The Ties That Bind: Ariel Anderssen on Cults to Kink

9 snips

Mar 10, 2025

Ariel Anderssen, a professional BDSM model and sex-positive author, shares her transformative journey from a strict Jehovah's Witness upbringing to embracing sexual liberation. She reveals the psychological impacts of her past and highlights the parallels between the power dynamics in BDSM and cults. Ariel also discusses the importance of consent, the misconceptions surrounding BDSM, and its empowering aspects. With a touch of spice, she invites listeners to explore what true freedom and community in sexuality can look like.

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ANECDOTE

Childhood Fear of Armageddon

The Jehovah's Witnesses predicted the world's end in the early 1990s, causing Ariel deep fear as a child.
She worried she might not be good enough to survive Armageddon despite her family's faith.

INSIGHT

Sexual Repression in Religion

Jehovah's Witnesses strictly forbid most sexual acts beyond vanilla heterosexual sex.
This instills guilt and shame from a young age, damaging natural sexual development.

ANECDOTE

Finding Community in BDSM

At 25, Ariel attended a BDSM art gallery and experienced a profound sense of relief seeing her secret desires displayed.
She realized she was not alone and found a welcoming community, marking a turning point in self-acceptance.

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We’re bringing you a spicy one today on ALBC! Our guest is Ariel Anderssen, a professional BDSM model and sex-positive author. Raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, Ariel grew up in a world where sexuality was strictly controlled, desire was equated with sin, and the end of the world was always just around the corner. But after leaving the faith, she embarked on a journey of self-discovery that led her to embrace kink, submission, and sexual liberation.

In this episode, Ariel shares what it was like to grow up in a high-control religious group that dictated every aspect of her life, from what she could wear to how she could think. She opens up about the moment she realized she wasn’t alone in her desires, the misconceptions people have about BDSM, and the surprising parallels between religious fundamentalism and the power dynamics in kink. We also get into feminism, consent, and the ongoing cultural battle over who gets to decide what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to sex.

Today’s episode gets a bit steamy, so consider yourself warned.

If you want to learn more about Ariel’s story, check out her memoir Playing to Lose: How a Jehovah’s Witness Became a Submissive BDSM Model. You can also find her on X: @ArielAnderssen or at www.arielanderssenauthor.com.

Also… let it be known that:

The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

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CREDITS:

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

Production Partner: Amphibian.Media

Writer & Co-Creator: Jess Tardy

Associate producers: Amanda Zaremba and Matt Stroud of Amphibian.Media

Audio production: Red Caiman Studios

Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin