Culture war over bondage workshop comes to IUPUI

IUPUI Junior Ashley Wilson didn't think much about the bondage workshop her campus planned to host for its annual upcoming Healthy Relationships Week.

Until it was canceled abruptly earlier this week, after a campus publication questioned why the college would host such an event.Canceling the workshop sends the wrong message, Wilson said.

"I think it sets a precedent that there's censorship on events like this," she said. "It's removal of a certain perspective, which is the whole point of college."

Wilson hadn't planned on going but was familiar with this type of sexual health programming that aims to teach participants how to experiment safely with different types of sex.

IUPUI declined to comment about the workshop beyond confirming the cancellation.

Rough sex and bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, or BDSM, have become increasingly popular among young adults and college students, studies show.

Now many colleges are struggling to guide students to experiment safely, researchers say, especially as conservative activists have pushed back on human sexuality and LGBTQ programming on campuses.

This tension was on display this week at IUPUI, where an edgy workshop on bondage made headlines in a Christian student publication, The Collegiate Commons, and then quickly spiraled into a digital mob.

The student publication raised concerns about its content and the person leading the workshop.

Sex week

The event, part of Healthy Relationships Week, is not unique to the school. For more than two decades, college students across the country, from Northwestern University to The Ohio State University to the University of Southern California, have dedicated a week of programming to sexual health and expression, including everything from educating students on consent during sex to exploring different types of kinks.

The week is commonly branded Sex Week. And it's not without its opponents who have a history of singling out bondage demonstrations.

The conservative organization Young America's Foundation blasted The Ohio State University's 2023 sex week programming, which included a bondage demonstration and sessions for supporting queer students.

"An entire week packed full of lectures, demonstrations, and giveaways, designed to lure impressionable young college students deeper and deeper into the Left’s depraved ideology," the conservative blog wrote.

The conservative publication, Campus Reform, covered the University of Chicago's bondage demonstrations in 2017, noting that the organization has failed to "tone down its content."

BDSM and kink is becoming more mainstream

One does not need to look to college campus to find evidence of BDSM in mainstream culture.

The trend dates back to 2010 with Rihanna's hit song S&M:

Sticks and stones may break my bonesBut chains and whips excite me.

Last year 25-year-old rapper Jack Harlow's hit "Lovin on Me," which references BDSM, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

I don't like no whips and chains, and you can't tie me downBut you can whip your lovin' on me, baby

Then there's the blockbuster trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey" and the HBO television hit "Euphoria," all depicting BDSM.

While some older adults may struggle to grasp the popularity of kinky sex, teaching young people to safely try sexual acts they see on TV or on social media is critical, said Debby Herbenick, a provost professor at IU School of Public Health-Bloomington and author of "Yes Your Kid: What Parents Need to Know About Today’s Teens and Sex.”

One 2019 paper by researchers at King's College London found that 40% to 70% of people had BDSM fantasies and about 20% engaged in the practice.

While Herbenick is unfamiliar with IUPUI's canceled workshop, she supports sexual health programs that stress the importance of communication and consent to prevent sexual assault and injury.

For example, people should not practice rough sex or BDSM under the influence of alcohol and drugs, should discuss boundaries beforehand and use safe words to ensure things do not go too far, she said.

"I have interviewed some students who have had those discussions," she said. "The vast majority have not."

Binghui Huang can be reached at Bhuang@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Culture war over bondage workshop comes to IUPUI