'Queer' Counselor Grooms Lesbian Woman into BDSM

Please note: the following contains descriptions of sexual abuse that may be distressing for trauma survivors. Also, as Muzacz appears to be a trans-identified male, I will use male pronouns.

Arien K. Muzacz, PhD, is a clinical assistant professor of mental health counseling at Oregon State University. On Linkedin, Muzacz states that he works with “transgender, bisexual, HIV-positive and older clients, and those who are involved in BDSM, kinky, or polyamorous relationships.” In June 2021, Muzacz published a paper titled Expressions of Queer Intimacy: BDSM and Kink as a Means of Self-Actualization in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.

In the academic journal, Muzacz argues that “kink is presented as a means of promoting identity integration and fostering an ongoing process of self-actualization and self-storying.” He uses one of his patients, a woman identified only as Z, as an example, and utilizes obfuscating academic language to rationalize the conversion of a lesbian who suffered “childhood traumas and reported symptoms consistent with PTSD and anxiety disorders” into “a queer- and kink-affirming bisexual cisgender female.”

Z attended counseling sessions with Muzacz while attending university. At the time, Z “identified as lesbian and queer” and was in a relationship with a person who, at that time, also “identified as a lesbian.”

Muzacz describes how Z reported having been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and disordered eating at earlier points in her life, and suffered monthly panic attacks and occasional dissociation. According to Muzacz, Z “often fought to overcome suicidal thoughts and self-sabotaging behaviors and to regulate their sensory intake.”

At the beginning of their counseling sessions, Z reported feeling guilt and shame over an interest in BDSM sexual practices that caused her partner to feel unsafe, and accused Z of putting their psychological safety at risk. Specifically, her partner stated that Z was being abusive when “their play resulted in physical marks.”

“Even though BDSM scenes in which [she] participated were negotiated in advance
and consensual, [she] recognized [her] own internalized stigma about these activities. Following a scene in which [she] consented to be hit with a baseball bat and repeatedly called a ‘fa**ot,’ [she] reported feeling a strong sense of self-empowerment around queer gender identity. When describing this in counseling, [she] asked, ‘What if I’m really fucked up?’ and then acknowledged [she] was ‘kink-shaming’ [herself].”

Though the self-harm described clearly seems to reflect a response to homophobia, possibly internalized, the language suggests that Muzacz guided her towards the belief that masochism can be empowering and a path towards self-expression.

In a 1980 interview, lesbian feminist Audre Lorde was asked for her views on sadomasochism within the lesbian community. She replied:

“Sadomasochism is an institutionalized celebration of dominant / subordinate relationships. It prepares us either to accept subordination or enforce dominance. Even in play, to affirm that the exertion of power over the powerless is erotic, is empowering, is to set the emotional and social stage for the continuation of that relationship politically, socially, and economically.

Sadomasochism feeds the belief that domination is inevitable. In the same way that rape is not about sex, s/m is not about sex but how we use power.”

To claim that any critical analysis of self-harm when practiced in a sexualized context is “kink-shaming” is more than a disservice to victims of abuse — it actually asserts that abuse can be liberating, even empowering. This is a dangerous narrative that provides cover for sexual predators.

“As a result of this occurrence, Z reported struggling with self-doubt and wondered whether they should refrain from participating in the BDSM community, asking themselves, ‘Am I a bad person?’

By the time Z ended counseling, Z identified as gender fluid/genderqueer and was engaging in aspects of social transition, for example, using gender-neutral pronouns and altering their physical appearance with hairstyles, clothing, and a chest binder.

Muzacz describes how during counseling, he “supported Z’s process of exploring kink”:

“The next time we worked together, Z was using masculine gender pronouns (i.e., he/him/his) and had made social transitions to affirm a more masculine gender identity, including a legal name change.

[Her] primary goals for counseling were related to medical interventions to support gender transition, that is, to start hormone treatment and to receive a letter of support for chest reconstruction surgery.”

Notice how Muzacz refers to a double mastectomy, also sometimes called “top surgery”, as “chest reconstruction surgery”. This language implies that a woman’s healthy breasts are in need of repair despite no physical illness being present. This effectively shifts the blame for any feelings of bodily dysmorphia from a society which objectifies women onto the woman herself, and suggests that experiencing discomfort with hypersexualized ideas about the female form are symptomatic of a disease which only the removal of the breasts can cure.

