Thanks again for the informative reply...

I have to disagree with you, at least in part, about your behaviorist perspective. I don’t mean to get into an environment verses genetic debate, those are usually pointless since neither standpoint can really be proven... But I will point out something that tends to be generally overlooked, namely inheritance. Just because something is genetic, doesn’t mean it’s inherited. Many people find the concept that genetics may predetermine aspects of our personalities distasteful because it implies we inherited our personalities from our parents, making us less of an unique individual. I’m not just saying “spontaneous mutation” makes us unique. Sexual reproduction entails the “mixing and matching” of genetic material (between the egg and sperm at the conclusion of meiosis), so that the whole is no longer merely the sum of it’s parts. Of course, people have other issues with a “genetic” theory for many reasons beyond "inheritance". heh

I have another (more practical) issue with an environmental argument, though. When it comes to this whole BDSM thing (that I’m still trying to work out for myself), I have had bondage and domination fantasies/daydreams since I was very young... well before I could have ever been exposed to the concept in the environment (and well before I knew what “sexual” thoughts were). I actually found most of what I thought was my own unique fantasy concepts in other people’s writings on the internet over the past year or two I’ve been looking. Why is that? I found the similarities quite creepy at first.

Which brings me to another question. I have seen other women write similar things as I just did, namely about having fantasies since they were too young to be exposed... but I have not seen men write that they have had domination fantasies since that young an age. They usually have an environmental exposure they attribute it to or, at the very least, wait until puberty to have those thoughts... heh Is that generally true, or is there a selection bias in that mainly women chose to write about this?

Jen