About RACK

For a long time (is 20 years a long time?) our community has used the acronym SCC (Safe, Sane, And Consensual) to advertise to the world the way we play our games. Some people now think that RACK is a better definition, at least for inside the community.

RACK stands for Risk Aware Consensual Kink. First, we will see what it means:

• Risk: What we are doing have some associated risks. We play with whips, ropes, perhaps needles or fire. You could hurt your sub if you don’t do it with care.
• Aware: Once we know there are risks, we accept them. We are aware what we do is dangerous
• Consensual: all players freely agree on playing.
• Kink: What we are doing is “weird”, “perverted”, outside the mainstream

 

Perhaps, as the RACK enthusiasts say, safe and sane are too ambiguous. What one person considers safe may be deemed risky and unacceptable for another. About the same for sane. So, not everybody will agree about when a game is safe and sane. But it is the same for every human activity; it is not specific for BDSM.

But, what about RACK?

We think that, even for inside our community, the acronym puts too much emphasis in the wrong terms. And it is difficult to believe that the acronym will remain inside our community.  (Without mention of its connotations of medieval torture).

First, it presents our games to the world as risky.

Are there some risks associated with our games? Sure. But then, should it be a RAB (Risk Aware Biking)? Because riding a motorcycle, even if responsibly, is much more risky than spanking your sub. And what about a RAS (Risk Aware Showering)? Most accidents happen at home, and the bathtub is a favorite place for getting hurt.

All activities have some associated risks and sensible people try to exercise them in the safest possible way. Should we be more aware of the risks of flogging our subs than of those of driving a car?

Of course, we at Agony & Ecstasy are aware of the risks of BDSM, and we have a section about safety. But it is not because we think that BDSM is especially risky. It is because most people know the risks of everyday activities because they were taught them at a young age, but many may not be aware of the specific risks of our games. We try to call their attention to our special risks.

 

BDSM, if sensibly played and even with its particular risks, is no more dangerous that most of the things we do in our everyday life.

Of course, we agree on the consensual part.

And now about “Kink”. Perhaps we are used to it, but for most people the word has negative connotations. Why stressing that we are kinky? Or better, do we think we are kinky? If safe and sane are ambiguous, this is worst: what is kinky for some is a normal sexual practice for others. A religious conservative could see anything outside sex for reproduction in the missionaries’ position (and with the lights out) as kinky. We see what we do as “normal”, but we know there are people that do strange things (as having sex in the missionary position - and with the lights out) we see as “kinky”, so there will never be an agreement about what kinky is.

We write many articles trying to show that what we do is normal, even if not mainstream. The rest of the world can think that we are kinky, but we shouldn’t accept it. We have normal, if different, relations.

So, if we tell the people that we play SCC, we are telling them “what we do can be seen as different, but we use the same rules as you”, as any human interaction should be SCC. If we say we play RACK, what are telling them is “we are weirdoes who are aware of doing dangerous things”. It is that the message we want to tell the world? Not us, for sure

So, we publish this article for your information, but we do not support the use of the acronym. We still think that Safe, Sane and Consensual, with its ambiguities, is a better definition of the way we play, for the outsiders as much as for the players.
 

Published: 12/27/06