Why do websites keep banning hypnosis porn? Inside erotic hypnosis and the stigma against hypno kink.

[EWinMN]

I was reading an article titled "Why do websites keep banning hypnosis porn?" from something called "The Daily Dot". We are not allowed to link directly to articles, so here are a couple of ideas I found interesting from the article:

"There are few online kinks quite like erotic hypnosis, and there are few porn genres quite like hypnosis porn. Between the spiral eyes, self-hypnosis audio tracks, female dominant (femdom) hypnotherapists, and philosophical ruminations on what it means to be in a trance, it’s the perfect blend of horny smut and oddly innocent desire. So why do websites treat hypno porn like it’s a biological weapon that could unleash massive havoc on society?

The online stigma against hypno porn sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory, but it’s all part of a larger battle over content moderation, social media puritanism, and how financial institutions control the adult industry. The Daily Dot spoke with several hypno kink content creators to learn more about online censorship against the kink—and the chilling effect on artists.

What is hypno fetish and hypno porn?

Erotic hypnosis, also known as hypno kink or hypno fetish, is an erotic and/or sexual preference for hypnosis. This can look like many things, from comics about horny supervillain hypnotists to actual hypnosis sessions between play partners.

Hypno porn varies in premise and style. Some videos are shot as point-of-view clips where a femdom holds a hypnosis session or plays a mind control-themed recording. Others involve hypnosis between performers, which may be real or staged.

Fictional hypnosis porn and erotica generally depict hypno scenarios between participants that often fall under dubious consent or nonconsent. The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive features fictional erotica stories that touch on kinks including bondage, exhibitionism, lactation, and robots."
- From the article

And ...

"Even Fetlife, the most popular social media platform for kinksters, temporarily banned hypnosis content 2017 due to pressure from credit card companies. While Fetlife’s erotic hypnosis communities were later restored, their initial removal sparked anger and panic among hypno kinksters.

“[Fetlife] too [was] facing pressure from [its] credit card processors, and it was an alarming wake-up call to the hypnokink community—we had NO other organized way to connect and create events that would easily reach relevant people,” hypno kink writer sleepingirl told the Daily Dot. “There were some existing websites but nothing that had widespread readership or usage, and although Fetlife ultimately was able to re-allow hypnokink, during that scramble, we never came up with a good alternative.”

Hypnosis bans may be the start of a slippery slope that leads to additional adult censorship. After banning “coercion” in hypnosis porn, Patreon ramped up censorship against forced transformation content, anime porn, and Patreon creators’ off-site material."

- From the article ...

I found this piece fascinating and a bit scary.

What do you think?

 

 

[CopperKnob]

I'd not heard of it, but my thought would be around consent issues. So, I could consent to being hypnotised and engaging in specific sexual acts prior to them taking place but I couldn't change my mind/safeword whilst hypnotised. I'd be completely at the will of an/other person/s

[ey****]

this is a piece in a much bigger puzzle

so the card companies and payment processors are often facing pressure from governments on what they should/shouldn't process - alongside their own discretion.  When I say governments this isn't necessarily a left/right kinda thing this is not an argument I want to start or go down, but certainly Christian Fundamentalists are amongst one of the biggest pressure groups in the US - they have assorted allies in other countries also.  In the UK one of the biggest threats to online fetish (not just pornography but community spaces) is the Online Harms Bill which both major parties back (it is however currently postponed, due to the UK not currently having a government until September....) 

hypnosis in kink terms has been under the microscope because of often implied non-consent - similarly for anything involving drugs or alcohol or something which is forced

if you put up clips involving bondage, for example, if there is penetration then at least one of the limbs must be free.   

I know sometimes people complain about what is/isn't allowed on this site - but it's why a lot of discussion is text-only (i.e. there is a scat forum but you can't put up scat photos) and the limitations of what can be discussed in the Kink Academy forum.  From memory, hypnosis is allowed to be discussed here - but - anything involving drugs, alcohol or weapons is not - and a lot of this comes down to card processors and external pressures.

