Ugh, this really bothers me. Has there been a psychologically insane person who was into S&M? Probably. But this does not by any means mean that all people who are into "alternative" sexual practices are insane.

As a medical term, sadism (sadistic personality disorder) implies that you want to beat, murder and kill.

However, I believe that sexual sadism is different and (for most healthy people) has boundaries.

I have to agree with Eden C. Everyone has boundaries.

This angers me on so many levels...

Wow! I can't believe this person is a professor.
I certainly hope you don't have many more classes with him!

These situations aggravate me. It's hard enough thinking of how to tell anyone in my family I'm in a long distance relationship, let alone it's anything involving bdsm. There's definitely a HUGE difference between sexual and non-sexual sadism. There are so many people just don't understand, though... And they're not mature enough to just leave others' preferences/beliefs alone.

The brain is complicated, ANY professor should know that. There are so many subtleties that make huge differences in the long run. Saying sadism is the same whether it's sexual or not is completely disrespectful to the study of psychology.

Sexual sadism as a psychiatric term isn't the same as S&M - it's a classification for offenders and killers. Your teacher seems to not understand this, or doesn't have the sense not to equate them. Teachers who say nonsense like that irritate me because I know they're spreading it around and so many students believe everything a teacher claims, instead of thinking for themselves.

Ugh, even though it's in the DSM again, (the diagnostic book used in psychology and psychiatry), the diagnosis is given when, for sadism, the person has acted on these urges with a nonconsenting person, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.

I know that some killers/offenders don't appear to be in distress, but having to hide everything from the cops, etc, would meet the criteria, along with the noncensual nature.

Those in consensual BDSM relationships aren't mentally ill. Idiot! Someone teaching lit doesn't need to be talking about about mental illness.

Somebody who's into pain might have some more emotional issues than somebody who's not sadistic. Maybe somebody who's emotionally imbalanced would be more likely to assault another person, but if that's true, that doesn't put the S&M crowd at a higher likelihood than any other emotionally imbalanced person either. (Nothing based on studies, so it's just guesswork)

People kill people because they're crazy, not a sadist!

If a professor can't understand a difference between someone who gets pleasure out of dominating a consenting partner and someone who rapes an innocent person, then I worry about the institution that hired him or her.

oh, academia..

I must be mentally ill, then!

I would agree that both sadism and masochism do classify as mental disorders, though they themselves are not "dangerous" or even serious in most cases. Like almost all disorders (damn near everyone has at least one "mild" disorder), there are varying degrees and as has been previously mentioned, there are definitely cases where Sadism has been taken beyond the bounds of consensual play. Even the Marquis de Sade, the man from whom "Sadism" is named is a prime example of a person who enjoyed operating in those extremes. I think where Sadism becomes a "problem" is when the individual becomes incapable of experiencing orgasm without those conditions, or when it is coupled with sociopathy and impulse control issues.

Again, this really doesn't pertain to the level at which most, even the more devout BDSMers play and the likelihood of someone from the BDSM community pushing into those boundaries is very minuscule.

I think S&M is on a spectrum. yes there are prob some people into that who are mentally ill, but that is true of every sexual proclivity..so seems silly to make a broad statement like that.

i think everyone likes their own thing. as long as everyone is a consulting party and no one gets incredibly injured, it's ok.

So, does that mean that if your the submissive that you want someone to kill you? How ridiculous!

The argument that sexual sadists are insane psycho killers can also be put onto sexual masochists: they want to be abused and victimized, murdered. It's a load of BS. Just because you like to spank (or be spanked) by your lover in bed does not mean you are a serial killer, or desire any non-consensual hurt on others/yourself.

I can understand why SM is so misunderstood. The media constantly sensationalizes it and (like any subculture or anything not viewed as "socially normal") twists it to its own ends... ratings. Sure, Sadism and Masochism were in previous versions of the DSM, but then... so was homosexuality. As the medical community's views changed about things, the DSM has been modified. It is very important to note that sexual sadism/sexual masochism are only considered mental disorders if the person afflicted has impaired occupational functioning (work, family roles, basic life skills), and/or involve non-consenting partners (or self destructive behaviour).

Your teacher making such broad generalizations speaks to his ignorance and lack of education on the subject, or perhaps he simply cannot fathom why or how anyone could partake of sexual interests that are portrayed so violently in a willing, non-crazy way. It is easy for someone that hasn't educated themselves about it to read such things into terms like "Master" "slave" "Sadist" and "masochist". They can be very "loaded" words.

I think S&M is greatly misunderstood. I'm not a violent man outside of the bedroom. Though, that said, for him saying that I'd tan his arse - and enjoy it, too!