Difference between BDSM play and torture

Which made me think about the real difference between bdsm play and torture.

The techniques may be similar, even, on occasion, as in waterboarding, exactly the same. But there the similarity ends. In BDSM, the intense practice may be an hour, but its more likely to be just a few minutes and rarely, it may be longer. There will be a build up to the practice, in which trust is built between top and bottom, even if the actual words and expression don't make this obvious. The intense practice itself induces huge panic and maybe intense pain (sensation is a better, less emotive word) that may overcome the initial trust, leading to the classic 'head fuck' which is largely the point of the exercise. But regardless of the head fuck, there IS knowledge, at some level, that trust remains.

After the practice, the bottom will be held and nurtured, again, this is true even if some of the practice looks, on the surface, different (I'm thinking of the sort of scene where the slave may just be chucked in a cage afterwards, but however care-less it may look, it never is).

Compare this with torture practice. There is absolutely no trust established first, exactly the opposite, there is no knowledge, at any level, that the subject will be looked after, and there is no promise of aftercare, and certainly no more than the medical minimum. Practice may continue for days. This is not a head fuck as we know it, it is a psychological insult that is very real.

I raise this issue because its easy to want to portray bdsm practice as similar to 'real' torture, as it is to want bdsm type rape fantasy to be in some way similar to the real rape, because in that brief moment, under careful control, the bottom can feel something similar to the real insult. For whatever reason, that experience is important. But, to the world outside bdsm looking in, its in our interest to be careful that we do highlight how our practice is ultimately nurturing and not actually similar to the real thing.