A lot of the law changes have been quite recent - but, sigh, a lot started with SESTA/FOSTA which a lot of people on some fetish sites foolishly got behind - it limits the ability of sex workers to advertise (it's why folks asking payments get thrown off on here) but was merely a test drive for pushing further censorship from these groups.  

There are groups fighting a lot of these bills and changes (I am part of one - SNAP) but a lot of people are very passive in these.  Often until it's too late.

[EWinMN]

5 hours ago, CopperKnob said:

I'd not heard of it, but my thought would be around consent issues. So, I could consent to being hypnotised and engaging in specific sexual acts prior to them taking place but I couldn't change my mind/safeword whilst hypnotised. I'd be completely at the will of an/other person/s

Maybe you know something I don't. Based on my experience I have never been able to make someone do anything they didn't want to do, in hypnosis. For example, I was helping one lady quit smoking. I said something like "You find cigarettes taste more and more awful." She was deep in trance, very relaxed and said "Noooo, I don't want that." I said "Okay, you find smoking irritates your throat and in uncomfortable." Again she said "No, I don't want that." Then I said something like "Smoking is less and less interesting to you." That she was okay with.

That was quite a while ago. Now I would bring the person 'out' and talk about what they specifically wanted, or didn't want. I'm quite sure if we were mucking about with trance and I said "I'd like you to do (X), and you weren't into it, you'd either say "No." or you'd stay completely still, or you'd just open your eyes and say "No, I don't want to do that."

[CopperKnob]

1 hour ago, EWinMN said:

Maybe you know something I don't. Based on my experience I have never been able to make someone do anything they didn't want to do, in hypnosis. For example, I was helping one lady quit smoking. I said something like "You find cigarettes taste more and more awful." She was deep in trance, very relaxed and said "Noooo, I don't want that." I said "Okay, you find smoking irritates your throat and in uncomfortable." Again she said "No, I don't want that." Then I said something like "Smoking is less and less interesting to you." That she was okay with.

That was quite a while ago. Now I would bring the person 'out' and talk about what they specifically wanted, or didn't want. I'm quite sure if we were mucking about with trance and I said "I'd like you to do (X), and you weren't into it, you'd either say "No." or you'd stay completely still, or you'd just open your eyes and say "No, I don't want to do that."

So, there's no cases where individuals have experienced (alleged) sexual assault whilst hypnotised?

[EWinMN]

1 hour ago, CopperKnob said:

So, there's no cases where individuals have experienced (alleged) sexual assault whilst hypnotised?

It's a fair question. I have been studying hypnosis, eft, nlp and so forth for decades. I know their have been such claims. I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened. Some people do assault other people, no question. Some people manipulate other people and fib. This is also true.

I know of a couple of hypnotists and coaches who have, for example, done presentations in front of large groups and have been banned from returning to the venue. In one case a fellow demonstrated arm catalepsy and was asked to never return to a university. He has someone make a fist, while holding their arm straight out. Then the guy said "Your arm is stiff and rigid, like a steel bar."

He was showing the volunteer and the audience that the person could use the power of their mind to make their arm so rigid, that they couldn't move it. Some overly-paranoid person decided the words "stiff and rigid" had sexual connotations. Which is absurd.

I also know several hypnotists who have had women see them for sessions. The women would offer sexual favors. Some in order to not pay money, others because they seemed to have a fantasy of some sort, involving hypnosis. Unless they were fibbing all of them said "No." and told the women they could not work with them, and referred them to female hypnotist.

I was doing free sessions while getting a couple of certifications. I placed ads in local papers, offered free stress reduction and so forth. I had women of various ages send me (unsolicited) photos in various levels of undress. I wasn't asking for anything of the sort, but I sure did get them.

