Dachs

[Deutsch]

Explanation of the Datenschlag Chronicle of Sadomasochism (DACHS FAQ)

Translation: Marianne Bowen, Black Rose


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 [before 1800] [1800-1899] [1900-1949] [1950-1959] [1960-1969]
[1970-1979] [1980-1989] [1990-1994] [1995-1999] [2000-2004]


1. Overview

The Datenschlag Chronicle of Sadomasochism (DACHS) is a listing of important highlights of the history of Sadomasochism. Chronicle entries consist of the relevant events of international history, with a concentration on events in the German language areas. The DACHS only collects raw data with a minimum of commentary, to allow other works to build on the data. We chose the acronym DACHS because it is also German for "badger".
The first version of the chronicle was created by Kathrin Passig and Wolf Deunan from BDSM Berlin e.V. (a registered association) early in 2000 and has been continued since March 6, 2000 under participation of the SM subculture on the Internet.

2. Target Group

DACHS is meant for sadomasochists and non-sadomasochists, like researchers and historians, with an interest in the history of Sadomasochism. Basic knowledge of the terminology and proceedings used in the SM subculture (such as Top, Bottom, Switch, scene) are assumed, they are also explained in detail in other Datenschlag texts. The international target group requires at times very detailed explanations of the identities and function of people, authorities, or places.

3. Contents of this Document

By definition, Sadomasochism as a sexual inclination requires voluntary participation of the people involved. There will be no entries in this chronicle that describe non-consensual violence in sexual, religious, or other forms. The only exceptions might be events that have had an effect on the development of the SM subculture, or events that denote the first known occurrence of a certain practice.

Entered are events that are related to the establishment of SM groups and SM media, SM research, laws with an effect on sadomasochists, and similar related topics.

Since 1905, psychoanalysis has brought an almost infinite quantity of speculative material about sadism and masochism, many of which later did not withstand empirical investigation. Therefore we only enter psychoanalytical studies that have had a strong influence on how sadomasochism is viewed, or influenced research on sadomasochism.

The social, legal, and scientific surroundings of the other large sexual minority, the homosexuals, were often of great importance to the opinions about sadomasochism. The development of the homosexual non-SM subculture promoted the growth of the homosexual SM subculture, and had crucial impacts on the heterosexual SM subculture. For example, only the modification of the German §175 in 1969 made the rise of the homosexual SM subculture possible. Because of this we are recording key events of the non-SM homosexual subculture in the chronicle.

The SM subculture in the United States is ahead of the European subculture in many respects. To be able to compare we are recording events from the United States that may not be of importance to German-speaking countries.

Singular local events of groups such as moves to a new location are not entered. The index points to additional, more detailed time lines.

The DACHS represents collective knowledge on which later studies are to be based. Therefore events were entered where the appropriateness is questionable, to rather offer the reader too many entries then not enough.

4. Composition of Entries

Each entry consists of:

Date: For each year events with an exact date are specified first. Events where only the year is known are usually listed at the end of a paragraph.

Event: A short and objective description of the event wherever possible. Keywords are emphasized.

Comment/explanation: A comment or explanation might follow the event description. These comments show the event in a temporal or historical context or supply additional information. The comment does not necessarily originate from the indicated source. It may show personal views or it may not be verified.

Source(s): Specification of the sources for the event. Personal messages should include names and date.

5. Format of the Chronicle

The DACHS is created in simple, browser independent HTML. Porting to other formats or into a database is not intended. Individual entries have been kept as clear as possible.

6. Details of Entries

Groups: Date of the creation, date of the dissolution, renaming, important milestones of the development (size of, entry as association, public appearance). Establishment of groups in non-German-speaking countries are entered rarely.

Magazines and media: Date of the first edition, date of the termination, modification of publication frequency, censorship measures.

Persons: Important Sadomasochists or people with a substantial influence on the development of the subcultures. The entry of the birth date contains a comment explaining why a person was accepted.

7. Corrections, Comments and Supplements

The DACHS is kept since March 2000, under participation of the SM subculture. Readers may send corrections, comments, and supplements to dachs@daten-schlag.org.

8. Questions and Answers

Why do you sometimes call it "SM" and then again call it "S/M"?
We maintained the way the original use was spelled for proper names like "S/M Depesche", "S/M-Szene Intern", or "S/M Suendikat Hamburg". In all other instances we use the more commonly used term "SM".

[Index] [FAQ] [Wish List] [E-Mail] [Search]
 [before 1800] [1800-1899] [1900-1949] [1950-1959] [1960-1969]
[1970-1979] [1980-1989] [1990-1994] [1995-1999] [2000-2004]


© 2000-2003 Datenschlag. This text may be distributed and re-used without express permission for non-commercial purposes, as long as the document is not changed and Datenschlag is indicated as the original source. Distributors of this text may not charge for the distribution, except for the cost of duplication and distribution. We welcome SM groups and other historically interested groups to link to these pages. Please do not copy the content of these pages into another Web project.

 

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