Have people ever tried to make you feel bad about having an interest in spanking?

I have only talked about my spanking interest online and not in real life, but some people online have insulted me and made me feel bad about having the interest. They even make me feel like there's something wrong with me, or that I'm doing something wrong.

Outside the community that's the reaction you'll get most of the time. No understanding or compassion for someone who is different than them. First wife was that way with me. Wanted me to seek help for something I was born with. It didn't work and neither did the marriage.

My dad said something to the effect that I was "sick" or "weird" when he found out about my fetish (I was an adult at the time). My parents never spanked me as a kid.

Yes. I was called a paedophile and told I should get chemically castrated so I didn't become a sex offender. People can be very thoughtless and ignorant.

Only occasionally. I was on a gay hookup site once and a guy laid into me because he was recovering from a major car crash and, if I had gone through the pain he had gone though, then I would not be so insensitive to the pain of others?

The only other occasion was a guy on a spanking site wanted to meet for a session. We corresponded for a while but it was a trap. I realised and aborted the meet at the last minute and got a load of abuse by text about being a pervert. I replied that I was very comfortable with what I did and was not breaking the law. So he phoned me up, and seemed very angry. I listened calmly and just told him that I was happy whilst he, apparently, seemed to have some anger issues. He gave up at that point. Having enjoyed receiving humiliation in role play, he provided me with the perfect script for a future session.

I choose who I tell in real live and the response has been in the range of positive to non comprehending, but never attacking me. I told a new friend a couple of weeks ago, in a few minutes within a four hour conversation His response was that it is a fine line between pain and pleasure. He also thanked me for being so open and he had some different stuff to share of his own. I think the mutuality of the divulging has been a key to not having problems. No one has ever found out by accident although it may happen one day.

Those who have extremely strong anti-spanking sentiments may have had some bad experiences in their past. I honestly don't feel our interest is anything to be ashamed of. I like to say that consensual adult spanking is as harmless an activity as flower arranging. What about people who take an interest in murder, for example? A programme like Midsomer Murders in the UK is presented as harmless family entertainment but often depicts truly appalling crimes of violence. No-one suggests that people are "sick" for watching it.

I rarely discuss it with vanillas. They can never have more than an abstract understanding of our thing so talking about it with them is really just kind of pointless. It's like discussing the merits of different colors with someone who's been blind all their life.

"50 Shades Of Grey" suddenly meant everyone had an interest in spanking, at least by smart rich guys who had helicopters and art galleries.

Before that it was a pretty perilous path. I once joined a new team at work which was pretty raucous for teasing one another, but they didn't know enough about me to tease me. However someone in the office once mentioned fetishes and so I said I'd been to a fetish party - to my horror, they assumed I meant an orgy so then I had to explain exactly what a spanking party entailed. In full detail. No surprises who was top of the tease list for a while.

I not sure if this qualifies but it reminded me of the time I was in the waiting room at my dentist office a few years after I'd finished school, probably about age 25, waiting to be called in for my appointment and listening to a conversation that an older lady was having with a couple other women. She was a teacher and was telling the other ladies about how difficult it was dealing with all the disciplinary issues that middle school teachers were having in the mid 70s. She said, "I've been doing a lot of paddling. I make them bend over and grab their ankles because I like those pants good and tight on their fannies." I couldn't resist...I interrupted and asked point blank, "Do you paddle girls?" I was curious because when I was in school girls were never paddled, but I'd heard rumors that they were now that they had been allowed to wear pants since I was in school. The ladies all looked at me with a disgusted look on their faces, ignored my question and when back to their conversation. I don't think it was their intent to make me feel like a pervert, but they sure did! I couldn't wait for the hygienist to call be back to get me out of there.

It is not something i mention in conversation to those i don't know, and those who know can either accept it or not, i was told of a quote which i liked and in a way live by as it seems good advice.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

I have found folk are mostly intrigued rather than derogatory, yes heard comments like that's weird or such like, but ignored the response and moved on.
Anyway i like weird