Forced-Bi.com has conducted well over 50 interviews with prominent Dommes (and a few Doms!), Mistresses, and other fetish enthusiasts concerning that fetish which is the peculiar focus of this website. (And we have much more in store this coming year!)
We regularly reach out to various people in the BDSM scene and are always on the lookout for additional interviewees with unique perspectives that we can highlight.
Once in a while, however, we receive emails expressing concerns about the Forced-Bi fetish. We take these sentiments seriously. And, when they are brought to our attention, we always take the time to address them.
Therefore, we thought it might be worthwhile to publish a brief post summarizing our “take.” In that spirit, then, perhaps the following will set at ease the minds of any visitors entertaining similar worries.
(1) Isn’t Forced Bi Illegal?
Neither Forced-Bi.com, nor anyone associated or affiliated with it, condone, encourage, promote, or otherwise support illegal activity of any kind.
Sex can be illegal, depending upon the circumstances and the ages of the parties involved. Conversations can be illegal, depending on what’s discussed (e.g., classified information) and who’s doing the talking!
Likewise, whether a “forced-bi” scene is legal or not is going to depend on contextual and personal factors.
For its part, Forced-Bi.com only devotes itself to depictions or discussions of safe, sane, and consensual fetish scenarios – many of which involve themes such as coercion, enticement, persuasion, and seduction, as elements of make-believe or roleplay.
We have further addressed worries along this line in written work published elsewhere on Forced-Bi.com – for example, in a post dedicated to some of the most salient legal considerations. See, e.g., here: http://forced-bi.com/index.php/2018/11/11/is-forced-bi-legal/.
(2) Doesn’t the Word ‘Force’ Suggest Something Against Someone’s Will?
On a woodenly literal construal, the word “forced” is suggestive, and it is apparent why a person unfamiliar with the scene might have concerns about lawfulness.
Briefly stated, however, the phrase “forced-bi” is probably best understood idiomatically.
It’s not too dissimilar to statements such as:
“John forgot his wife’s birthday; she’s going to kill him”;
Or:
“Steve’s wife caught him wearing his lingerie; he said he was about to die.”
“Kill” and “die” can certainly – and tragically – be used literally. But, many times, as seen in the above examples, English words are used analogically or hyperbolically. In these cases, it would be an error to interpret them in their strict, non-metaphorical senses.
On this website, “Forced Bi” not intended to convey a disrespect for, or violation of, autonomy or personal choice.
As stated above, when we use the phrase, we are designating safe, sane, and consensual fetish scenarios – that may or may not have “force” as a roleplay element, in accordance with the mutual agreement of all participants.
Moreover, none of those that have been so far interviewed have represented their involvement in the fetish as tantamount to an endorsement of criminal behavior (such as rape).
Numerous Dommes and Mistresses think of it as “encouraged bi” for this reason.
But for those who still use the “original” title, it is practiced in conformity with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
(3) How Can We Be Sure That This Is the View of the Website and its Interviewees?
Forced-Bi.com’s statement is available in at least one dedicated post. See, e.g., here: http://forced-bi.com/index.php/2018/11/11/is-forced-bi-legal/.
Additionally, most interviews explicitly restate our legal disclaimer.
Furthermore, one of the interview questions tackles this head on.
In talking about the concept of “Forced Bi,” participants are asked about the idea of “force.” The preface to the question reads:
“As far as goes the second core idea, the idea of being ‘forced’ is a little vague. For legal reasons, “forced” must mean something less than literally compelled by threat of force. Which, if any, of the following do you think is most fitting? Coercing, commanding, encouraging, enticing, inducing, permitting, provoking, seducing, etc.”
We reiterate, though, that fantastic and role-playing elements notwithstanding, everything should be taken in the overarching vein of “safe, sane, and consensual.”
(4) Isn’t ‘Forced Bi’ Uniquely Problematic?
Our position is that the phrase “Forced Bi” is no more fraught with difficulty than other words commonly used in the BDSM community, broadly construed.
For example, consider the word “slave.”
Many Dominants apply this term to their play partners. Numerous “submissives” self-identify as “slaves.” The word shows up on countless contact forms, photo and video sets, profiles, Tweets, and websites.
Yet… Obviously, slavery – strictly so called – is manifestly illegal – according to the highest law of the land (in the United States, at any rate).
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”[1]
Additionally, in its historical-institutional incarnations, literal slavery entails non-consensual and now-outlawed abuse, compulsion, force, and violations of personal freedom.
We trust, therefore, that the myriad Dommes, Mistresses, and other fetish practitioners employing the term “slavery” are not – explicitly or implicitly – admitting their participation in illegal activities or flouting federal law.
What’s more, most of their audience understands this perfectly well.[2]
I would summarize the importance of this observation by saying that, in the fetish lexicon, “slave” is – obviously – a term of art. It doesn’t literally mean what the primary dictionary definition conveys, namely: “a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.”
Likewise, Forced-Bi.com – along with the Dommes, Mistresses, and others that we have interviewed or who are associated with this website – take it that “forced bi” is also a term of art, and certainly not to be mistaken for criminal license or disregard of human dignity or the law.
Notes:
[1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiii.
[2] Similar considerations could be advanced concerning other terms, such as “torture” (used in phrases like “cock-and-ball torture,” abbreviated “CBT”). And this is to say nothing about other fetishes, for example, one frequently referred to with the word “blackmail.”