- – Where kink and trauma connect
Source: Elle.in.
INDIA – From face masks and scented candles to solo date nights, gym memberships, long walks and massages, the self-care movement comes with something for every occasion. Whether it’s the highs of a long-awaited promotion or the lows of a failed relationship, self-care is an admirable choice to make for yourself. An absolute essential, if online mental health movements are anything to go by. But what if we lived in a world where self-care looked more like blindfolds, leather cuffs, mouth gags, ten minutes of spanking or half an hour of bondage? The words kink and self-care may not typically be found together in mainstream dialogues around BDSM or even vanilla sex, but the word ‘trauma’ often pops up.
![](https://bdsm-news.de-kooi-bdsm.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-09-26-Trauma-BDSM.jpg)
Perhaps that is exactly why the idea of categorising BDSM as a form of self-care feels increasingly important. You may have heard of the stereotype– only the traumatised choose BDSM. Vanilla sex is supposed to be for well-adjusted people in happy relationships while the assumption remains that only the dissatisfied and damaged would choose rougher forms of sex.
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