This page is updated regularly, so be sure to check back often! Everything listed here is something we’ve read, vetted, and/or used. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases made via some of the links below (at no additional cost to you). We may also make money off some of the other links here (at no additional cost to you).
- Dominatrix: Gender, Eroticism, and Control in the Dungeon: Sociologist Danielle Lindemann based this book on interviews with more than 50 pro dommes in NYC and San Francisco. The result is a nuanced portrait of how this form of erotic labor does and doesn’t reflect dynamics in the rest of life.
- Playing on the Edge: Sadomasochism, Risk, and Intimacy: In this book, ethnographer Staci Newmahr draws on her extensive firsthand observations of and participation in a BDSM community in NYC in the early 2000s to explore the nuances of pain, eroticism, gender dynamics, edge play, intimacy, and other aspects of BDSM.
- Please Scream Quietly: A Story of Kink: This fascinating book by sociologist and kinkster Julie Fennell digs into the norms and nuances of the public BDSM scene, including what kinds of people are attracted to the scene, the values that the scene teaches and promotes, and how the scene differs from the rest of society.
- Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures: This collection features research studies and papers by scholars in the fields of sexology, psychology, and sexual minority advocacy. It “discusses the results of research into practitioners’ behaviors and perspectives, the prevalence of SM behaviors in today’s culture, and stresses the need for greater tolerance and understanding.”
- Safe, Sane and Consensual: Contemporary Perspectives on Sadomasochism: This anthology of academic works about BDSM includes essays on the history of BDSM, legality, theory, research, and more with an emphasis on BDSM in the UK.
- Science of BDSM: Publications, presentations, and more from a team of academics and community members who seek to “understand the nature, dynamics, motivations, and effects of BDSM activities and relationships.”
- Sex and Psychology: Articles on sex, love, and relationships by social psychologist Justin Lehmiller, author of Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life.
- “What a Fake ‘Female Orgasm’ Statistic Says About Gender Bias”: Detailed analysis and debunking of an oft-cited “statistic” claiming that it takes women 20 minutes to achieve orgasm on average.
Studies
- Are Role and Gender Related to Sexual Function and Satisfaction in Men and Women Practicing BDSM? (2019): See our analysis of this study here.
- Associations between Sexually Submissive and Dominant Behaviors and Sexual Function in Men and Women (2023): See our analysis of this study here.
- BDSM: Does It Hurt or Help Sexual Satisfaction, Relationship Satisfaction, and Relationship Closeness? (2021): See our analysis of this study here.
- BDSM in North America, Europe, and Oceania: A Large-Scale International Survey Gauging BDSM Interests and Activities (2023)
- BDSM Practitioners’ Understandings of Their Initial Attraction to BDSM Sexuality: Essentialist and Constructionist Narratives (2012)
- BDSM Proclivity Among College Students (2022): See our analysis of this study here.
- Between Pleasure and Pain: A Pilot Study on the Biological Mechanisms Associated With BDSM Interactions in Dominants and Submissives (2020)
- Challenge at the Intersection of Race and Kink: Racial Discrimination, Fetishization, and Inclusivity Within the BDSM Community (2021)
- Directness of Communication Mediates Sexual Satisfaction: What We Can Learn from a Positive View of BDSM Practice (2024): See our analysis of this study here.
- Fifty Shades of Leather and Misogyny: An Investigation of Anti-Woman Perspectives among Leathermen (2020): See our analysis of this study here.
- An International Survey of BDSM Practitioner Demographics: The Evolution of Purpose for, Participation in, and Engagement with, Kink Activities (2023)
- It’s Complicated: Sex and the BDSM Subculture (2020): See our analysis of this study here.
- The Killing of Women in “Sex Games Gone Wrong”: An Analysis of Femicides in Great Britain 2000–2018 (2020): See our analysis of this study here.
- Is BDSM a Sexual Orientation or Serious Leisure? (2019): See our analysis of this study here.
- The Nature of Women’s Rape Fantasies: An Analysis of Prevalence, Frequency, and Contents (2009)
- Narratives of the Origins of Kinky Sexual Desire Held by Users of a Kink-Oriented Social Networking Website (2022)
- Participating in a Culture of Consent May Be Associated With Lower Rape-Supportive Beliefs (2016)
- Pathways and Patterns of Entrance into BDSM (2022)
- Playing with the Politics of Perversion: Policing BDSM, Pornography, and Black Female Sexuality (2016)
- Power, Desire, and Pleasure in Sexual Fantasies (2004)
- The Prevalence of BDSM in Finland and the Association between BDSM Interest and Personality Traits (2022)
- The Psychology of Kink: a Survey Study into the Relationships of Trauma and Attachment Style with BDSM Interests (2020)
- The Role of Consent in the Context of BDSM (2019)
- Social Dominance and Forceful Submission Fantasies: Feminine Pathology or Power? (2009)
- What Exactly Is an Unusual Sexual Fantasy? (2014)
- Women’s Erotic Rape Fantasies: An Evaluation of Theory and Research (2008)
- Women’s Rape Fantasies: An Empirical Evaluation of the Major Explanations (2012)