Behavior: Bondage Unbound

Growing numbers of Americans are experimenting with sadomasochistic sex. But is it always safe and sane?

It turns out that you call it "S and M" only if you don't do it or if you experiment only occasionally with those handcuffs you keep hidden at the back of the nightstand. If, on the other hand, you are seriously involved in the sadomasochistic subculture--if, say, you have attended one or more of the nation's 90 annual sadomasochistic events ("Beat Me in St. Louis," for instance) and own not only handcuffs but also a spanking bench, a flogger, some paraffin wax, an unbreakable Pyrex dildo and various other unmentionables--you call it, simply, SM.

The linguistic distinction between S&M; and...

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