I’m not sure why massage is supposed to fall under the heading of “vanilla” play. Unless maybe it’s its familiarity as “foreplay” that breeds contempt. But there’s so much more to massage than “candles and a backrub!”

The range of sensations you can create with massage goes from ethereal to enervating, devastating to divine. It requires a great deal of trust in multiple dimensions. A well-designed massage table, even a light one, can easily support an amazing amount of kinetic force, motion, and weight. The right height for massage happens to be the right height for a lot of other activities. They’re designed to resist water, oil, and silicone-based lubricants. And where there are massage tables there’s usually plenty of sheets, towels, heat sources, ice, and privacy. They easily accommodate service or dominance, submission or surrender, and best of all.

Best of all, switching is encouraged.

By the way, by arguing that massage isn’t “vanilla” I’m not arguing it must therefore instead be “kinky.” Quite the opposite. I think it nicely demonstrates the false distinction between the two. First because the overlap too broad for the distinctions to be useful. Second because the distinction is incomplete. Consider, for instance, that people who approve of “kink” are likely to also be far more accepting of “vanilla” massage whereas most of the “only for procreation” crowd are going to regard massage with as much suspicion as they would spanking. Finally? Certain subsets of “kinky” people are likely to dismiss both massage and spanking as insufficiently edgy and therefore equally “vanilla” activities.

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Incidentally, there’s a Half-Nekkid Thursday meme version of this post here.