I saw this great post over on Tumblr which started with a poll on how "hard" of a kink strangulation is. I was rather surprised at how many people considered something an "entry-level" kink when it is fundamentally impossible to do safely or even just without the risk of death, and usually illegal as well. Now, I have had the dangers of strangulation emphasized to me professionally, so maybe I am just more aware of it than most. Luckily some other rebloggers were on top of things and communicated that information in a way I felt was clear and nonjudgmental. They emphasized that there being no safe way to engage in the kink doesn't make it morally wrong, but rather something that should not be done without a serious understanding of the dangers for all involved.

After reblogging the post when it came across my dash, I happened to see a New York Times article on the topic on my own kitchen table, not ten minutes later. So I went back to the post, and was happy to find that someone else in the notes had already linked it. The article is really worth a read, especially if you are a teen or young adult, a parent to a teen or young adult, or someone with an interest in comprehensive sex education. Here is that version of the Tumblr post. The text of that post is also under the cut.

Here's the version of the thread I reblogged first, with another resource on breathplay from a BDSM club, along with further discussion of what separates the consensual (though still unsafe) kink from abusive behavior. It branches off after star-anise's addition, so I will only include those additional parts under the cut.

There is also another branch of the thread (archive link), also branching off after star-anise's addition, which I thought emphasized just how prevalent misinformation about "safe" strangulation methods is. No offense or judgment is intended to the person who stated the misconception; I just wanted to emphasize my response to it.

This is all really important information, and given the rising prevalence of "choking" (which is actually strangulation) in sex between people unaware of the full risks, I wanted to share it as many places I could think of. I can't tell anyone what to do with your life, but you should base your decisions on accurate knowledge, and know the potential consequences. In this case, that includes death, with the additional possibility of the partner being convicted of the crime.

I've seen some increased awareness of the risks of "nonlethal" methods in recent years, but mostly only in the context of discussions on police brutality and practices in carceral institutions. Those are both extremely important manifestations of this issue, but I am consistently surprised by people who I know have had those discussions downplaying the risks of those methods in other contexts. There are of course differences in how we discuss these things socially and politically, but in terms of the danger, your body will not know the difference. The legal system may not differentiate either.

Feel free to share this information elsewhere. If you are on Mastodon, you can also share this by boosting my post here.