Got restraints? 

No?  You may be the only one left who doesn't.

For the record, I consider myself to be an enlightened kind of girl.  I grew up in the city and the suburbs and for the most part don't consider myself to have led a sheltered life.  I spend a considerable amount of time on the internet and feel comfortable saying that my breadth of knowledge is fairly vast, if not always comprehensive.  In other words, I know a little bit about a lot of things.

That said, the acronym BDSM was not something that came across my path very often until about a year and a half ago.  Now it seems I'm practically tripping over it ever where I go.  (Where have YOU been hanging out Abstract_Truth?  Yeah I know...I called your question from way over here in cyberville!)  Surprisingly enough, I haven't been going out of my way to find it.

Now for the sake of full disclosure I will admit that the majority of my exposure (heh) stems from reading and reviewing romance and erotica novels, but as ubiquitous as the "tie me up, tie my down" scenes have become in Romancelandia..it certainly isn't limited to it.  From The Dirty Show to local conventions, this once hidden culture is suddenly everywhere. 

As for me, I think anyone who really knows me knows that I'm no prude, and although I don't advertise it I have a pretty high tolerence for viewing things that rank high on the erotic scale. Even so, I have to admit my eyebrows went to my hairline when I was directed to the Canadian Mini-Cooper ad sporting the "Mini Cooper Dominates Winter" tagline.  Check it out:

www.mini.ca/DominateWinter/ 

Uh huh...have fun clicking through that one.  (Side note: Smartbitchestrashybooks.com had a funny thread going where commenters debated whether the chick is a real dominatrix or just plays one on a website.)

Now I'll admit, I got a good chuckle clicking away and spanking the car (::snort::) and it was a good way to kill a few minutes.  I also felt as though it was probably all in good fun and likely to be viewed (mostly) by folks who have reached the age of majority.  However, I was not amused when I went to look up a word on dictionary.com during Nanowrimo and was treated to a prominent ad (and ass) banner outfitted in poured on leather.  (Whip included to complete the look).  How's this for a site that gets your attention:

www.fittingroup.com/

Brand spanking...I get it.  It's clever.  And I adore clever.  This Pittsburgh marketing firm gets high marks from me for creativity and "wow-factor" but seriously?  On a reference site?  All I kept thinking about was my 6 year old doing his book report, him looking up a word and getting an eye full of THAT and the questions that would follow. 

So.Not.Cool.

And I know that dictionary.com subscribes to clickad.net (or some such advertising sponsor) and they have no control over what pops up randomly, but damn it's getting damn hard to control the content coming at the kiddies these days when it's not even safe to look up a word anymore.

But honestly, this post wasn't intended to be a rant about racy ads and evil sex demons trying to take over the world.  I just think it's interesting how far left the pendulum has come crashing in the wake of the conservative clusterfuck (haa haa) of the past few years.  One does have to pause and wonder, what next?

Don't be surprised if within a year you turn on the TV and see Tyra or Oprah sitting with wide-eyed fascination while Mistress X gives instructions on how to give a proper spanking to a rapt audience of eager house-wives.

Just saying...