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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026

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I don't really buy the link between BDSM and promiscuity. I was the first for the partner that got me into BDSM. Even as a virgin she was into the idea of it and wanted to try it out with me. I also doubt the historical story you're telling about coerced sex being largely promiscuous. My understanding is that when a woman was historically kidnapped, they either ended up as a "war bride" or a slave to a specific man/household. I don't think going into a brothel was the median case. There's the whole story of the Rape of the Sabine Women, where they were kidnapped to be wives for Romans. There, I think it did matter to bond to their abductors (Stockholm syndrome). Bonding effectively was a gambit to raise their status from sex slave to wife.

I think there's a probable link between early sexual activity (esp. the coerced or semi-coerced sort) and later BDSM proclivities. It might impact the extremity to which they'll ultimately go.

But the flip side is, well, a lot of really normal women were happy to watch Fifty Shades.