Davey Davis
06-01-2017
hough it remains nominally a taboo (and in the eyes of the BDSM community a subversive, liberatory act), for my purposes, masochism, like sleeping enough and getting my caffeine and paying my bills on time, is a coping mechanism. For the person with the urge to escape selfhood every once in awhile, it’s one of the most direct routes to objectification; both self-care and stress release, it’s a mental health practice that’s gotten me through many years’ worth of work weeks. But since selfhood has a way of redefining itself, so too must the meanings of self-care, pain, and pleasure continue to change.