By Kyle Young
“The vanity of others offends our taste only when it offends our vanity”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
When we first set out to gain an understanding of the world of Fetish culture, I expected that the greatest barrier I would find was my own personal bias on the subject. Surprisingly enough, after giving the subject a fair and honest chance, I soon found that it was not my own bias and mores that were getting in the way, but those of the people around me.
The fetish culture is by far one of the most accepting and tolerant I have encountered. The people were comfortable with themselves and were open and honest about whatever aspect of their sexuality appealed to them. Whereas it is not uncommon to get looks of disgust or disinterest in most clubs, I received only looks of encouragement and support dressed as I was for my first "kink" party. In fact, the most negativity I encountered during our research was the looks of ridicule and judgment I received during my management midterm right before the party, simply because I was dressed differently.
As Nietzsche showed above, we are only offended by others’ practices when they differ from our own. If you claim to be tolerant or understanding of other cultures then you have an obligation to show the same courtesy to those who exist in this marginalized portion of society.