What is sadism in BDSM? I am going to work with the assumption that you are equating hurt with inflicting pain.

First thing that must be done is to define exactly what pain is. My definition of pain includes three distinct requirements. Pain is intense stimulation that is both unwanted and unexpected. If you remove any of those components, it is not pain.

l oo not think it is hard to understand why removing the "intense stimulation" aspect works. The feeling of an insect crawling on your face when you are dozing is not painful, even though that sensation is both unwanted and unexpected. It is irritating and unpleasant, but not painful.

The more difficult aspects to comprehend are the unwanted and unexpected parts of my definition, but they are vital. Those aspects are what allow somebody to process intense stimulation as something other than pain.

Let's look at a staple of BDSM - spanking. A good spanking can be very arousing to many people, even these who do not consider themselves as being a masochist.

When I am spanking a willing bottom, they are feeling pleasure. The stinging, the heat, the impact, these all contribute to the pleasure. These sensations are both wanted and expected.

Now, if I were to hit the exact same person in the exact same way outside of a scene, they would most likely feel pain. Same stimulation, different result.

This is true regard less of how intense the stimulation becomes. I have done hook suspension. This involves placing six hooks into the flesh on my back, attaching them to a hoist and being lifted off the ground by those hooks.

At no point would I have described what was happening as being painful. Inserting the hooks would be the closest to pain, but I would say that it was uncomfortable, not painful.

Now, to tie this all back to the original question. When I am on the giving end of the sensation, I am not intentionally causing pain. I am providing intense stimulation. If I have done my job as a top properly, my bottom will be in a mental state to process that stimulation as pleasurable. I find nothing repulsive about giving another person pleasure. https://tvbdsm.com/category/sadism/