Playing on the Edge: Sadomasochism, Risk, and Intimacy

Cover

Playing on the Edge Sadomasochism, Risk, and Intimacy Staci Newmahr SOCIOLOGY, SEXUALITY Playing on the Edge Playing on the Edge Sadomasochism, Risk, and Intimacy Staci Newmahr Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu© 2011 by Staci Newmahr All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. o ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Newmahr, Staci. Playing on the edge : sadomasochism, risk, and intimacy / Staci Newmahr. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35597-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22285-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sadomasochism. 2. Sexual dominance and submission. 3. Sadomasochists—Case studies. I. Title. HQ79.N49 2011 306.77’5—dc22 2010035371 1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12 11 Portions of earlier versions of this work have appeared in Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 37 (2008), Symbolic Interaction 33 (3) (2010), and Qualitative Sociology 33 (3), (2010). All works were written by Staci Newmahr and reprinted with permission of Sage Publications, University of California Press, and Springer, respectively. For my mother, Irene, who taught me to be comfortable with risk, for Riordan, whom I hope to teach the same, and for Paul, for whom there simply are no words great enough. ...