finally, I am deeply
indebted to Allen Shelton for his close and keen readings of pieces of this work,
for inspiring me anew in each and every conversation, and for his significant
emotional and intellectual support as the book came into being.
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