I think Tufty put it very nicely when he said: "Does it really matter to anybody else what consenting adults get up to? They're consenting, they're old enough to know what they're doing and, more importantly, they're not harming anybody else. It's a shame that many folks out there in 'Vanilla Land' think that BDSM is just about being tied up and flogged."

As for myself:
The friends I am really close to were already with me before I discovered my likings. So for them, I as a person am important, not what I do in bed. They don´t ask me for many personal details - but if they want to know more about the lifestyle, they come to me with their questions *lol*

My mother first freaked out when I told her about my likings (in a general way; mainly implying I am into pain). Her main issue was "what did I do wrong with you that you developed such a taste". It took me ages to assure her she did nothing "wrong", and that from my point of view it has to do nothing at all with her.
When I first got together with my husband, she also freaked, for 2 reasons: 1. She did not like the fact that somebody hurts me / was not sure in which way this differs from genuine abuse.
2. She was very scared he would do permanent damage to me, as she says I do have more than enough scars already (I have to admit she does have a point there).
Well, we have been together for 9 years now, and now she is comfortable with it (knowing that I am not really the sort of person who would put up with abuse for long; and seeing that he did not maim me so far *rotfl*).

As for work: It is known that I am into the lifestyle, but as I also make very clear I am not interested in any man except my husband, it is not really a big thing. While I refuse to go into much detail about myself, I did already point some colleagues to good reference sites on the Internet when they asked me questions. *laughs*

Moreover, it might have helped that the lifestyle has been pulled through all Media here, so it became kind of trendy *yuck*. Ahem. :-)

Basically, I keep my nose out of other people´s bedroom, and expect the same in return.
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... So, and now I read the whole thread thoroughly, and must admit that the message I was trying to get across was already perfectly stated by Tom Straye and alpha...