A few weeks ago I mentioned attaching electrodes to someone's body as part of a scene, and I've gotten a number of e-mails since then from folks asking me to explain more about it.
So let's talk about playing with electricity in a BDSM context. First, the warning: If you're going to play with electricity, you damn well better know what you're doing, or somebody could conceivably wind up dead. Are we clear about that? Dead. Do not fuck around with this until you've learned all the rules about it.
Okay--now that I've scared you a little, there are electrical toys that, used properly, are quite safe, easy to operate, and way fun. A popular one is called a TENS unit (TENS stands for "transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation"). Originally a prescription medical device, a TENS unit is a small, battery-operated electric pulse generator. You plug a wire into it, and on the other end of the wire, an attachment conducts the electrical pulses onto the lucky victim's skin. If you buy a TENS unit from a medical supplier, your attachments will be stick-on patches that resemble Band-Aids. But sex-toy companies also sell what are basically tarted-up TENS units, along with a variety of conductive sheathes, probes, rings, and clamps designed for erotic electrical stimulation.
One of the basic rules of safe electrical play is "Only use electricity below the waist." Fortunately, that's where the fun places to apply electricity are located. At low power, TENS units produce a tingling, throbbing sensation in those below-the-waist areas. At higher levels, the tingling intensifies and becomes sharper, and you can also get some involuntary muscle flexing and squeezing.
I love electrical play because it's precise: I can finely gauge the amount of stimulation I'm giving someone, and I can keep someone at exactly the level of writhing, panting pain/pleasure I want, for as long as I want. It's also an excellent training tool: If you have electrodes on someone's body, and the controls in your pretty little hand, he or she will strive mightily to please you, I promise.
And I like the fact that I can be physically close to people while I'm tormenting them--looking in their eyes, touching their faces. Electricity feels... intimate.
A good book: Juice: Electricity for Pleasure and Pain by Uncle Abdul. Want to go shopping? Do a web search for "Eros Tek" or "Paradise Electro Stimulations."
