University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM UVM Honors College Senior Theses Undergraduate Theses 2017 Histories of Consent: Consent Culture and Community in Feminism and BDSM Amanda Meltsner University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses Recommended Citation Meltsner, Amanda, "Histories of Consent: Consent Culture and Community in Feminism and BDSM" (2017). UVM Honors College Senior Theses. 203. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/203 This Honors College Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in UVM Honors College Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Histories of Consent: Consent Culture and Community in Feminism and BDSM Amanda Meltsner University of Vermont Honors College 5/1/2017 1 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Methodology 4 Definitions and Descriptions 4 A Brief and Incomplete History of BDSM, With Assorted Add Ons 13 Beginnings 13 Leather: Bars, Clubs, and the Scene 15 Writings and Community 19 The Internet and Kink Community 26 Third Wave Feminism 32 Consent: A History, a Discourse 38 Kink and Consent 40 Origins 42 Academia 50 Feminist Understandings of Consent 53 Comparisons 60 Fifty Shades of Grey: Debates, Connections, and Progress 63 Critiques and Critics 64 Conclusion 78 Acknowledgements 80 References 81 2 Introduction This work aims to explore the conversations and disagreements between pro-kink and anti-kink feminists in the world of feminist writing from the early days of BDSM communities through the publication of Fifty Shades of Grey.