As far as psychiatry is concerned, the definitions of perversion remain basically the same until the last decades of the 20th century. In the historical review, he makes of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), when analyzing its various editions highlights that homosexuality was only definitively not considered a pathology in 1987, in the revision of the DSM III. In its last edition published in 2013, DSM 5 maintains two sections that deal with sexual disorders (Sexual Dysfunctions and Gender Dysphoria, which tries to account for the transsexual experience). The document also considers it as a Paraphilic Disorder1 pathologized sexual practices such as Voyeuristic Disorder, Exhibitionist, Frotteurist, Sexual Masochism, Sexual Sadism, Pedophile, Fetishist, Transvestic, and those Unspecified (APA, 2013).
For, the most significant point of the transformations that the DSM underwent throughout its editions was that the psychiatric classification joined the new sexology, considering paraphilias as peripheral (equivalent to the perversions that previously represented the totality of sexual disorders). This fact, in the mold of homosexuality, East London Dominatrix “makes it possible for people identified by the ‘different’ characteristics of their sexual ‘behavior/nature’ to claim political rights and share values such as ‘sexual health’ established by modern sexology”
After the construction of the theoretical framework that supports the subsequent analytical discussions, in “The internet as a field of research”, the author dedicates himself to defending the use of the internet as a place for scientific investigation. Although BDSM, through the voice of its practitioners, defines itself as a lifestyle and sexual practice, it is also, as seen above, classified as a pathology. In this sense, it seems pertinent and justified to use a “virtual field” for the analysis, given that these identities still remain outside current discussions on sexuality. Then considers the internet as a research field for people whose sexual or gender identity escapes the norm,
While mapping the internet as a field of research, the author defines as the main source of investigation the Brazilian website “Desejos secret as” (no longer available for access) from where he collects what he calls BDSM discourse in the “Manual” format, referring to a section common in BDSM East Mistress London portals, as it offers an overview of these sexual practices, in addition to synthesizing the main themes debated by their practitioners. SecondZilli (2018), the texts extracted from this space serve as a clarification tool, which allows practitioners to defend their preferences and choices.
In the book, the author recognizes that virtuality has singularities and, therefore, defines what would be the virtual BDSM analyzed by him, highlighting characteristics such as
1) the globalized character, with great North American influence;
2) the defense of a political right to sexual diversity that includes BDSM and different sexual orientations, and
3) the need to make common and encourage the mastery of technical jargon to speak and act according to BDSM logic.