When practiced consensually, sadomasochistic sex is being increasingly accepted as an alternative sexuality. Here I suggest the possible evolutionary roots of the preferences, draw distinctions between violent, abusive and "healthy" practitioners' partnership, provide clear behavioural markers of the respective situations, and underline some specific problems connected to this sexual preference. Some of the problems are well-known in the community of its practitioners, although they have not yet been described in medical nor scientific sources.

• MeSH
• diferenciální diagnóza MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• masochismus diagnóza   psychologie   MeSH
• násilí psychologie   MeSH
• riskování MeSH
• sadismus diagnóza   psychologie   MeSH
• sexuální chování psychologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH