thank you Rhabbi, i did find this article very interesting with many realities in it. I think that the writer was indeed bitter ...words such as invading lead me to believe this but i am sure that many people in the lifestyle where taken aback by the explosion in numbers and he does have included in these, genuinely interested people. I would imagine it would have been frustrating to see what they held so dear, changing and morphing into something they were not accustomed.

I think what exists today are two somewhat connected, yet stand alone societies. I have not experienced bdsm in real life...some people look down at me for that; others say it is just fine. I believe it has been a wonderful aspect of myself to learn. I do not pretend to know what it is like in real life.

I do not accept the theory, however, that online is not possible and less of a "lifestyle" choice as i have read in other forums. (i do find the library to have far fewer judgments like that and instead promotes people to learn) It takes great trust and commitment to make an online D/s relationship work.

One of the most wonderful things is that people are free to choose their level of participation under the umbrella of BDSM. The tricky part is finding someone who shares our views.