Vanilla

Community shorthand for people, activities, places or clothing outside kink, such as a person with no interest in BDSM or sex without BDSM elements.

Vanilla is the kink community’s word for what lies outside it. Wikipedia’s Glossary of BDSM uses it for a person with no interest in BDSM and for sex without BDSM elements. The same glossary’s entry for a munch places that social, non-sexual gathering at a “vanilla” venue. The Portland Leather Alliance’s guide for newcomers uses the sense for clothing too, noting that guests may have to wear ordinary street clothes, which it calls “vanilla,” outside the event area.

Sources

  1. Glossary of BDSM — Wikipedia
  2. New to the Scene — Portland Leather Alliance