BDSM, becoming and the flows of desire

AbstractBased on a five-year qualitative ethnographic study of Bondage and Discipline/Dominance and Submission/Sadism and Masochism (BDSM) in Sweden, this paper examines the process of becoming among BDSM practitioners. In-depth interviews were completed with 29 self-defined BDSM practitioners, and their accounts were analysed using thematic analysis. Focusing on the Deleuzian concept of becoming, BDSM is understood as a dynamic and collective phenomenon closely connected to fantasies, memories and longing, and enabled through flows of desire. Practising BDSM can be understood as a process of increasing expansion, creation and connection, in which desire is seen not as something we lack or need but rather as a process of striving and self-enhancement. Exploring the becoming process more fully can provide a better understanding as to why some people choose to practise BDSM.