Objectification Fetish

I was reading back through the interview with Troy Orleans I featured in yesterday’s post and this part stood out to me.

…I have an objectification fetish, and I don’t use the word fetish lightly. Objectifying— even just saying the word makes me feel a little tingle. It’s something that’s really thrilling for me. When I get to put someone in this heavy bondage and have them fully immobilized and anonymized, they become this shape, this physical sculpture that I’ve created now hanging in my salon—that to me is incredibly arousing, erotic, and powerful.

People often talk about the appearance of bondage but reading this made me think about all the different types of bondage aesthetic. The one most people probably think of in that context is Shibari, particularly suspension scenes. However, there’s also smooth parcel like bondage, old fashioned rope bondage, predicament bondage, medical bondage, etc. All have their own particular aesthetic. The kind Troy is referring to – heavy use of leather and metal to control and objectify someone – isn’t a common bondage look in either kink or mainstream worlds, but for me it’s by far the hottest kind.

I remember doing a session with Troy a few years ago and she had me suspended in a bodybag as shown here. When everything was rigged with many ties, locks and layers, she asked if she could cover my face. Not so much for my benefit, but for what she described as the aesthetic effect. She just wanted the scene to look right as she imagined it. I can’t handle heavy hoods but we came up with a lightweight material hood that I could live with. Immobilized anonymization was achieved and I became that physical sculpture hanging in her studio.

Here’s a lovely shot of Troy at work creating another of her pieces of art. This is from her Twitter feed.

Troy Orleans Interview

Petit Mort magazine has a lengthy and fascinating interview with Troy Orleans. As most of my readers probably know, Troy is a world class domme and rigger based in NYC. I can speak to her skills from experience – for example here and here. She’s always one of the first people I reach out to when I know I’m heading to NYC.

I’ll probably dig into the article a little more in a future post. In the meantime I’ll leave you with an image Troy shared recently on her Twitter feed. It’s a very sexy shot, although I think exactly why that is would be hard to describe to a non-kinky person. Blurred elbows and ratchet straps aren’t exactly classic pin up material, but I do love this.

You can find Troy’s professional site here.

Kink on The Strip

Vegas isn’t a particularly kinky city. Big on sex work in general, not a lot of the kinky variety. However, I did spot one street performer doing her bit to change that.

Like other touristy places, the Vegas Strip has a lot of costumed street performers. For a few bucks you can get your photograph taken with a Batman, an Optimus Prime, a Donald Duck, etc. Vegas being Vegas, classic showgirl outfits are a popular get up, featuring lots of sparkles, bright colors and plunging necklines. Think something like this photo.

One enterprising performer I spotted wondering past the Bellagio had accessorized the classic showgirl look with a leather spanking strap. This wasn’t a brightly colored heart shaped play paddle. It was long, thick, black heavy leather. The kind of implement even a serious spankee would want to warm up to. I admired her attempt to appeal to more clients, particularly kinky ones, but felt she might want to pick a less fearsome weapon.  One that wouldn’t strike fear into the heart of passing tourists.

It’s pretty tricky to find a photograph of a dominatrix showgirl. Instead I’ll leave you with another costume I spotted on the strip – Catwoman. She didn’t have a leather padddle on her, which was a shame. I might have been inclined to stop for a whack or two.

More Tip of the Moon

Hanging out with friends in Vegas hasn’t left a lot of blogging time. Plus, with age comes much longer recovery times from any late nights. I now need a good few hours the following day in a quiet darkened room to get over the after effects.

I haven’t yet tried adding bondage to my recovery period, but maybe that might help? It can be comforting. Plus, endorphins are good for hangovers. Although maybe not anything as stringent as that on this young man.

Artwork is from Tip of the Moon who I first featured here back in August.

I sourced this via this tweet. You can see more from Tip of the Moon on Twitter, on Deviant Art and on SubscribeStar.

On The Road Again

I’m in Vegas for a few days R&R. Unusually I haven’t booked any kinky adventures. I can’t remember the last time I traveled and didn’t plan some sort of hijinks. Maybe I’m getting old.

Another reason for me taking it easy might be the fact that Savannah Sly was in Seattle a week or so ago. We got together for a couple of sessions and my kinky itches were well and truly scratched. Also bitten, slapped, poked and pinched. She left me buzzing for days, with a lovely collection of bruises to admire. Much more satisfying that anything on offer to me right now in Sin City.

This image is from Savannah’s twitter feed. Look out for her in Chicago on Dec 1st. If you’d like to see more of her online, she has an OnlyFans here.

Pythonesque

This image – sourced via Madam Is All tumblr – looks like it could have been a sketch from the Monty Python crew. They always had a penchant for playing Northerners in flat caps and pulling out old fashioned frocks and wigs for their female characters. There’s more than a touch of Michael Palin as Mr Gumby in the man  in the center.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find any background on it. Image searching suggests it’s from London in 2003 but nothing else. I’d guess it’s some sort of art project.

Crypto and Kink

Crypto and findomme are two things I understand the appeal of while, at the same time, they do nothing for me personally. Money is thankfully not connected to my libido, which gets me out of the complexities of findomme. Crypto is trickier, as I do like the idea of a decentralized online currency. Visa and Mastercard should absolutely not be the de facto censors of the internet. Sadly, the current implementations of crypto seem problematic and the culture around it rife with weird politics and scams.

However, if you’re a fan of either or both of these areas, then I’ll point you at this interview with Allie Eve Knox on the decrypt site. She’s a findomme and crypto user and does a nice job of covering all the horribly messed up banking issues that sexworkers can face. I’m not sure I’ll personally be signing up for SpankChain anytime soon, but I love the idea of sex workers innovating in this space. You can read more from Allie on Twitter.

Yushi Li

I’ve featured the work of Chinese photographer Yushi Li in a prior post. However, it’s so good I feel it deserves revisiting.

The images below are from a series she called ‘Your Reservation is Confirmed‘. They’re funny but also play with the power dynamic in unusual ways. In a porn context these would be CFNM images, but as shot here they have quite a different feel. Typical CFNM shots are still focused on the male gaze, a play acted humiliation for the benefit of the viewer. These flip that around, with Li’s composed presence  and direct stare challenging the viewer.

You can read more about her work in articles here and here. You can find more of her images on her primary web site.

#teakink

If you’re interested in kink, sex work and podcasts then allow me to point you at #teakink by Eva Oh. She completed Season One recently and while I’m not typically much of a podcast person, I’ve enjoyed this one. It not only covers how she got into sex work and the unique challenges of pro-domination, but also her relationships with her family, adventures in Bali during Covid and what she’s learned about kink, life and herself over her career to date.

I’ve sadly not yet had chance to session with Eva. However, all the dommes I’ve played with who do know her have gushed about what a fabulous person she is. So, should you ever have an opportunity to play or chat with her, I’d definitely suggest taking it.

This image is from Eva Oh’s twitter feed, featuring her and Alessia Jade. You can find Eva’s primary professional site here.