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
• Diagnosis, Differential MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Masochism diagnosis   psychology   MeSH
• Violence psychology   MeSH
• Risk-Taking MeSH
• Sadism diagnosis   psychology   MeSH
• Sexual Behavior psychology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH