Does the content of my stories disturb people in the BDSM scene?

[littlepet]

I write stories involving forced slavery and things often considered abusive. I include a disclaimer that alerts people to the fact that I do NOT condone actual involuntary slavery situations or the ACTUAL abuse of any person.

At the same time though, I've actually had people from the Scene get very upset with me because my erotic fiction does not include "safewords" and hasn't been deemed "safe, sane, and consensual." Supposedly I'm approving of and endorsing horrific slavery, rape and abuse situations because I don't use safewords in my fiction.

That's because I'm trying to write something slightly more psychologically deep than someone else thinks is "appropriate" for me to write. Whether or not I succeed, I will not censor. (This is not to say I automatically think all situations in which safewords are used are in any way psychologically "shallow" only that that's not what I'm writing about, and it's not what I'm trying to say through my fiction.)

And so the short answer to your question is...no I'm not offended, carry on. But even if I were offended I am not the personal arbitor of what fiction should and should not be read by others. I do not believe in nanny states or nanny groups. And if someone says you are wrong or evil, just politely inform them that they may go read something else.

[Razor7826]

I write stories involving forced slavery and things often considered abusive. I include a disclaimer that alerts people to the fact that I do NOT condone actual involuntary slavery situations or the ACTUAL abuse of any person.

At the same time though, I've actually had people from the Scene get very upset with me because my erotic fiction does not include "safewords" and hasn't been deemed "safe, sane, and consensual." Supposedly I'm approving of and endorsing horrific slavery, rape and abuse situations because I don't use safewords in my fiction.

That's because I'm trying to write something slightly more psychologically deep than someone else thinks is "appropriate" for me to write. Whether or not I succeed, I will not censor. (This is not to say I automatically think all situations in which safewords are used are in any way psychologically "shallow" only that that's not what I'm writing about, and it's not what I'm trying to say through my fiction.)

And so the short answer to your question is...no I'm not offended, carry on. But even if I were offended I am not the personal arbitor of what fiction should and should not be read by others. I do not believe in nanny states or nanny groups. And if someone says you are wrong or evil, just politely inform them that they may go read something else.

How important do you (and others) feel it is to include a disclaimer? BDSM Library tends to be pretty rough, and appropriate story codes seem to keep negative comments away. Literotica, on the other hand... I see violent respones to NC stories constantly. Should I preface every single story that I have with 'Author does not condone the contents' warnings? Is there any sort of legal liability that warrants the disclaimer?

[littlepet]

Hey Razor,

Hmmm, on the disclaimer issue I do it mainly not to alienate readers and to avoid subjecting people to the kind of content that would deeply upset them. People always have a right to opt out of this sort of thing and you while you can stop reading, you can't really "unread" what you've already read.

Since there are so many people who have had genuine rape experiences, abuse experiences, and real personal trauma, I believe personally that it would be wrong for me to risk subjecting such a person to a possible reliving of said bad experiences through my fiction if it was not their choice to do so. (i.e. someone may have HAD a bad experience and still choose to read after the disclaimer and it may or may not be therapeutic for them to do so, but it's their choice to make, not mine.)

However, that is MY morality. I cannot dictate to others what they should or shouldn't do with regards to disclaimers. As for legal liability, I'm not sure, I think in most public fiction there is a disclaimer to the effect of: "all events, places, situations, people are fictitious...blah blah blah"

There will always be the chance that some psycho later is gonna come along and say: "Well I got this idea to be an evil serial rapist from this story I read." So it can serve as a "cover ya ass" type deal, though I hardly think anyone can really hold someone responsible for fiction inciting criminals. If that were true, movies like Saw and Hostel could not legally exist.