What's wrong with fuzzy handcuffs? From a physical standpoint, there are two common problems. First, the actual handcuffs that get sold with the fuzzy sleeves on them tend to be very low-quality, and can get jammed or otherwise break more easily than a pair of good quality, police-issue handcuffs. Secondly, if the fuzz wears off and gets into the handcuff mechanisms then it can cause jamming issues as well. Handcuffs are always a higher-risk bondage toy than your typical set of leather cuffs, but putting fuzzy sleeves on the ratchet mechanisms can significantly increase the risk involved when playing with them.
When kinksters speak with disdain of "fuzzy handcuffs," though, they're usually not talking about handcuffs. Rather, they're talking about the kind of people they see as the target market for those kinds of toys: Light players who call themselves kinky because they occasionally use blindfolds during foreplay, or engage in a little light spanking during intercourse. In a lot of kinksters' eyes, these people insult the whole concept of kink, as well as those of us who play heavier, by "daring" to appropriate the name of kink for their lighter play.
I wouldn't experience blindfold play or light spanking as much different from "normal" vanilla sexual activity, but I don't think that makes me "more" of a kinkster. I've always disliked the idea of being exclusionary when it comes to labels and identities, but I really blanch when it happens with kink because of how dangerous it is. When kinksters rail against lighter players who start experimenting with kink using fuzzy handcuffs and the kinds of toys you find in "upscale sex boutiques," they run the risk of putting those people off of kink events where they could be educated, where people like us can say, "Hey, those fuzzy handcuffs can be risky to play with because of these reasons, so here's why you might want to try using these buckling leather cuffs first." Those people could then get seriously hurt if they try riskier kink on their own, not coming to the rest of us for help because we've treated them so poorly before.
It's understandable that some heavier players may want to associate with other heavier players, but all of us who identify as kinky -- no matter how light or heavy we play -- face the same problems from the rest of society when it comes to stereotypes and legal problems and potential employment issues. You can avoid playing with lighter players and still support their rights to express their kink, just like those lighter players want you to be safe as a kinkster as well. We're all in the same boat, battling the same rough waters, so it really bothers me when some kinksters want to throw people overboard for not being "kinky enough" for them. We have a lot to gain by tolerating our differences, and a lot to lose by continuing all this petty bickering.
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