Essay #1 - SSC v. RACK

September 21, 2008

Essay #1 - SSC v. RACK

As i mentioned recently, Sir has set me 3 research questions as the final part of my 'BDSM knowledge and skills' training, and as i've got some time this afternoon i thought i'd do the first one now: ~ what is the difference between SSC and RACK, do they represent different versions of the lifestyle, and does one imply taking more risks than the other? SSC stands for 'Safe Sane and Consensual' whereas RACK stands for 'Risk Aware Consensual Kink'. So they both have the 'consensual' part in common, which is important because without that it becomes abuse or assault, but where they differ is in 'safe and sane' v. 'risk aware kink', so these are the areas i need to focus on. SSC has been around since the 1980s and is more widely known within the BDSM community, but RACK is a more recent concept suggested by someone who had lost respect for the SSC mantra, and not everyone in BDSM has heard of it yet. People who prefer the RACK version say that SSC is too ambiguous, cannot be universally defined, and is a less-honest representation of WIITWD. Most of the articles i read said that it was mainly adopted as a publicity gimmic to make BDSM seem more respectable to vanilla society or the government, in the hope of being accepted and getting laws changed. These people say that it is impossible to properly define 'safe' because what one person thinks is safe another might think is very unsafe, and nothing in BDSM is safe anyway - even standing on a train platform isn't completely safe, so how can some of the activities we take part in be considered so? my view on this is that the 'safe' label can be applied on an individual basis - i take it to mean that the Dom and the sub have enough knowledge of the activity they are to engage in to feel it is safe for them (or as safe as it can be made), because they have taken all the necessary precautions. It's like a mountain-climber wouldn't say that his sport is 'safe' but he can still take part in it in a 'safe' manner by following the rules and guidance, taking precautions, using the correct equipment, practicing and training, etc, etc. So to me that's what the 'safe' part means. There is a similar problem with the word 'sane' in SSC because how does someone prove they are sane, and what someone might think of as a sane action another might see as being insane. Again this can be applied on a more individual basis, to mean that the participants believe that what they are doing is 'sane' and that both of them are in their right minds (i.e. not drunk or stoned or clinically insane). Proponents of RACK say that their mantra is better because it acknowledges that BDSM activities aren't safe or necessarily sane, but that both players are aware of and agree to the risks instead - it means that BDSM can be made safer by identifying and minimising risks. To me, this is another way of saying what i did earlier (the mountain-climber part), so i see 'safe and sane' as meaning the same thing as 'risk-aware', just that perhaps RACK is more for the benefit of the BDSMers themselves who don't want to think of what they do as being 'safe' because they like the danger and thrill of it, whereas SSC is more for the vanilla public to show them that what we do is pretty safe really because of all the precautions we take. So i don't think they necessarily represent different versions of the lifestyle, just different preferences on how to view WIITWD, but fundamentally they lead to the same thing - assessment of the risks, agreement to take part by all involved, and the necessary precautions being taken. To answer the last part of the question i analysed the types of activities being mentioned by proponents of both mantras, and it does seem that the RACK people take part in more risky things (or at least mention them) more often than the SSC people - things like temporary piercing, cutting, trampling, needle play, fire play, knife play and brandings were listed, with one person even saying she didn't see any of those activities as 'risky'! But i would need to carry out further research to be sure of this point, because i bet that a lot of SSC folk take part in similar activities. Again i think it comes back to the RACK people wanting to be seen as 'out there' so they emphasise those activities more than the SSC people who want to be seen as 'minimising the risks'. One last point to make - some people don't like either mantra, because they feel that they're both just a way of making people conform, and a way of imposing rules and judgements of BDSMers. But to me this is a dangerous view to hold, because if you don't want to make activities as safe, sane, risk-aware and consensual as possible then it's likely someone will get hurt. Unless of course, these people are just doing it for the image of being a 'maverick' and in actual fact they do play in consensual ways which minimises risk, which is what i expect is the case. So bottom line is, most BDSMers prolly play in as safe a way as possible, and certainly in a consensual way (whether that consent was given once only, or for every separate occasion), no matter whether they subscribe to SSC, RACK or neither. Articles used: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 )