:: Edgeliving: Master Jim and slave marsha ::

:: Thursday, June 19, 2003 ::

Playing with toys or working with equipment

“What S/M men now call play we called work. And when I am inclined to criticize the current style of S/M I have made the observation that children play and men work. Perhaps I am harsh in my assessment, but aren’t Masters supposed to be harsh?”

From “One Among Many: The Seduction and Training of a Leatherman” by Thom Magister, published in Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics and Practice, Mark Thompson, Editor
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I read the short story that includes the above quote a number of years ago and when I did, the words literally jumped off of the page at me. SM as work…not SM as play. I had felt for a long time before reading that story that I was not playing when I engaged in SM, that what I was doing was far more serious and dangerous than play. The story brought things together for me. Now, I refer to all my SM activity as “work” and the SM implements I use as my “equipment” rather than my “toys” since it seems incongruous to me to talk about working with toys.

So, I consider SM work. Does that then mean that my SM takes on the painful drudgery that we often associate with work? Yes -- and no. Is it painful? Almost always. Is it drudgery? Never. I do not see my SM as an arduous or dreaded activity. Instead, it is work that I do because I enjoy it.

Even more importantly, my SM work is a means to a greater end. Just as an artist uses brushes, paint, and a canvas to create, I use SM work to explore my slave, or another I might be working with. SM is a means of discovery and through its use I hope to probe, push, open, and unleash what lies inside a person. What is inside may be laughter, tears, anger, silence, or a nearly endless array of other emotions. When I engage in SM work I am not seeking a particular response; I only ask that I be given honest reactions and emotions and the opportunity to use those emotions as a means of discovery.

Since I began sharing my view of SM as work, I am often asked: Don’t you have any FUN doing SM? My answer to that is for the most part, no -- because I am not looking for simple fun in my SM. Rather, I find the practice of SM to be difficult, dangerous, fulfilling, joyful and rewarding. For me, it goes much deeper than fun. It is an essential part of my Master and slave journey.

In leather,
Master Jim

:: 9:26 PM [+] ::
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