This is an unusual image for me. I like it a lot, but I don’t actually want to recreate it. Normally an image of a hot activity makes me a tiny bit jealous (in a good way) and wistful that I’m not doing that same thing. In this case I love breathplay, and I love the symbolism of something wrapped around the throat, but I don’t want to be on the receiving end. I’m just too nervous about all the delicate tubes in the neck. Any breathplay I do is always based around something spread across the face (a hand, a plastic bag, a wet cloth), not wrapped around the neck.
My squeamish aside, I do enjoy the artistic composition. He’s very open, vulnerable, exposed to her. His body language reinforces the dynamic. She’s compact, controlled. The knee to his chest allows her both to sense his breathing and apply pressure to it. There’s all sorts of good stuff going on.
The photograph was created by James Glendinning (aka slephoto) and entitled Shadow Play. The male model is Andy Virus.
Hmmmm.
Asphyx is one thing. But it doesn’t involve the possibility of cutting off the blood supply to the brain, where even a few seconds’ error could lead to brain damage or worse.
I can see the logic of it. If absolutely *anything* can be eroticised, then why not death or at least near-death? The theme of eros and thanatos being close bedfellows as well as opposites is well-established in literature.
But it’s a thrill too far for me.
Definitely agree about the potential for eroticising death and near-death. Sex and death are entwined through culture, and the power of life and death is perhaps the ultimate control.
I enjoy the drama of a hand to the throat. It creates a strong sense of vulnerability. But heavy pressure is definitely a hard limit. A thrill too far, as you say.
-paltego
Well, I don’t blame you for being squeamish, but FWIW, here’s my rationalization for when I did it:
The tubes in the throat are collapsible, not rigid. I guess if you punched someone in the neck hard enough you could collapse something, but a little gentle pressure isn’t gonna kill you.
Or at least it hasn’t killed me. Yet.
I never did it alone.
Yes, that’s definitely some squish there, but I’m not sure I trust anyone enough to judge exactly how much is safe. Actually, scratch that. It’s not so much trust, as that I don’t know how anyone would learn how to do it safely. A lot of BDSM techniques can be taught. And a lot can be practiced at very low risk. But I’m not sure how you’d learn to strangle someone safely, when getting it wrong is so incredibly dangerous.
But of course, everyone sets the own level of comfort and risk.
-paltego