Thinking Kink: The Collision of BDSM, Feminism and Popular Culture

When a mildly kink-themed trilogy became popular in 2012, it resulted in media speculation that feminism was in reverse. As the Western media went BDSM-mad, writer Catherine Scott decided to address the growing anti-feminist conversation about kink. She found there was no writing that looked at the intersection of pop culture, BDSM and feminism; so she decided to create it herself. Taking on the different tropes that kink is often reduced to and how these are represented in books, TV shows, movies and the music industry, Scott explores the debates around BDSM and the issues raised for feminists. Is the female dominant truly powerful, or is she just another objectified body? Does lesbian BDSM avoid the problematic nature of heterosexual kink, or is it actually more subject to the male gaze? And what is it about kink that means pop culture producers, ranging from Anne Rice to the makers of Scrubs, keep using it to attract audiences? Examining these and many more debates that pop culture depictions of BDSM raise for the feminist viewer, Scott interweaves her own experiences and research in the BDSM scene with the way kink is portrayed in the media.