In my teenage years I was a huge INXS fan. When Michael Hutchence died, autoerotic asphyxiation was brought into the media spotlight and into my imagination.
What it is
When you rob your brain of oxygen (asphyxia), you experience a high - euphoria, dizziness, and lowered inhibition - before you lose consciousness. To make masturbation more thrilling, some people masturbate while strangling themselves.
Silent Killer
Sadly, many of these people die while attempting pleasure - because it's too easy to push past the point and cut off the oxygen levels completely. It's an accidental suicide. And someone has to find you.
I like the idea of breath control. I'm scared about the repercussions. Even holding your breath for extended periods can induce a heart attack. In a way I think it would be a great way to go - dying on an orgasm. But gee, being remembered like that is not the best. Being found like that might not be so great for your nearest and dearest.
I'd love to use this in a story but it's something I have to be careful about. I don't want to falsely advertise it. I don't want to encourage anyone to try anything unsafe. I don't want to be responsible for a death.
As much as I find it intriguing, I think I have to err on the side of safe sex.
It's a bit like the condom debate. I always thought condoms "ruined" the story, until a bunch of writers had a discussion about it. I realised if I wanted condoms to be a 'normal' part of sex in real life, then my real life stories had to reflect the same. It's like subliminal advertising.
How do you feel?
What it is
When you rob your brain of oxygen (asphyxia), you experience a high - euphoria, dizziness, and lowered inhibition - before you lose consciousness. To make masturbation more thrilling, some people masturbate while strangling themselves.
Silent Killer
Sadly, many of these people die while attempting pleasure - because it's too easy to push past the point and cut off the oxygen levels completely. It's an accidental suicide. And someone has to find you.
I like the idea of breath control. I'm scared about the repercussions. Even holding your breath for extended periods can induce a heart attack. In a way I think it would be a great way to go - dying on an orgasm. But gee, being remembered like that is not the best. Being found like that might not be so great for your nearest and dearest.
I'd love to use this in a story but it's something I have to be careful about. I don't want to falsely advertise it. I don't want to encourage anyone to try anything unsafe. I don't want to be responsible for a death.
As much as I find it intriguing, I think I have to err on the side of safe sex.
It's a bit like the condom debate. I always thought condoms "ruined" the story, until a bunch of writers had a discussion about it. I realised if I wanted condoms to be a 'normal' part of sex in real life, then my real life stories had to reflect the same. It's like subliminal advertising.
How do you feel?
Oh gosh, this is too freaky.
ReplyDeleteI woke up writing a blog post in my head today which also used INXS as an example - but not for auto erotic aphyxiation!
Let's see if I can work autoerotic aphyxiation into a conversation at the RWA Cocktail Party tonight!
xx
Lily M
Lily, didn't get to meet you at conference... maybe next year?
ReplyDeleteI was never a huge INXS fan but I went to one of their concerts with some friends - and it turned out they were filming the crowd that night to use in the music vid of their next release. You can see me (if you know where to look) but now I can't remember the song :(