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 Michael Medved

Too Many Shades of Breached Privacy

March 7, 2013 @ 4:04 pm

The Style Section of the New York Times recently celebrated a new sexual minority emerging from the shadows and clamoring for public recognition and respect: the so-called "BDSM Community." Those less trendy than typical Times readers, might be surprised to learn that BDSM stands for "Bondage, Domination, and Sado-Masochism."

Inspired by the international popularity of the pornographic bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey, fans of such forms of self-expression now proudly patronize fashionable clubs in major cities and organized a student group officially endorsed by Harvard University. The problem with such developments is their sick disregard for privacy. Consenting adults who pursue unconventional forms of gratification gain nothing by advertising their very private preferences in "pride parades" or lurid media accounts.

It's healthier for both individuals and for society at large to keep some intimate details...well, intimate.

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Comments (19)


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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    "The problem with such developments is their sick disregard for privacy. "
    March 7, 2013 3:56 pm
    Wow. Medved - you sure are on a roll this week... "The problem with such developments is their sick disregard for privacy." Gotta stick the knife in as inflamatorily as possible eh? Guess you don't understand subtleness or how to make a statement that isn't merely trolling for reactions.... Guess what dude? People said the same useless crap about mixed race marriage, gays in public, gay rights and gay marriage... Guess that now that it's completely against the rules to spew that kind of venom against those things, it's time to find the new right wing rallying point. Which right wing talking points memo did you get this topic from?
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  • Pair o'dimes wrote...
    Wow
    March 7, 2013 5:50 pm
    At last I can agree with Medved. This is one minority I hope doesn't try to get constitutional protection.
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  • William Armstrong wrote...
    Bigots need someone to persecute.
    March 8, 2013 8:22 am
    They lost the battle against women, blacks, pot smokers and gays. Leave it to these 'loving', 'god-fearing' cretins to find someone else to persecute.

    And, even though the topic is almost too trivial to cite, of course Medved 'read' that article over and over again, just to be sure he didn't miss anything. The biggest protesters always have the biggest closets.

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Hey I don't like loud Mouths
    March 8, 2013 9:15 am
    and people who throw trash around. However I have come to understand thats the world we live in. If you don't like the Gay Parades Don't go.A element of the Right enjoys showing outrageous photos of the small minority of Gay folks who push the envelope on taste. Why is that?
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  • The Real Me wrote...
    Where's The Line and Who Draws It?
    March 8, 2013 12:18 pm
    So, now it's OK for gays to be married and have pride marches, etc. No problem there. Next up? BDSM. Gotta accept that, too, or you are labeled as bigoted, right wing lunatic, whatever. Next up - people who think it's OK to have sex with animals. I mean, OK, why should we judge them? How about folks who demand their right to sex with children? Who among us has the right to deny anybody anything they want to do in their pursuit of happiness? Just a few years ago, it was unthinkable that gays would could marry and that pot would be legal. Now both are acceptable and if you don't agree you are labeled. Where does it stop? Who decides where the line is? Our society is cooked, and America will go the same way as the failed states in Europe and ultimately to dust as the Romans. We may not live to see it, but our generation has put the gun to our collective heads, and we have only to pull the trigger now.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Real Me
    March 8, 2013 12:43 pm
    But isn't that what Freedom is all about?
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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    @The real me...
    March 8, 2013 1:08 pm
    Let's stop the straw man arguements when it comes to NON consensual activities. Sex with animals and children is a NON consensual activity (neither can give legal consent). Use the other arguements - no problem. However, no one is going to legalize non-consensual sexual activities.
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    "...no one is going to legalize non-consensual sexual activities."
    March 10, 2013 9:52 pm
    Things that were once thought unimaginable a generation ago are now reality.
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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    @SeattleNative
    March 11, 2013 4:53 pm
    What's funny is that these 'things' have existed for many, many years. There's very little 'new' in the world of sex and it's "variations" - it's just new to you or me. Bondage? Been done for centuries. S&M? Same. Marquis deSade. Remember that one practiser of the art? Centuries ago. So on and so forth. The only 'new' thing here is that gay is socially acceptable to more and more people. There's always been small groups trying to gain acceptance of these things that have set Medved off...
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  • The Real Me wrote...
    No Strawman
    March 8, 2013 1:31 pm
    Sorry for the strawman rhetoric, those examples were only meant for shock value - I think you get the point I was trying to make (hopefully). If there is no moral standard, which this country has worked hard to abandon over the past 30-40 years, then there becomes no measure of what is consensual or non-consensual (i.e., at what point do we degrade as a society to change tbose boundaries?). What seemed like strawman or nonsensical arguments 50 years ago are now REALITY - and the same will hold true a generation from now if we continue down this path to oblivion. We have abandoned our moral compass and eventually everything will be acceptable. People struggle with "death panels" but it doesn't take a prophet to see that in short order they will be standard operating procedure because health care will be too expensive and unobtainable - so those who are too expensive to save will not be treated.
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  • awbitf wrote...
    In three tiny paragraphs,
    March 9, 2013 10:10 am
    you managed to take a dump on both personal freedom and the free market. Why chastise the NY Times for make a few extra bucks? Just like you- they're in the business of selling advertisement. If people consume the content they are producing, they're successful.
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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    @awbitf
    March 11, 2013 4:56 pm
    "In three tiny paragraphs,you managed to take a dump on both personal freedom and the free market." Standard right winger activity because it doesn't meet the right wing 'standard of behavior', it's free game to take away personal freedoms and block the free market. The don't care that this is in direct conflict with thier supposed 'standards and beliefs' of personal freedom or free market capitalism. If it ain't right wing - it's wrong.
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Messup number one and Poser.
    March 15, 2013 8:09 am
    Wow! You to Left wing Parrots are really charged up.

    The way you defend this are both of you light in the loafers? Posting from the same couch in mommies basement and wearing underwear I hope!~

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  • gaymarriedchristianfromhollywood wrote...
    Ugh, aaaagh, cough, cough
    March 18, 2013 9:42 pm
    Jebus H. Rist Medved. What on God's green Earth are you talking about with this post? I've read it like twenty times. Are you trying to be Confuscious? I mean, you're talking about BDSM but you are referencing "pride parades" and unconvential forms of gratification. Subtle much? What is an unconvential form of gratification? Anything outside of the missionary position? Republicans on the DL? I don't get the connection between BDSM community and gay people. I mean, to my knowledge the BDSM community is not being denied their rights...
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