Erotic BDSM Art
A Pop Culture Staple for Generations
From the naughty, pointed erotic BDSM of Bettie Page’s photo shoots to the ubiquitous scenes of super heroines in bondage that festoon the pages of the modern superhero comic, BDSM art has been with us for ages and seems quite unlikely to disappear from the cultural landscape anytime soon. Erotic BDSM art is a safe way to introduce yourself to the BDSM culture while being aesthetically stimulated by the nuances of BDSM art.
The most notable explosion of erotic BDSM in popular culture, oddly enough, came from the comic books of the 1940’s and 1950’s. The artists who were purveyors of BDSM art in what was ostensibly a children’s medium felt constrained by the onus of working in said children’s medium, and wanted to push the boundaries wherever opportunity presented itself. There was no latitude for nudity or even implied sexual content, but erotic BDSM art was able to become pervasive on the covers and interior art of those books thanks to the BDSM art standby of the Woman In Danger. Erotic BDSM art depicted nubile maidens tightly restrained to chairs, BDSM art depicted the lasses chained, manacled, or lashed to torture devices that could’ve come from a Saw movie, and erotic BDSM was able to manifest itself and thrive in countless scenarios where the hero had to save the fair damsel from a fate that was invariably worse than death itself.
It wasn’t always the supporting characters who were featured in erotic BDSM art. Super-heroines, Wonder Woman foremost among them, were frequent subjects of BDSM art and the erotic BDSM imagery that these characters inspired is greatly sought after by collectors. Wonder Woman is a particularly good example of this phenomenon, as one of her primary weapons was her Golden Lasso of Truth, which many a malefactor found himself or herself tightly bound with during an erotic BDSM altercation. The art depicting Paradise Island, home of the Amazons in early Wonder Woman comics is rife with erotic BDSM art that has heavy lesbian overtones.
Comics with covers that feature erotic BDSM are prized by collectors, often bringing hundreds of dollars more than an issue from the same series that doesn’t feature BDSM art. The kids of the day called comics with erotic BDSM artwork “headlights comics”, after the prominent breasts of the women in erotic BDSM situations, and the term is still used today by collectors and aficionados of erotic BDSM art in the comics medium.
Erotic BDSM art has a long and storied history and the tradition is carried on today, in contemporary comics, in art inspired by these periodicals, and in the new wave of BDSM art creators working today. Without the inroads created by the comic artists who were the unlikely initiators of erotic BDSM art, BDSM art might not enjoy the rich variety of style and content that it boasts today. Be sure to savor the past and enjoy the future of erotic BDSM.