SSC VS. RACK

Okay, let's start a proverbial shit storm. This is something that we see and hear about all the time and a lot of new people don't know the difference; hell, I didn't. So first let's go over what these acronyms mean.

SSC - Safe, Sane and Consensual
RACK - Risk Aware Consensual Kink

Easy enough right?  Well these two terms start more arguments then whether or not Han Solo fired first (and he did). Here is the issue: both of these are good things and they sound nice. The problem generally arises with SSC about the definitions of safe and sane. What one person says is sane another may call insane. Safe has the same problem. Flesh hook suspension, needle play and edge play are three things that have come under fire for the SSCers and I can understand that. This is where RACK comes into play. If all parties involved know the risks they are taking and all parties involved are consenting adults, no one has the right to tell them not to do something.

SSC and RACK both have their place. SSC has it's place in public dungeons and play spaces where anyone and everyone is welcome. Yes, there are Dungeon Monitors who watch over scenes, but they may not know the players well enough to be able to tell if lines have been crossed. These places need to have clear rules which define what SSC is to them.

However RACK, in my opinion, is better suited in close knit communites and private dungeons. These places know their members and are better able to tell when someone has crossed a line and someone is in  immenant danger. No one wants to end a scene with a visit to the ER. RACK spaces don't worry about what is safe and sane because they understand what is safe and sane to one person isn't necessarily safe and sane to another. They trust their members to know what they are doing before play beings. Also, it's perfectly acceptable for a private space to have a list of do's and don'ts even if RACK is their modus operandi.

No matter if the dungeon you are attending is a SSC or RACK space, people are going to get hurt. We beat people with canes, whips, floggers and sometimes even pink boxing gloves. You are going to mis-swing your paddle one day and hit your bottom's tailbone. You are going to wrap that flogger once or twice and catch your bottom somewhere they don't want to be hit. Sometimes you might just hurt your pride and other times you may have to end your scene prematurely, but it's going to happen.

Consensuality is something on which both sides can agree. If what you are doing isn't consensual, no matter where you're playing, you've just committed rape, assault, attempted murder, a combination of the three or more depending on the laws in your area. Hell, in some states what we do is a crime even if both parties are consenting adults.

Well, that's about it and if you couldn't tell, I'm a RACK person. I believe in personal responsibility; all parties involved need to know what they are doing.  If they have questions, they should get someone involved that can teach them the right way to use their toys or dungeon equipment.

Nok