I'm sure there are unscrupulous people in every walk of life. I also recall going to a hypnotist for something (maybe confidence?) The guy was charging a very high rate, I think $300 an hour (and this was about a decade ago). He played a recording describing what hypnosis was. He had a massage chair and LED light glasses and stereo headphones. Unnecessarily fancy, I listened to the recording for a while. I opened my eyes and asked "Are you charging for this?"

He had a shocked look on his face and answered "Yes." I said for $300 an hour are we going to work on my issue today? He said "No." I said "You are not going to rip me off,  like this." Even though it was relaxing and I was in trance, I got up and left. Didn't give him a dime. Unless someone drops a roofie on you or something like that, you can't be forced to do anything under hypnosis.

 

[Deleted Member]

I suppose questions are raised about could someone really be hypnotised, could there really be some eliments or risk that someone could control & manipulate someone via a video, could the video actually be coercive to someone vaunerable & another side too is in some hypnosis porn, the imagery, patterns, lights, sounds used, could trigger seizures & some sites probably think its easier to remove them than risk any possible negative outcomes, prosecutions or lawsuits.

[EWinMN]

3 hours ago, DomDaddySir said:

I suppose questions are raised about could someone really be hypnotized, could there really be some elements or risk that someone could control & manipulate someone via a video, could the video actually be coercive to someone vulnerable & another side too is in some hypnosis porn, the imagery, patterns, lights, sounds used, could trigger seizures & some sites probably think its easier to remove them than risk any possible negative outcomes, prosecutions or lawsuits.

I see your point about seizures. I remember even The Simpson's cartoon made fun of some children's tv show that was alleged to have caused seizures in children. As far as online sessions, this has been the way people do hypnosis for quite some time. I know "the virus" made video hypnosis very, very popular. I am in several hypnosis groups with hundreds of hypnotists in each group.

There was something of a debate about online video hypnosis and just how to do them. Some thought The Elman induction could not be done, through video, which turned out to be a load of bullshit. The Elaman and any standard induction is easy to do on video. In many ways it's easier, people are already at home. They feel relaxed at home, you don't have to do through the rigamarole of helping create "a relaxing and safe scene". Most people feel safe at home already.

If they don't feel safe they should be seeing a Psychologist not a hypnotist anyway, such a case is beyond the scope of a hypnotist, such things as abuse and addiction is were a trained therapist is required.

[jjay9898]

On 7/20/2022 at 12:20 PM, CopperKnob said:

So, there's no cases where individuals have experienced (alleged) sexual assault whilst hypnotised?

I do believe that an Ohio based lawyer went to prison for leveraging hypnosis in a manner that allowed him to sexually abuse his clients. I think his name was Michael Fine and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

From an article covering this story, I found this:

There is some contradictory information regarding hypnosis, as it continues to be studied. Some, such as the APA, argue that, “contrary to some depictions of hypnosis in books, movies or television, people who have been hypnotized do not lose control over their behavior.”

An article in the Scientific American Mind, however, stated, “the subject does not experience hypnotically suggested behavior as something that is actively achieved. To the contrary, it is typically deemed as effortless — as something that just happens. People who have been hypnotized often say things like ‘My hand became heavy and moved down by itself.’”

Finally, the piece stated, “Using hypnosis, scientists have temporarily created hallucinations, compulsions, certain types of memory loss, false memories, and delusions in the laboratory so that these phenomena can be studied in a controlled environment.”

 

[EWinMN]

That's interesting but hypnosis does NOT involve a loss of awareness, rather it's a heightening of awareness.

Also, something like arm catalepsy (the hand movement referenced) is NOT a from of control OVER the other person. In fact, if anyone took a bit of time to teach him or herself (just for shits and grins) they could place one hand on a table and ask it to answer "yes, no" questions by "telling" it "Pointer finger means yes, middle finger means no" and so forth. With a bit of effort your finger will answer questions from you and from others WITHOUT you consciously moving it.