RossCaliban

Well, then. Welcome to the site!

I've told my significant other that I'm on this site, and I've made plans twice to meet people I've met from this site. As for the amount of time I spend on here, it's sporadic, and still far less than the time she spends playing FFXIV.

I think rubyredd has it exactly right - we're familiar with the signs, and to us they're a neon light highlighting somebody's getting a spanking! or somebody just got spanked!, but that's just us and those like us. Being able to recognize those signs is a... what's that word... shibboleth to those in this lifestyle. I have a customer who frequents my restaurant who gives me a wink whenever she passes through, not out of attraction, but because I know the significance of the clunky necklace she wears, and she knows I know. It's one of those things.

Eh, a lot of things that people in their 20s like is seen as annoying by the older generation. So this has been, so it will be. The question that sticks with me is why this is seen as so threatening. Anhauser-Busch is no more "woke" than Disney, but they're trying to market an existing product to a "young, gender-neutral, politically active" demographic. In the late 1990s, Bud Light was targeting the "twenty-something male edge lord" demo with their "Wasssup?" campaign, which was far more irritating than a grown-up theatre kid with a YouTube channel, but that wasn't seen as damaging the social order.

This particular culture war flashpoint baffles me. Bud Light, in a less-than-subtle attempt to court young drinkers, makes an online ad featuring an annoying social media celebrity (Mulvaney's trans? I'd assumed this person was a drag performer, my bad). I have this right? Perhaps it's been published, perhaps not, but there seems to be this rule that is followed when marketing to the under-25 crowd: "Gen Z will be loyal to your brand... if you echo their values". Considering that my generation still isn't known for its brand loyalty, that's got to be a boon for the advertisers - and yet, their efforts to gain new customers often seem to tick off their established ones.

I voted, but I also have a feeling that you're looking at the left/right divide from an American perspective - and that distinction has a different meaning based on where you're from. I'm a Canadian so from an American perspective I'm a leftist by default. I'm fairly centrist by a gestalt Canadian standard. And compared to my former art school classmates, I might as well be a Republican!

I'll admit I'm pretty new to the scene, so I had to look this one up (The website indicates a September event, but if Ekim's on their mailing list, I'll bow to their knowledge). I'll admit that sounds like a bunch of my fantasies, on the other hand - being out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of kinky strangers sounds like the plot of a slasher movie, so... another year for me, I think.

I didn't realize that these were "a thing". Do you have any to share?

Assuming that second-hand knowledge was more valuable than communication. I read a lot of blogs, accounts (and let's face it, erotica) long before I ever engaged in spanking with a partner, which gave me a lot of expectations that weren't borne out by any experience of my own. I got lost in wondering if I was doing it "right" that I missed that my partner wasn't into it anymore. We've since reconciled on that point - but we've had to go back to basics to ensure we're on the same page.

I envy your faith in the power of love, DisobedientHuby, although you and your wife seem to have made it work. Like the OP, I'm in the position of trying to integrate my fetish into an existing long-term vanilla relationship which is facing its own issues over time. My perspective - and this is going to be more illustrative than helpful - is that as painful as it is to hear "I'm not into it" from your partner, it hurts far more when you realize that they've been humouring you to spare your feelings. Unless you're in the position where your partner tries it and takes to it - and hey, I'm sure it happens sometimes - some compromise is going to be necessary. If that person is loving, patient and giving, they'll at least meet you partway. But you won't know what that line is without addressing it with them honestly.