brian,
i do not know what the DSM-IV is, but since you quoted dictionary definitions in response to joanna, here's the definition of sadism from dictionary.com:
------------------------------------------
sa·dism
1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive
sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on
others.
2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from
cruelty.
3. Extreme cruelty.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
sa·dism
1. The act or an instance of deriving sexual gratification from
infliction of pain on others.
2. A psychological disorder in which sexual gratification is derived
from infliction of pain on others.
Source: The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
------------------------------------------
i am however guessing that you (and the BDSM community) use the word differently, expanding the definition to include voluntariness on the part of the receiver and the lack of any permanent physical or mental detrimental effect (or perhaps the opposite: the presense of physical or mental satisfaction).
however, though i disagree with chris doss' wording or at least the implications of his terse post, i wonder whether it is a healthy (in some suitable definition of the term 'healthy' without having to nail down 'normal') thing to want to inflict pain on others?
note that i do not believe in "sick in the head" (especially in the sense of departure from normalcy) explanations and the categorization of sadist instincts as a psychological disorder (since it begs the question of why we presume that the moral/ethical ideal is the normal/baseline state): it may well turn out that biologically sadism is quite natural. my question, at the societal (if that's the right word) level is therefore this: can the expression of sadism be carried out at a purely fantasy level that does not truly harm others and oneself?
--ravi