Being a part of community isn't required to practice BDSM, although it may seem like it due to visibility. What is important is knowing the positive and negative ways community influences the kink subculture. Yes, mainstream myths and stereotypes contribute to BDSM stigma, however, misleading info from the community causes harm too. On ep 188 of American Sex, Sunny Megatron & Kate Loree discuss this plus give advice on verifying the validity of educational info, sniffing out gatekeeping and “one twue wayisms,” doing effective gut checks in consent situations, and more. Sunny also discusses the far-reaching implications of overturning Roe vs. Wade & how the Earn It Act ties in.  Guest Bio – Sunny Megatron (Kink-Specific Bio) Sunny began teaching about BDSM in 2010. Her area of expertise is soft skills--which center around things like ethics, cultivating self-awareness, and strategies for effective communication. She received a FROST Certificate of Gratitude in 2020 honoring her service to the kink community, was voted XBIZ Sexpert of the year in 2021, Kinkly’s sex blogging superhero in 2017, plus her alternative sexuality focused podcast American Sex won the AASECT podcast award in 2020. Sunny also creates curriculum & teaches about BDSM for sexuality educators, therapists, and care professionals including professional certification courses like the Sexual Health Alliance’s Kink Informed Certification Program. Sunny’s first book, Customizable Kink: A Strategic Guide to Adult Play is scheduled to be released in 2022. Episode 188 Links State of Kink Survey https://surveymonkey.com/r/socialkink Sunny Megatron website https://sunnymegatron.com/ Sunny Megatron TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnymegatron? Sunny Megatron Twitter https://twitter.com/sunnymegatron Sunny Megatron Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sunnymegatron/ Resistbot: Send an email to your legislators asking them to vote NO on the Earn It Act https://resist.bot/petitions/PVLKLV or OR TEXT SIGN PVLKLV TO 50409 Roe Vs Wade implications beyond abortion https://www.npr.org/2022/05/05/1096732347/roe-v-wade-implications-beyond-abortion Ep 184 Pt. 1 Rethinking Kink https://sunnymegatron.com/rethink-kink-podcast/ Open Deeply: A Guide to Building Conscious, Compassionate Open Relationships https://www.amazon.com/dp/164742335X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_CBCD2NJQ93Q58Q0C46XZ Kate Loree Website: http://kateloree.com Kate Loree TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@opendeeplywithkateloree Kate Loree Instagram http://instagram.com/opendeeplywithkateloree Open Deeply Podcast http://opendeeplypodcast.com Sunny Megatron TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnymegatron Ken’s charity DnD game Mondays 4pm-7pm PT https://www.twitch.tv/thunderpantsacademy American Sex Podcast Discord Community http://bit.ly/discordasp American Sex Podcast Patreon http://patreon.com/americansex Kink Academy Online BDSM Learning Library http://bit.ly/kinkacademy Sunny’s Free Kink Negotiation & Scene Planning Mini-Workbook https://sunnymegatron.gumroad.com/l/negotiationwb   Episode 188 Sponsor & Affiliate Discount Codes/Links *by using our links & codes you can help support our work while saving a few bucks too—win/win! 10% off your first month with BetterHelp http://betterhelp.com/asp 15% off AND free shipping when you go to http://LikeAKitten.com/sunny OR enter code SUNNY at checkout Get up to 2 free months of podcasting service with Libsyn using this link https://signup.libsyn.com/?promo_code=SUNNY or use code SUNNY Hot & Healthy Erotic Humiliation recorded class https://gum.co/humiliationclass Prostate Play for Beginners (recorded class) from Sugar Baltimore https://www.sugartheshop.com/prostate-milking-for-beginners.html Sunny & Ken’s classes on Kink Academy http://bit.ly/kinkacademyelectric & http://bit.ly/kinkacademyhumiliation 10% off American Sex Podcast & Sunny Megatron merch with code SUNNY (t-shirts, mugs, phone cases & more) http://bit.ly/sunnyshirts 15% off your order at Lovehoney when you use thi