The State of Discipline: Chinese Masculinity and BDSM in Singapore

Abstract

Conventional approaches into BDSM (Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/submission,Sadism/masochism) analyze it as individual pathology. This falls into the trap ofpsychological determinism in attributing pathology to the 'sickb mind of theindividual and does not consider the socio-historical factors that discursively produceBDSM. Furthermore, virtually all the literature on BDSM is Western-centric andneglects the phenomenon as it is practiced in the East; any interpretation of thediscourse surrounding BDSM necessarily involves situating it within a particularsocio-historical milieu. In my study, I take a position in which power and positionalityare produced and articulated in and through discourses. It is my contention that theBDSM body in Singapore is gendered, classed and racially marked: the BDSMexperience in Singapore cannot be experienced outside of any of these categories.While we would assume that the Singapore middle-class Chinese male (SCM) is thehegemonic ideal in all spheres, he is in fact at the bottom of the local BDSMhierarchy. Why is this so? In my analysis, I pin this down to thesocial/economic/gendered position of the SCM which undoubtedly resonates with hislarger milieu. In moving between a discussion of citizen and state, my study onBDSM in Singapore sheds light on the modern city-state and the implications of myfindings for her future.