Tag: Mainstream

The Smothering Dream

This image might not be quite what you’d expect for that title on this blog. It’s by  Chinese photographer Yushi Li and is from a series she’s entitled “Paintings, Dreams and Love”. It was created in reference to a Dutch painting from 1888 entitled The Roses of Heliogabalus.

While the smothering might not be the type normally featured here, I do love the image. It has a particularly dream like quality to it. Yushi Li created the series in response to the eroticism of classical paintings, typically created by men and objectifying women. She places herself in the image for a good reason…

After some mistook her work as being shot by a male photographer, she began inserting herself into the photos — fully clothed alongside naked counterparts, and often the only person looking directly at the camera.

“Instead of being a passive, ‘looked-at’ thing, I want to be the one who is in control, who is creating the story, who is expressing my fantasy,” said Li.

You can see more images from the artist at her main site.

Modern Marriage

The Guardian has a short but fun article on the sex life of a married pro-domme and her not particularly kinky husband. As you might expect the gap between internet fantasy and reality is a large one. They come across as a sweet couple.

While it’s nice to see a positive story about a sex worker and her happy home life, it does highlight an ongoing problem for the femdom community. Pro-dommes are the very public face of femdom, but many of them may choose to not make it part of their personal lives. That reinforces the idea that femdom is really all about male desires and for women it’s purely a performative act. That’s not the fault of pro-dommes, but it does lead to a skewed perception. I’ve enjoyed the Guardian’s series on couple’s sex lives, but it’s a shame the first femdom mentioned plays yet further into that perception. Fingers crossed there’ll be a regular non-professional domme featured at some point.

This very sexy artwork is by artist Soushiyo. Can find more of their work via their Twitter feed and their comic series Familiar.

Sade

Anyone interested in the history of BDSM and located near Barcelona may want to check out a new exhibition at the CCCB – Sade: Freedom or Evil.  As the name suggests it’s about the Marquis De Sade, the eponymous root of sadism. For those not in the area there’s a good review of it in the Guardian.

The exhibition features not just his work but also modern artists, including Maplethorpe, Dali and Susan Meiselas photographs of Pandora’s Box. It all sounds very interesting, which is more than I can say for Sade’s actual writing. That always struck me as repetitive and frequently nauseating. I can appreciate extreme kinky fiction, but there’s a level or brutality in his writing that verges more on serial killer fiction than erotica.

I’ll finish with a photograph of a very different type of Sade. This is Ms Sade, who used to work as a pro-domme in NYC. It’s one of my lasting regrets that I never got to play with her before she retired. She was quite the artist herself.

Bigger isn’t Better

As a fan of CBT I thought I knew most of the crazy things men can do, or have done, to their C’s and B’s. Turns out I was wrong. This ProPublica article is a an eye opening and wince inducing look at surgical penile enlargement. Some of the procedures it describes would have even hardcore CBT fans screaming ‘Red! Red!’ It’s really interesting, and very well written, but I can’t imagine any of the doctors featured will be too happy with it.

Personally I’ll stick to penis enlargement via painful procedures the old fashion way, no scalpel required. Just pinching, biting, slapping, whipping and flicking.

This is another old image I dug from a tumblr archive. It’s original from the Mean Dungeon site.

Mr. and Mrs. Stokes

This 1897 portrait, by the famous American artist John Sargent, is of a Mr. and Mrs. Stokes. It’s unusual for the era, with Edith Stokes front and center in casual street clothes, while her husband Newton takes a more passive background position.

I love the dynamic, with the wife full of life and confidence in the center, while he adopts a neutral, almost servant like position. The same dynamic and energy captured in a modern photograph wouldn’t look out of place on my femdom social media feed.

According to this article it was originally supposed to be a more traditional painting, featuring her in an evening gown standing alone near a small table.  It was Sargent’s idea to switch to street clothes and pose her petting a Great Dane.

But when the dog became unavailable the day Sargent went to fetch it, it was Newton himself who, as he writes, “had a sudden inspiration, and offered to assume the role of the Great Dane in the picture”

Given the dynamic of the picture, and the fact the husband was inspired to take the role of a dog / supporting accessory in the picture, one can’t help but wonder if there was a hint of femdom in their relationship. This article on the pictures expresses the view…

Newton was ahead of his time, confident and secure enough to be relegated to the literal shadow of his wife.

Which may well be true, but it might also be true that he actively enjoyed that role.

Celebrity Indulgence

You’ll have to excuse this post. I’m going to be e a little self-indulgent and feature a celebrity crush. Specifically, Padma Lakshmi, who just announced she was leaving Top Chef. I’m a fan of the show and a fan of Padma. She’s smart, empathetic, loves food and looks amazing while sporting some killer outfits. What’s not to love?

If you like food shows, then I’d suggest checking out her Taste the Nation series. I’ll miss her telling chefs to pack their knives and go, but it’s a fine show in its own right.

This is Top Chef shot of Padma sourced from a Bravo TV Slideshow.

Love Swing

As a not-so-proud owner of an officially bad back, this kind of shot always makes me wince. I can’t imagine my physical therapist declaring it an approved way to stretch. On the plus side, this set-up does at least have a lot of padding for his wrists and ankles, making it better thought out than similar ones I’ve seen. He just better hope she doesn’t stand up and try pump the swing high like we used to do as kids.

I believe this is by the French visual artist Eric Madeleine in a series titled Corps-objet (Body Object).

No Basis for a System of Government

I have little love for the British royal family or the current Conservative government. However, I have to give a shout out to its member Penny Mordaunt for pulling off this look during the recent coronation. She’s not exactly the Lady of the Lake, but as sword wielding maidens go, she’s doing a fine job.

Apparently she sported the sword for 51 minutes which turns out to be quite a feat.  I’d never vote for her, but if any dragons show up and need slaying she might be just the woman for the job.

Movie Recap

One of the things lost in the big blog blowup was some posts on mainstream movies with femdom themes. I got a question from a reader about one of them, which made me think it’d be worth recapturing them in a post here.

The newest is Sanctuary, starring Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott. When first featured here it was just playing the indie festivals. Now there’s a new trailer out and it’s due for widespread US release in May. It’s billed as a drama / dark comedy and the reviews for it are looking good.

They / Them / Us is a 2021 movie starring Joey Slotnick and
Amy Hargreaves as divorced parents exploring kink. I don’t think it ever got a widespread release, but Amazon Prime subscribers can stream it for free.  You can read a review of it here.

Finally, there’s Love and Leashes from last year. This got a fair bit of positive coverage and likes on femdom Twitter when it first came out. Good to see a positive and generally happy portrayal of femdom in a mainstream movie. Netflix subscribers can stream it for free.

Apologies for repeating past posts, but I figured it was worth recapturing the lost links, particularly given that some of the movies are now more accessible than when first featured.

The Power

Fans of women with superpowers kicking ass – which I’d guess is a very large fraction of my readers- might be interested in a new Amazon Prime series: The Power. The premise is a society where young women develop the ability to manifest electricity at lethal levels, upending the balance of physical power between the genders.

I’ve not had chance to watch it yet, but you can read some reviews of the show here, here and here. They’re not all 100% positive, but the series seems to have some promise.  It’s based on a 2016 book by Naomi Alderman which did receive glowing reviews. One to add to the reading list.