By Uncle Abdul

I don't know about you, but I've been kinda glad lately to see various '...dirty deeds...' being again done at various dungeons and play parties. There was a time when such things were (in the manner of the famous line in the "Princess Bride") 'Inconceivable', or (in the manner of the Janus Operating Procedures) egregious, or (in the manner of W. C. Fields) "...pusillanimous persiflage..." And the prohibition against it lasted for so long that its origins were lost in the dim mists of time when the mind of man runneth not to the contrary.

Of course there were good reasons for the prohibitions against such '...dirty deeds...' They were argued well and long at the inception and are argued as well and as long in the present day when the original protagonists no longer add their original thoughts and arguments.

"But wait..." you say. "Of what are these '...dirty deeds...' of which Unc' speaks? And why does he speak of them now?"

Come gather all ye who wish to partake of forbidden knowledge (in the manner of wise elders deep in the cave around the dying embers of a campfire). The '...dirty deeds...' of which I speak is none other than... than... (oh dare I say it?) ...sex, intercourse, fucking. There, I said it. The toothpaste is out of the tube and can never be put back.

Now I envision two general reactions. Most of the newcomers will be looking quizical and saying, "...so what's the big deal?" There will be many whose neck veins will bulge, oaths will be shouted on high, and dark scudding clouds of doom will prevail as my fate is darkly contemplated.

In my early days (Is he going to be dragging out the old Catacomb thingies again?) sex, intercourse, ya-de-ya-da... was quite the standard thing. There was anal fisting, vaginal fisting, cock sucking, cunt lapping, PVI (penile-vaginal intercourse), and more that hadn't even shown up on Kraft-Ebling's wish list. Of course that was before AIDS. Innocence still prevailed, yet safety and personal responsibility were still observed.

Then came the dying times. People were more scared rather than shocked into sensibility. There were even some murmurs (not entirely unfounded) that there might be police busts at parties.

The Bathhouses closed. Fred chose to close down the Catacombs rather than be forced to close it down. And somehow people got the idea that it would be a good idea if there were no sex in the dungeon. Safe sex was OK. Barrier sex was OK. Unprotected sex in the privacy of your own quarters was OK. But for the longest time people took all that to mean 'No Sex in the Dungeon'.

There has always been personal responsibility and an eye towards safety exercised in the community, but a certain feeling of Eros was lost for a long time. There was indeed 'hot' play going on, but it was more in the arena of the perfection and demonstration of skill. It was as if the 'Dime a Dance' halls had been outlawed and that energy went into the perfection of ballroom dancing. There was always a yearning for the freer, perhaps sleazier, yet more thrilling time of yor. Now those times are coming back, and I'm glad to see it re-awaken.

After all, BDSM is sex or at least foreplay. It appeals to the same senses. It runs through the same neuronal pathways. Why should it not re-emerge? We won't slide back into a 'period of irresponsibility'. Such a period never existed. We were always aware, responsible and safety conscious. Now we are better informed of the risks and have effective preventative tools at our disposal.

Nor are we dishonoring the dead. It is tragic what happened to them. We feel sad for them, but life lived responsibly and informed must go on, else the past tragedy will have meant nothing.

Chao-4-Now

Unc'