“Reflecting on the idea of change over time, Z described how [her] affectional identity shifted from lesbian to queer. Z reported getting more involved in kink communities locally and online and choosing a scene name to use consistently at play parties and events. ]She] reported forming relationships within queer- and trans-specific groups and finding comfort in doing more D/s play in a submissive role, for example, bootblacking and other forms of service.”

According to Kinkly, bootblacking is “ a service common in BDSM circles, especially in leather communities. It involves cleaning, polishing, and sometimes spit-blacking a pair of boots, usually that of a Dominant or Master/Mistress.”

Shortly before Z’s top/chest reconstruction surgery, Z did a public ‘chest objectification’ scene with [her] Master as a representation of [her] ‘grieving process’ honoring the change in [her] physical body. The scene included Z being blindfolded and laying shirtless on a metal table in a queer-centric BDSM play space and inviting lovers, friends, and strangers to write messages on [her] chest and interact with [her] body while [her] Master watched over [her] for [her] safety and comfort. The scene offered an opportunity for Z to experience objectification, intense S/m interactions with strangers and acquaintances, and the risk of anonymous encounters in a protected and managed environment. [Her] Master’s role involved encouraging others to engage with Z’s body while simultaneously protecting Z and refraining from inserting herself into the interaction. The combination of protection, helplessness, and uncertainty facilitated Z surrendering to the grieving process of his changing body. Describing the scene in counseling, Z said it was ‘very cathartic and very sweet.’”

Reading between the lines of the academic jargon, this passage apparently describes a young lesbian woman with a self-reported history of abuse and trauma, who had developed anxiety and eating disorders and a discomfort with her breasts, lying shirtless and blindfolded on a table in order to “experience objectification” while strangers “interacted with [her] body”. According to Muzacz, “The philosophical shift from subject to object began to set the stage for self-empowerment and greater relational freedom.”

It is astonishing that objectification is presented as a form of therapy when such an experience could exacerbate feelings of dissociation and strengthen the desire to undergo a double mastectomy. That this is presented as a form of care in an academic journal is cause for great concern. In this case study, Muzacz describes a young woman, a lesbian, running away from womanhood, and portrays the facilitation of this process as therapeutic care. In reality, this is sadomasochism as conversion therapy.

In a letter to the editor in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, published November 22, titled “The Gender Affirmative Treatment Model for Youth with Gender Dysphoria: A Medical Advance or Dangerous Medicine?” Alison Clayton asks:

“How will masculinizing chest surgery for gender dysphoric youth be viewed by future generations? The enthusiasm for it, despite the lack of a rigorous evidence base, suggests that it may be seen as another example of what Valenstein (1986) called ‘great and desperate cures.’

Littman (2021), in her survey of 100 detransitioners, found 23% reported homophobia or difficulty accepting themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual as a reason for their transition and subsequent detransition. The example of Iran is also often raised in this context. Jafari (2014) noted that Iran’s government boasts about their high rates of sexual reassignment surgeries as indicative of their commitment to human rights, and that some, including Western media sources, can portray the availability of such surgeries in Iran as liberal and progressive. Yet, in Iran, homosexuality is forbidden and punishable by the death penalty. To avoid this, homosexuals may have to undergo sexual reassignment surgery (see also Hamedani, 2014). Jafari (2014) commented that ‘ultimately the state’s goal–and the murkier side to this ‘liberal’ medico-legal development–is the assimilation of homosexual men and women within a binary gender paradigm.’”

It is my view that gender ideology is deeply intertwined with the politics of sadomasochism and celebrates dissociation and self-harm, particularly among women and lesbians. In upholding masochism as an act of courage or as a pathway towards self-fulfillment, gender ideology perpetuates male dominance and female subordination and replicates certain religious beliefs that conflate suffering with moral virtue. Through gender ideology and queer theory, women and girls who seek to escape female objectification are guided down a pathway towards surgical self-harm and mental self-abnegation — which in turn greatly profits the male-dominated medical establishment and reifies sex inequality.