How many people identify as kinky?

Although studies vary, an estimated 10 percent of the population has engaged in kink activities, with a much larger proportion interested in it. Those who engage do so along a broad spectrum of activity type and intensity, from a one-time experience to a lifestyle.

Is kink a choice?

For a lot of people, kink is less any kind of a choice than a lifelong orientation; for some, kink can be so central to the experience of sex as to be not just requisite, but also, itself, sex.

Is kink an identity?

That is, kink is both an identity (if recognized and accepted as such) and an orientation, which means one can hide it, not practice it, and renounce it—but it’s not going away. The implication for non-practitioners is that they need not fear being lured into a kink lifestyle.

Are Kinks looked down upon in the community?

Oftentimes some kinks are looked down on in the community as strange, or a subculture of their own, such as foot fetish folk or piss play folk. However, there is an agreed upon norm against non-consensual harm, which this past example plays back to.

What does it mean to be a kink?

Kink encompasses a variety of practices, and while some parts of this might turn you on, for others it is what turns them on or brings them general pleasure. Amazing Shibari rope work done, with no connection to sex. The point in this case is control and beauty. (Wikimedia commons)

What is the relationship between kink and race?

However, kink does have an interesting relationship with race – particularly with race play. This kind of behavior is even deviant within the kink community but still falls under the overall kink community, though requires more explicit consent for people of color (particularly women of color) to be acceptable.

Why are Kinks becoming more and more popular?

But, as research has found, kinks are becoming more and more prevalent, probably because people are more willing to embrace that part of themselves. Kinks are not the result of a damaged childhood or some sort of perversion.