MINT RABBIT - BDSM for Beginners: For the Family Bedroom

It all started with whips. Whips have been a part of the world's history for eons and used throughout cultures and many religions as part of punishment, worship, and pleasure.

During earlier Roman times, women would whip each other when worshipping the god of fertility, agriculture, and wine, Bacchus.

The young men of Sparta would compete at the shrine of Artemis Orthia. She was the goddess of childbirth, fertility, hunting, and nature. The men would be whipped until one became the victor, never tiring and enduring the most lashings for the longest time, he was held in the highest regard.

In the 18th century, whipping was also one of the sexual experiences offered in brothels throughout England.

The Kama Sutra, an ancient Indian text on sexuality, goes on to explain that slapping is a passionate way to increase sexual desire, want, or yearning. The text even explains that there are special locations to slap a person, a total of six, and four methods in which to do so. The texts also elaborate on biting, teasing with the tongue, teeth, and lips, which are also ways to excite and tempt.

In centuries passed, common literature was focused on men going beyond their means for the love of their life, often a woman who is married to someone of a higher class than themselves. This pain and need inspired many books, and it is suggested that these passions and denials led to such erotic behavior.

The S in BDSM is for sadism, meaning deriving sexual pleasure from pain. This term was coined after a French nobleman, Marquis de Sade, whose books, most of which described intrusive sexual acts. Novels such as Fanny Hill by John Cleland and Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch all contain and highlight erotic behavior deemed taboo for its time.

In the last 100 years, eroticism and kink have become more acceptable. Sex toys and costumes began to appear in the mid-1920s as ways to enhance sexual pleasure in the bedroom. By the 50s, pin-ups were common, and the rise of leather fashion and more blatant homosexuality only fuelled the interest in sex and how to increase pleasure.

Thanks to the internet, all of the above culminated and has given rise to BDSM culture and the interest in discovering more ways to add variety to the bedroom. With many online platforms, such as chat rooms, forums, online stores, and social media, the ability to explore and share are limitless.