Usenet, an online text-based forum where queer people virtually connected as early as 1983, paved the way for Reddit's success as an educational and community-building tool for the sexually stigmatized. These internet platforms provide non-judgmental spaces for people with particular kinks to share their experiences, ask for advice, and discuss how embracing them has benefited their sex lives. Reddit, and before that, the dialup chatroom communities of the 1980s and 90s, were born out of that stigmatization.
Others reported workplace discrimination related to their sexual fetishes. A 2008 survey from the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom found that BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism) kinksters who had children were losing child custody lawsuits because they were deemed unfit to parent due to their sexual inclinations.
Psychology's "Holy Grail," the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental and Physical Disorders, considered sexual fetishes a form of mental illness until 2013, and that legacy had serious consequences for people with kinks.Īs The Atlantic reporter Merissa Nathan Gerson reported in 2015, the DSM-5's inclusion of sexual fetishes led to discrimination against kinky people. Sexual fetishism was previously considered a mental illness, and tainted the mainstream's opinion of kinky people Others center around kinks like r/pet play, r/gang bang, r/Bondage, and r/furryfemdom for the furry community.įounded in 2005 as the "front page of the internet," Reddit's ability to honor anonymity and foster discussions on topics the mainstream often shies away from, has made it a go-to source for sexual exploration in the form of its kink subreddits, communities that are often stigmatized offline. R/EroticHypnosis is just one of the hundreds of kink-related forums on Reddit today.
On any given day, the forum is filled with suggestions for hypnosis videos and audio recordings, stories of previous erotic hypnosis experiences, and beginners' calls for advice on how to dip their toes into the fetish. Their metaphor-laden love letter to a niche kink was posted on the Reddit community r/EroticHypnosis.Ĭreated in 2011, the r/EroticHypnosis subreddit is home to more than 42,000 members and thousands of posts dedicated to the specific kink. That, according to one Reddit user, is what it feels like to experience erotic hypnosis, a fetish that involves being hypnotized, or hypnotizing someone else, in a sexual setting.
A key that opens even the darkest and most hidden locks." A warm tsunami that washes everything away in its wake. "Opening the doors to behind my deepest sense of self.