On The Safe Edge: A Manual For SM Play examines the fantasies involved in sadomasochistic play: Bondage, branding, ritual, whips, roles, chains, leather, marshmallows, etc., challenging the reader to re-examine preconceptions about sadomasochism. The authors, all experts in SM play, dispel the stereotypes and myths about sadomasochism with this introduction to a hitherto hidden world of human expression. Safe Edge is a pan-sexual book structured to answer the questions a novice might have as he or she begins to explore safer SM play, and those of experienced players as they try new ways to play. It provides an understanding of how SM play can be a positive, safe, and healthy expression of sexual fantasies.
"SM is wondering what the other executives would say (or think), if they knew about the welts and sticky panties under your Oh-so-conservative suit. SM is putting your boyfriend into a French maid outfit to serve lunch to you and your women's lib girlfriends. SM is the humiliation of discovering that your new slave knows far more about SM than you, ...and has far more experience. SM is the thrill you get when someone at the party asks you to try on handcuffs, '...just to see how it feels.' SM is about the tiny pair of gold handcuffs on your Chanel dress when you go to the opera. SM is being taken downstairs and noticing that it's been soundproofed. SM is hearing people who know nothing about SM say how bad it is, and you want to giggle because they're so serious. SM is the quiet typist by day, dominatrix by night. SM is hurting the one you love, ...just right."
The authors provide an introduction and reference to: coming out into safer SM; consent and trust; SM spirituality: the mind and body, and how they relate to SM; endorphins; adult toys; and, above all, safety. Each section presents a particular aspect of SM, so that one can read the book right through, as though taking a course, or one can read each section as a reference. An extensive index, glossary, and bibliography make the book extremely easy to pick up again to remind oneself of the safety aspects of an evening's play.
On The Safe Edge, written by Toronto author Trevor Jacques, with Dr. Dale, Michael Hamilton, and Sniffer, is an unprecedented manual and reference text to the safe, exotic, and erotic practices of a literate, well-organized, and international subculture. It became a Canadian best seller in its first few months of publication. On The Safe Edge is currently in its fifth printing!
On The Safe Edge is a result of volunteer work by the AIDS Committee of Toronto Safer SM Education Project. It is used as the course reference book for SM seminars as far afield as Toronto, London, and San Francisco, and it has been used as a reference for SM safety pamphlets world-wide. Safe Edge was also used by the U.K. National Council for Civil Liberties (Liberty) for their case before the European Court of Human Rights in the Spanner case.
More and more people are experimenting. The success of On The Safe Edge reflects that growing awareness in the general public about safer, consensual play and the expanded role of a hitherto quiet revolution in sexual exploration.
