ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the impact of intersectionality of identities, gender performance expectations, internalization of racialized sexual tropes, and BDSM role stereotyping for women of Asian heritage in the US, as they explore erotic satisfaction in kink. We investigate the commonly used term Asian covering a vast array of cultural, religious, linguistic, generational, and migration histories. Several case profiles illustrate this. Clinicians aware of this diversity, and the pressures of stereotyping that clients experience, will be better able to serve their client’s goals of sexual and personal fulfillment.
The chapter also introduces a practical strategy using linguistic shifts and a visual model for individuals and their partners to better assess and explain their desires and engage in more fulfilling play.
Common BDSM terminologies are reframed from a leisure-seeking lens. While we consider a specific population here, the investigation of layers of multiple role expectations, the limitations they cause, and strategy shared can be effective with other multicultural and BIPOC peoples.
