Coming to Power: Writings and Graphics on Lesbian S/M is a 1981 anthology edited by members of Samois, the pioneering lesbian feminist S/M organization. It gathers lesbian sadomasochistic writing and images into one volume that helped found modern lesbian BDSM culture in print. For leatherdyke history and sex-positive feminism, this book is a primary document, not a side pamphlet.
Publication and reach
The first edition sold through quickly and went out of print. The following year Alyson Publications reprinted it, carrying the book to a worldwide audience. Timing matters: Samois was already fighting the feminist sex wars over whether lesbian S/M could be ethical feminist practice at all. Putting stories, graphics, and how-to material between covers made the argument portable beyond San Francisco meeting rooms.
Form, influence, and sequel
The anthology alternates short fiction with technique and practice advice. That hybrid model, erotic story next to skill notes, has been copied by many later BDSM books. Contributors often treat sadomasochism as the height of erotic intensity rather than a pathology to apologize for. In Coming on Strong: Gay Politics and Culture, the volume is described as containing lesbian erotica. A sequel, The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader, appeared in 1996, edited by Pat Califia and Robin Sweeney. Coming to Power remains the 1981 spark: Samois-edited, Alyson-rescued, story-plus-technique structured, and still cited whenever lesbian BDSM claims its own publishing history.
