FIRST these may not mean what you think:
See Below: The Caveat: Are you a RACK or SSC Player
TRIGGER WARNING: (Partial list of edge activities below)
Second, Definition:
Scroll down for a discussion and history of SSC and RACK. They are below the topic covering the question of “ARE you a RACK or SSC player?”
And a dedicated section on PRICK following the SSC/RACK section
- SSC
- Safe
- Sane
- Consensual
- RACK
- Risk
- Aware
- Consensual
- Kink
- PRICK
- Personal
- Responsibility
- In
- Consensual
- Kink
Consent?
Here’s our basic discussion on it. Where we discuss the FRIES concept.
The Caveat: Are you a RACK or SSC Player
I mention this up front, because when someone asks this question, they are often not asking how safe you are in the sense of do you know risks exist, but rather how edgy you are.
THEY MAY BE ASKING HOW ROUGH THEY CAN BE WITH YOU
HOW UNSAFE/HIGH RISK THEY CAN BE
Should this breakdown be its own topic page?
SSC
When they ask this, they are considering SSC to be less edgy and less open to taking risks, but deeper, they are asking about edge play. There is a list of plays that many consider edge plays. Saying SSC, tells them that you are not open to these types of play.
RACK
If you respond by saying you are a rack player, that means that you may like things rougher, riskier, bloodier, or some specific types of edge play. There are various types of play which are considered edge up front. Some might depend on your risk profile.
Edge Play Activities
Here’s a partial list of activities frequently considered edge:
(Common Reasons in Parentheses)
— Can I make a collapsible section to hide TW’s–
- Rope, lets put the least triggering one up front.
(Circulation, joint, bruising, etc, risks, plus risk of death) - Rope Suspensions: Rope on steroids.
(Significantly increases each of the rope risks, but also adds the risk of falling, including head trauma) - Breath Play
(Communication & consent issues, consciousness & dizzy issues, stroke and death Risks) - CNC: Consensual Non-Consent
(TW, Mental Stress, Bystander Misunderstanding, Consent Respect) - Blood: (TW, Infection Risk, Fluid Bonding, STI/Blood-borne Illness Risks)
- Controversial Topics and Triggering play: Rac*, Rap*, Non-Cons*, Age Pla*, Polic*/Militar*, etc
- High STI risks: Group play without protection/Certain Anal Play
- Intense impact scenes
- Other Play with high risk of injury
- More
SSC/RACK Discussion
SSC Came First…
SSC came about from the Gay Leather community in the late 1980s. It was a lofty goal to make BDSM play legitimate by shooting to be Safe, Sane, and Consensual in play. It was the common mantra for BDSM safety in the 90s and early 2000s. Being an alternative lifestyle and fringe activity, I believe part of the push for SSC by the BDSM groups was acceptance by the larger community. More on that in a sec.
There are endless posts and discussions across the web, on various forums and Fetlife. Feel free to conduct your own research and contribute your input to these groups. The topic is also frequently discussed in multiple roundtables, conventions, and meetups.
SSC, what are these lofty goals?
- Let’s not injure our partners.
- Let’s play sober,
- Let’s play in a community with observers
(i.e. a DM present and/or fellow player & friends)
{DM = Dungeon Monitor, a designated person in a club/dungeon to observe and make sure club rules are observed. } - As noted above, some have also equated this safe/sane to be less edgy in play.
By the mid-2000s, there was RACK
RACK was coined in 1999 by Gary Switch. RACK implies and acknowledges that with everything, there is risk. With BDSM activities specifically, there are risks that many in the community take and face.
TWO PARTS: Risky Play & Risky Perception
Sidebar: Two Sets of Risks
First, it also more accurately describes the play that many participate in. In discussions at the time, this would especially include sadomasochistic play, and as we see today, many aspects of “play,” from mental to rope, and a whole gamut of less intense and painful play that might not even be considered S/M. Acknowledging and addressing these risks hopefully helps minimize the public perception risk.
Second, a factor that polarizes the community is public perception. “Risks Players Take & Face.” Because of these risks, many communities are very cloistered, being not only membership-based but also with vetting required and privacy rules that may limit knowledge of locations, and are very strict about outing and speaking about what happens. Some of these restrictions are as strict as Fight Club’s–“The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club.” Yes, even among members who both go to said club.
On the other end of public perception, you have people who are completely out, attending public shows, bars, and clubs. In the middle, people will blur faces, tattoos, and other identifying marks. Sometimes, they’ll do public events if they are masked balls, or go to private things and places that are “less strict” about vetting. i.e. private but now
Back to RACK, replacing SSC, and working to legitimize the lifestyle: Thrills & Risks are similar to other mainstream activities…
While SSC tried to legitimize* BDSM by providing a “baseline goal,” RACK, as Gary Switch put it, equated the enjoyment and thrill of BDSM activities to mountain climbing, and further addressed “risk reduction” by suggesting risks can be “minimized through study, training, technique, and practice.” Further stating that if we stuck to “Safe,” “We can’t do anything more extreme than flogging somebody with a wet noodle.”
* From what I understand, at the time SSC was coined and pushed, there was a big push to “Differentiate BDSM from Abuse”. Looking back, as SSC was spreading through the greater BDSM community, this led to a broader goal of acceptance in total–“We’re being SAFE, SANE, and CONSENSUAL.”
PRICK: Personal Responsibility In Consensual Kink deserves its own page.
This term is important, but players often misuse or even abuse it.