The meetings in room 224 of Bowman Hall are mostly like any other student organization’s — members joke, share personal anecdotes and talk about their shared interests.

This club, however, has a strict no cell phone rule — a stray camera might yield unwanted exposure. A sheet of notebook paper sits at the front of the room — a nondisclosure agreement.

Anonymity is key for the new members of K.I.N.K Kent State (Kent State Is Now Kinky), but the officers of the club stood unabashedly front and center —joking with each other as they flipped through an introductory slideshow.

Everything from simple “domination and submission” to explanations of accessories — the different types of whips, gags and ropes, accompanied by pictures and personal anecdotes, were fair game as the officers presented a comprehensive introduction to BDSM.

BDSM, which stands for Bondage, Domination/Discipline, Submission/Sadism and Masochism, is a grouping of alternative sexual fetishes centering generally around roleplay and uncommon sexual practices.

Club’s president Jarrad Myers is an avid participant.

Myers’ favorite part is emotional sadism.

“(It’s) kind of like a mental warfare thing. Playing with people’s minds; kind of messing with feelings and emotions,” Myers said.“Taking something that looks like it’s glowing red hot, holding it in front of their face and then blindfolding them and touching them with a piece of ice.”

Unusual to the outside eye, Myers’ interests are shared by many, and a collective group has grown around the same passions.

“Basically there was a group of us that were looking to try to do an education outreach (and) removal of social stigma of the BDSM community,” Myers said. “We had met each other through a couple forums, and (other) things like that out there.”

Whips, paddles, sadism — to the public it can be overwhelming — but these are all things taken in stride by those who have been interested in it long enough.

Myers said he has engaged in alternative sex methods for six and a half years. He used to attend Bowling Green State University at the beginning of his interest, where he met a fellow officer and experienced his first bit of social stigma.

“Originally, my major, when I went to Bowling Green … was adolescence and young adult mathematics, which means my career afterwards was going to be a high school math teacher. Speaking to advisors and other teachers, they pretty much told me with my lifestyle, the chances of me being a teacher were probably slim to none.”

He changed his major to something more conducive — physics.

“Now it’s just dangerous because I can look into the physics of dynamic loads on rope,” he said.

Rope, in fact, is what most people think of when they think BDSM, along with old-timey dungeons lined with wall cuffs.

“Oftentimes, people think that it’s all or nothing,” said secretary Alicen Huggins, a junior psychology major.

“They think that it’s all whips and chains and kneeling before someone and licking their boots,” she said. “It’s not. It can be very loving.”

Huggins’ favorite aspect of the community is its emotional one.

“It’s how it deepens and kind of connects physical and emotional relationships,” Huggins said. “Being into BDSM really strengthens any and all bonds that you have because it focuses on trust and connection.”

Those outside of the group share misconceptions, not only about the emotional aspects of BDSM, but also about the purpose of the club.

“(People think) that it’s a ‘sex club,’ ” Myers said. “That all we talk about is sex acts or that it’s a meet-up group for people to talk about sex. It’s more for the safety and education of different types of BDSM play and activities.”

For club officer Alice Freitas, a freshman psychology major, it’s about connection.

“There is a very deep emotional bond that’s created that I think transcends a normal relationship,” Freitas said. “Especially when you’re in a big-little dynamic, you’re putting a lot of trust into that person.”

Even less known are the non-sexual benefits to the interest.

“As an asexual, (BDSM) was never a sexual part of my life. It was something that I always had an attraction to. It was the softer side — things were simple” Freitas said.

However widespread the misconceptions are, the meeting brought in newcomers, filling the nondisclosure list with signatures.

“It’s general curiosity,” Huggins said. “We’re a bit unconventional, and people might think we’re going to do things that are really odd and strange, but I think what keeps them is that we do provide education.”

K.I.N.K is an official student organization, registered with the Center for Student Involvement — sex education in the midst of higher education.

“We were kind of hesitant at first because we are kind of extreme, but we ran into no problems — the people who helped us get to where we are have been very supportive … interested, and they thought we were a great addition to the community,” Huggins said.

The group’s faculty advisor, Kieran Bindus, a library coordinator operations in the JMC Student Resource Lab, didn’t share that hesitation.

“After becoming staff, I kind of made it a point to provide support to student groups” Bindus said. “When I was in my undergrad, sometimes it was hard to find advisors, so I was just like, ‘I’ll do that.’ ”

Bindus, also an advisor to the student group Trans*Fusion, saw opportunity in K.I.N.K.

“It’s a body-positive group, it’s a sexually positive group, and it provides a comfortable atmosphere for certain people to express themselves,” Bindus said. “Anyone who’s looking for that kind of environment and social group has a space now.”

Acceptance into a group of like-minded individual has been a driving force behind the group’s creation, and is the core of its value.

“Being part of this community, for me, was more or less a social group that I fit into,” Myers said. “People that I get along with well.”

The group provides social acceptance, a similar crowd, educational opportunity, and for some — a family.

“This community means the place that I belong, the place where I’m accepted for all my little flaws, all my eccentricities, of which there are many,” Huggins said.

“We’re in the middle of a sexual revolution,” Huggins said. “With body acceptance, with taking back women’s rights to their bodies, and with accepting people for the things that we once thought were odd.”

K.I.N.K. Kent State meets Wednesdays at 7:30 in room 224 of Bowman Hall.

Cameron Gorman is a general assignment reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].