Product Description

On The Safe Edge: A Manual For SM Play examines the fantasies involved in sadomasochistic play: Bondage, branding, ritual, whips, roles, chains, leather, marshmallows, etc., challenging the reader to re-examine preconceptions about sadomasochism. The authors, all experts in SM play, dispel the stereotypes and myths about sadomasochism with this introduction to a hitherto hidden world of human expression. Safe Edge is a pan-sexual book structured to answer the questions a novice might have as he or she begins to explore safer SM play, and those of experienced players as they try new ways to play. It provides an understanding of how SM play can be a positive, safe, and healthy expression of sexual fantasies.

"SM is wondering what the other executives would say (or think), if they knew about the welts and sticky panties under your Oh-so-conservative suit. SM is putting your boyfriend into a French maid outfit to serve lunch to you and your women's lib girlfriends. SM is the humiliation of discovering that your new slave knows far more about SM than you, ...and has far more experience. SM is the thrill you get when someone at the party asks you to try on handcuffs, '...just to see how it feels.' SM is about the tiny pair of gold handcuffs on your Chanel dress when you go to the opera. SM is being taken downstairs and noticing that it's been soundproofed. SM is hearing people who know nothing about SM say how bad it is, and you want to giggle because they're so serious. SM is the quiet typist by day, dominatrix by night. SM is hurting the one you love, ...just right."

The authors provide an introduction and reference to: coming out into safer SM; consent and trust; SM spirituality: the mind and body, and how they relate to SM; endorphins; adult toys; and, above all, safety. Each section presents a particular aspect of SM, so that one can read the book right through, as though taking a course, or one can read each section as a reference. An extensive index, glossary, and bibliography make the book extremely easy to pick up again to remind oneself of the safety aspects of an evening's play.

On The Safe Edge, written by Toronto author Trevor Jacques, with Dr. Dale, Michael Hamilton, and Sniffer, is an unprecedented manual and reference text to the safe, exotic, and erotic practices of a literate, well-organized, and international subculture. It became a Canadian best seller in its first few months of publication. On The Safe Edge is currently in its fifth printing!

On The Safe Edge is a result of volunteer work by the AIDS Committee of Toronto Safer SM Education Project. It is used as the course reference book for SM seminars as far afield as Toronto, London, and San Francisco, and it has been used as a reference for SM safety pamphlets world-wide. Safe Edge was also used by the U.K. National Council for Civil Liberties (Liberty) for their case before the European Court of Human Rights in the Spanner case.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1869915 in Books
• Published on: 1993-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 251 pages

Review
...a real beauty. A pearl in an ocean of junk. ...far better than most of the books I've read -- Jurgen Boedt, Secret Magazine

...explicit (and humorous) how-to manual. -- Details magazine, New York, U.S.A.

...extensive sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and safe sex information.... ...an excellent, rigorous safety reference. -- Victoria Baker, editor, The SandMUtopia Guardian, San Francisco, U.S.A.

...its publication is a landmark event for our subculture, ...regardless of sexual orientation. Every S/M library should have this. -- Harold E. Cox, CheckMate & DungeonMaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.A..

Book of The Month -- Gay Times Book Service, U.K.

Extremely handy manual for anyone who like their sex on the rough side, but doesn't want to inflict GBH. -- Boyz, London, England

In the light of prevailing attitudes, a manual such as this ... is a very positive step. Highly recommended. -- Skin Two magazine, London, U.K.

Take my advice: check your prospective Top's or Bottom's bookshelf first. Make sure this book is on it. -- Gerald Hannon, The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, Toronto, Canada

Thanks for this effort. It's another valuable contribution to the literature on this most complex area of human behaviour. -- Guy Baldwin, M.S., author of Ties That Bind, and The Leather Contest Guide

From the Author
More and more people are experimenting. The success of On The Safe Edge reflects that growing awareness in the general public about safer, consensual play and the expanded role of a hitherto quiet revolution in sexual exploration.

From the Inside Flap
Drawing on research and years of personal experience, the authors dispel the stereotypes and myths about sadomasochism (SM). They show how SM play can be a positive, safe, and healthy expression of your sexual fantasies.

This pan-sexual book is a guide to safety in all aspects of SM play, including: coming out into SM, consent and trust, SM spirituality, the body and SM, endorphins, and toys. Whether you are a novice or an experienced player, you can use it as a manual to help you express your SM fantasies and to make contacts with people who play safely. Its unique structure also allows you to use it as a reference book to check up on a particular disease, drug, or SM activity.

TREVOR JACQUES is an engineer and database consultant. While windsurfing in gales, he uses harnesses and black rubber suits. When at home, they are more likely to be made of other materials.

DR. DALE is a rheumatologist specializing in arthritis and allied conditions. On occasion, he has been known to get a bit stiff.

MICHAEL HAMILTON works in the food and service industry, and knows that there is more than one meaning to service.

SNIFFER is a dentist. He lectures on dentistry and safer SM play (although not necessarily at the same time...).

Customer Reviews

Good basic health book
Very thorough in its scope in terms of medical and health issues, Trevor Jacques' books lacks details about how to do certain things in "BDSM" which a reader might expect. No, this is not a how-to book, this a calm and serious approach to questions about the human body and its reactions to different activities encompassed in "BDSM". However, this subject in and of itself is so large that Jacques' work can only be an introduction. Use it as a starting point then research specific interests in greater detail. A "must have" for all beginners in my opinion.

Great introduction to safety if not to a basic philosophy
This book needs to be reprinted and short of that copies need to circulate so that it very valuable information is in every would be top or bottom or switch. The health information could also use an update too but by and large it is still an good guide toward all sorts of safety concerns ranging from disease, to physical stresses, to emotional vulnerability. I can't say that the community the authors refer to over and over is one I've ever really seen or that I agree with all of the philosophical comments they make, but it is a book I recommend that people read if they are interested in basic health issues involving BDSM.