Okay, I want to start out by saying that this is just my personal thoughts and that not everything I say is to be taken as the 100% accurate truth. I don't act like I know everything, and I make an effort to learn and educate myself whenever I have the opportunity.
But after spending some time running this blog, I do think some people have the misconception that masochism looks and works the same for every person. That it's only about physical pain, for example.
When in reality it's actually about the feelings and pleasure the masochist experience.
First off: Masochism is a broad term used in psychology and comes in different types.
In BDSM, it often refers to sexual/erotic masochism: generally speaking, sexual arousal from pain, physical, and/or mental.
Other types of masochism are: psychological, moral, and adaptive. The first two are nonsexual forms, while the last one can be debated depending on how you look at it.
If you're interested, I definitely recommend looking into masochism and the different types (you might have to read some Freud though, so have fun with that). But in this post, I'm only going to focus on sexual masochism.
No masochist is the same. There's no standard version that you can spot by how they dress, look, act or talk. Learning if someone defines themselves as a masochist can only be done through communication. For most people, this statement is pretty obvious. But unfortunately, it's not uncommon that we sort people under labels at first glance.
What is pain and what do I enjoy? Just as with appearances, no masochist is the same when it comes to what type of pain they like.
Physical pain: most common form is impact play, like someone using their hand or an object to inflict pain on a certain part of your body. Temperature play, biting, rough groping and holding, certain types of knife play, asphyxiation, "forced penetration", are a few other examples that falls under this category, in my opinion.
Mental pain: like degradation/humiliation, denial, feeling inferior to someone. In general, things that makes the person experience emotional pain in some sort of way. Wanting to feel ashamed, objectified, or belittled are a few examples.
Some masochist like all types of pain. Some maybe just like physical or mental. While others might enjoy a mix, but like one kind more than the other.
If I use myself as an example: I lean heavily towards mental pain, I like to feel embarrassed, ashamed, and inferior to my partner. Dacryphilia (like, getting turned on by crying) is also a big one for me and can be achieved both through physical and mental pain. And though I lean towards mental pain, it doesn't mean I don't enjoy being manhandled once in a while😌
If you reading this is someone who's trying to figure out if you're a masochist or not. Or maybe trying to figure out what kind of pain you are into. Don't stress it!! Self-discovery is a never-ending journey when it comes to masochism. There's a lot of trial and error in discovering what works best for you. And you can like something for a period of time and then not be into it at all. It's okay to change your mind!
A list of things that's good to keep in mind for both masochists and their partner:
I can't stress this enough, but open communication is so important. You need to know your own boundaries and set them in stone. Your partner needs to respect them and not push them without your explicit consent.
SAFE WORD SAFE WORD SAFE WORD! A must always if you are engaging in any type of BDSM or kink play. If you can't speak, using your hand to tap your partners body or holding an object that you can drop is a good way of communicating that you need to stop. And safe words need to be respected, no matter who says it!!
Trust. You need to be able to trust a person before putting yourself in a vulnerable situation. Because that's probably how you will feel during and/or after, vulnerable. I would never engage in any type of pain play the first time I'm sleeping with someone. Building up a mutual trust is essential, both for you and your partner.
Don't push pain play onto someone. Even though Tumblr seems to be crawling with sadist, it's not an accurate depiction. There's plenty of doms who hate pain play and find it mentally straining to hit or degrade someone. Once again, communication.
On that note, not every masochist wants to experience pain every single time they have sex. Everyone wants to feel cared for and loved once in a while.
After care is mandatory, always. Your partner should know what your needs are and how to make you feel comfortable, safe, and reassured. If you intend to break skin during impact play or knife play, your partner should know how to properly clean and dress the wounds. And remember, after care goes two ways. Your partner also have needs, and reassuring them that you liked what they did to you is a must, in my opinion. (*If you liked it, otherwise you need to communicate what you didn't like to them too)
Okay, this might sound a bit weird. But I highly recommend testing things out on yourself. See how hard you are comfortable hitting yourself with a paddle before letting someone else use it. Curious about temperature play? Buy some paraffin candles or take some ice cubes, so you know how it feels on your body. Set up your camera and film yourself saying degrading words, so you know what feels embarrassing, but also good. It's a good way to test your limits with someone you can trust 100%, yourself❤️
To finish this very long post, I want to highlight something:
There's nothing wrong with being a masochist. Believe me, I understand the confusing feelings of shame or thinking that there must be something wrong with you, just because you like pain during sex. The important thing is that you know what you enjoy. And if you're worried that you might be exposing yourself to pain during sex for the wrong reasons, talk to a psychologist. It helps so much, I'm speaking from personal experience.
Like I said in the beginning, these are just my personal thoughts about masochism, and I'm definitely not an expert who knows everything there is to know. There might even be a few errors in the text.
So feel free to correct and/or add as much as you want to this post so we can learn a little bit more together.