Research Recap: What Role Does Porn Play in Learning about BDSM?

As anyone exploring BDSM has likely discovered, finding reliable educational resources can be a challenge. While experienced kinksters often emphasize the importance of classes and community learning, many newbies turn to pornography to explore and learn about kink. But how well does porn actually educate people about BDSM? A February 2025 study by Iris Ryn Olson and Bryce Westlake examines this question, revealing the gaps, benefits, and risks of using porn as a learning tool about BDSM. Here’s what you need to know about the study.

What Was the Study?

Researchers surveyed 615 self-identified BDSM practitioners globally to understand how pornography influences initial and ongoing BDSM education. Participants were found through BDSM groups on FetLife, Facebook, and Reddit, among other places. The study examines gender and generational differences, the impact of community engagement, and the potential benefits and risks of using BDSM porn as an educational tool. Participants were asked questions that covered three main areas:

1. Pornography Use:
   • Have they ever seen porn?
   • Have they seen BDSM porn within the past year?
   • What do they think about how BDSM is portrayed in porn?
   • Who or what introduced them to BDSM porn?
   • Why do they watch it?
   • What genres do they prefer?
2. How Porn Influenced Views of BDSM:
   • Did they use pornography to initially learn about BDSM?
   • How much did porn influence their early expectations of BDSM?
   • Did it shape their perceptions positively or negatively?
3. Ongoing Learning and Impact:
   • Do they currently use porn to learn about BDSM?
   • How much does it positively or negatively influence their expectations and practices now?

What Were the Findings? 

• Who Uses Porn for BDSM Education: Younger participants (Gen Z and Millennials) were more likely to use porn as an initial BDSM learning tool, while Baby Boomers were more likely to use it for ongoing education (perhaps due to differences in media literacy). Men were significantly more likely than women and gender-expansive participants to rely on porn for BDSM education, both initially and over time. People involved in local/public BDSM communities were less dependent on porn, while kinksters who only engaged in BDSM privately leaned on it more heavily—sometimes leading to unrealistic or harmful expectations.
• What People Learn from BDSM Porn: Many respondents (233) felt that BDSM porn is not educational, with some stating they learned nothing at all or that it provided inaccurate, unsafe, or misleading portrayals of BDSM. Some respondents (80) noted that BDSM porn taught them basic concepts such as different roles (dominant/submissive, top/bottom) and kinks. A fairly large number of respondents (147) credited BDSM porn with helping them recognize and normalize their desires, explore new interests, and discover specific kinks or activities they wanted to try. 
• How Porn Influences BDSM Expectations: Some participants felt that BDSM porn helped them explore their sexuality, provided ideas for new activities, or reinforced their interest in kink. ​​Others noted that porn creates unrealistic expectations, particularly for private-only practitioners. It sometimes lacks depictions of negotiation, consent, and aftercare, which leads to misunderstandings about real-life BDSM dynamics.

What Are the Study’s Shortcomings?

The study participants were predominantly White and Western (mostly from North America and Europe), which means the findings may not fully represent the experiences of kinksters from other racial, cultural, or geographic backgrounds. Additionally, the study recruited participants through online BDSM communities, potentially excluding people who aren’t engaged in those spaces or who practice BDSM privately. Also, because the study was a single-time survey, it couldn’t measure long-term changes in attitudes or behaviors related to BDSM learning through porn. Future studies should aim for greater demographic diversity and follow participants over time to see how their attitudes toward BDSM porn change.

What’s the Main Takeaway? 

The study highlights gaps in BDSM education, showing that while pornography can validate interests and introduce new concepts, it’s not a substitute for comprehensive, community-based learning. More accessible and accurate BDSM education—along with “porn literacy” in sex education—can help kinksters develop realistic expectations and a better understanding of safety and consent.

Our personal views align with the study’s key takeaway. BDSM porn can expose people to new kinks, but it’s not particularly helpful for learning how to do things. To take rope bondage as an example, you can find porn showing people tied up, but you’re unlikely to see the steps it took to get them there. For that, you need educational videos or classes that are designed to teach. Similarly, BDSM porn shows kinky actions, but the mental component of D/s, in particular, is much harder to convey in typical porn. And for us, the mental part is the most fun! In short, BDSM education is essential, but porn shouldn’t be used as a reliable teaching or learning tool.