Lisa Ling on “‘Our America with Lisa Ling” (
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Are you and your BFF into BDSM? Or maybe just BD or good old fashioned S&M?
I used to think that Lisa Ling fearlessly traversed parts of American life on her OWN show, “Our America With Lisa Ling” that few of us will ever see.
But I was dead wrong. Apparently most of us do see these parts of America — it’s just that very few people ever talk about it, or film it for the rest of us to see.
Last year, Ling left me open-mouthed when she went inside the world of suburban middle-class/middle-aged swingers.
She filmed regular folks, like a wealthy retired doctor and his nurse wife in suburban Arizona swinging like a pair of monkeys.
Was it disturbing to see people with grown children shamelessly dressing up in ridiculous sex outfits and having tensomes with strangers? Yes, but I was just glad to know that guy wasn’t a gynecologist.
This season, Ling is even kinkier — literally — by investigating the world of kink.
Next Tuesday’s premiere episode, “Kink,” we learn, refers to any sexual activity considered outside the realm of normal. Of course when you find out that 15 to 20 percent of Americans get kinky at some point, it gets you to wondering about the kinky spectrum.
But I think these are statistics that don’t just refer to the people who identify as BDSMs. ( Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, Masochism). We learn from this episode that belonging to the BDSM community is like belonging to a fancy gym. Both require certain outfits and equipment.
But BDSM is more forgiving than expensive gyms (the thrifty are always welcome).
Take next-door types Keith and Monica, a suburban couple with kids from other marriages. She’s a regulatory analyst at a utilities company. As someone who keeps a reign on costs at work, clearly she’s not going to be spending big on, say, whips and pain horses.
No — instead, they have a collection of “ perversables” — everyday household items one can use to beat the crap out of one’s partner. These include grocery store spatulas, wooden spoons, rope and tape.
I don’t know about you, but I love a thrifty beating — and I guess you can also do some B&E (breaking and entering) with these BDSM items.
Ling visits people across all kink spectrums, from an LA salesman who requests anonymity — and so wears a mask like Superman which covers his eyes only (yeah, no one will recognize you!) — to pros like Miss Nina Pain, a dominatrix for hire.
Also featured are two BFFs who meet in Baltimore for “cigar play.” I’ll never look at Tiparillos the same way again.
But on TV these days — what with everybody showing everything and enduring every kind of degradation on scripted and reality shows — paying a woman with a collar and leash to whip you while you grovel on the floor almost seems quaint.
In a weird and revolting Sodom and Gomorrah kind of way, of course.