D is not an evolution of s

As I was writing yesterday’s post on La Domaine Esemar I had a nagging feeling it was a subject I’d covered before. Searching past posts didn’t find anything, but my bookmark list turned up this article from The Daily Beast. It’s an article I’d intended to post about but never got around to. It’s similar to the Cosmos article, giving background on the people and the Chateau, but provides a lot more detail and context. It’s certainly an interesting article, but there’s one really infuriating part in it.

This deep-seeded dedication to submission, and potential subsequent evolution into dominance, is one of the ways that La Domaine sets itself apart from the commercialized BDSM scene in New York City. People are encouraged to experience both sides, traditionally starting as a submissive and moving into a dominant role, to more fully understand the symbiotic nature of the lifestyle, whereas in other parts of the subculture people will adhere to one or the other for superficial reasons rather than trying, over time, to explore the inner-workings of their sexuality and come to a honest consensus about their true nature as a submissive or a dominant.

Firstly, dominance is not an evolution of submission. The two states are peers and partners. One is not a more advanced lifeform than the other. Secondly, the idea that it’s necessary to explore both sides to fully understand one’s true sexual nature is ludicrous. Are straight people superficial if they don’t first explore same sex relationships? Or have gay people not reached a honest consensus about themselves if they haven’t tried sleeping with someone of the opposite sex? If someone is curious or just uncertain then by all means explore. People’s desires can change and knowledge is a wonderful thing. D/s is not necessarily a binary choice, but some people know deep in their bones what works for them. The above quote smacks of ‘one true path’ bullshit and BDSM hierarchies, and that always drives me nuts.

Mistress Couple at La Domaine EsemarThe above image is Mistress Couple with a slave at La Domaine Esemar.

Cosmo Sex Shocker

There’s no shortage of articles mocking the sex advice articles from Cosmopolitan magazine. I’ve even been there and done that. However, while their track record may not be great, I was pleasantly surprised by this article on Mistress Couple and La Domaine Esemar. It’s well written, non-judgmental and surprisingly informative. Good job Cosmo.

The image below is taken from this blog post on the La Domaine Esemar site. That’s a washing prior to a weenie roasting.

Image from La Domaine Esemar

Idiocy on idiocy

After writing yesterday’s post on the stupid British porn laws, I spotted this page by Megara Furie on the issue of minors accessing content. Apparently the issue is that the widely used Clips 4 Sale site accepts debit cards. Credit cards require proof of age, but anyone can get a prepaid debit card. That effectively means that no UK producer can use the number one clips site in the world. There are alternatives (for example Clips Fatale), but I suspect the other sites don’t see anywhere near the same volume of traffic.

I can see this is clearly a major problem. I’m sure that many minors are saving up their pocket money in order to sneakily acquire debit cards and then pay for pornography. There’s absolutely no way they’d be going off to the completely free and anonymous sites like redtube or xvideos or pornhub. Minors are also notoriously bad and nervous about using modern technology, so there’s no chance there’d be getting porn from one of the zillions of illegal but free torrent sites out there.

Quite frankly if anyone did find a minor paying for porn he (or she) should get an award for their honesty (after taking the porn away). I can only hope the idiots at ATVOD organization never stumble across any of the more potent Japanese femdom material. It might melt their tiny little brains. There’s all sorts of extreme whipping, breathplay and toilet scenes. None of which is now allowed in Britain. The image below is from the Rinryu site which (fair warning) containing heavy material featuring all three of those activities.

Japanese Femdom

The law is an ass

I’ve covered the stupidity of the UK’s new anti-sex laws in past posts here, here and here. When you give unelected bodies censorious powers it’s only going to be matter of time before they use them. As this article makes clear, that time has now come. Two UK pro-dommes – Megara Furie and Mistress R’eal – have been found at fault and forced to withdraw content. When the laws were passed there were multiple articles highlighting how horribly biased they would be in penalizing independent female producers (for example this and this). No surprise then that the first people to be affected are two independent pro-dommes. The UK government is all in favor of successful small businesses, just as long as they’re not run by women producing consensual erotica for others to enjoy.

What I found particularly laughably in the article was that the goverment board also threw out the old chestnut about minors being able to access the material. Have these people never encountered tumblr? Obviously I don’t support kids seeing explicit material, but when it comes to censoring online sources, that horse has long since bolted. In fact not only bolted, but had a happy life frolicking in meadows, died of old age, been turned into glue and is now helping old ladies scrapbook photos of the grandchildren.

Sadly, based on the latest UK election results, it looks like the people who passed this law will be returning to power. Thus proving that while the good may die young, the evil get elected to power and fuck with the rest of us.

MegaraFurieThe above image is of Megara Furie, the Glasgow based pro-domme penalized under the new laws. If you’d like to session with her then her contact information can be found here.

Mirrors

Mirrors feature heavily in most playspaces. Ask any pro-domme and they’ll typically tell you how important it is to have a lot of mirrors around. Quite frankly, until very recently, I never really understood that. After all, I know what I look like, and don’t have any desire to stare at myself. I might be masochistic, but I’m not narcissistic. The domme normally does look fabulous, but I can see her anyway. So what’s the point of the mirrors?

In recent months I’ve begin to appreciate them a little more. Originally I looked on them in the same way I might look at pornography. Is it hot? Is it visually appealing? Often the answer was no. Seeing me tied up and getting beaten wasn’t hot, because the comparison I always made was with commercial porn. But now I’m beginning to look at them as an alternative view on our dynamic. I’m not simply looking at two bodies, one hot, one not. I’m looking at two people doing some crazy kinky stuff. I’m watching a mutually fulfilling interaction. Seeing that play out from another angle in a mirror can be really interesting. I just had to let go of my pornographically conditioned view on what exciting kinky play looked like.

MirrorI found this image on the Femdom Style Counsel tumblr. I’m afraid I don’t have an original source.

Hollywood Couple

This is a fun vintage shot from the golden age of Hollywood. The man is John Huston, famous director of such films as The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen and The Man Who Would Be King. The woman is Olivia de Havilland, a Hollywood star who appeared in such films as Gone With The Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood and They Died with Their Boots On. They apparently met and fell in love in the 1940’s. I’ve no idea what the context for the shot is, but it made me smile.

HollywoodCoupleI found this via the Alternative Femdom tumblr.

Lovely Marks

I’m not exactly sure where this shot is from. It looks like an out-take from a porn shoot. Whatever the context, I do love those marks. I’m sure that would seem weird to most non-kinky people, and even a few kinky people, but there’s something very satisfying about post-play marks. I’m sporting some across my chest from a session with Lydia a couple of days ago, and every time I see them in the mirror I smile and rub them.

LovelyMarks

Slacking

I’m in Las Vegas for a few days of R & R. In an unusual turn of events I’ve actually got no kinky fun lined up for this trip. Just hanging out with friends, eating out and relaxing. I’ll try and keep the blog updated but updates may be a bit erratic.

One thing I always enjoy in Vegas is dressing smartly. It’s not exactly Monte Carlo (despite the namesake casino) when it comes to fashion, so a suit really stands out, while still looking good.

Smart
This is a photograph shot by Tibi Clenci for Elle magazine in October 2010. The models are Silviu Tolu and Andreea Diaconu.

Kink on Netflix

I’ve mentioned the James Franco documentary on kink.com in previous posts here. I’ve yet to see it, but that may be about to change. I just noticed it has been made available on Netflix’s streaming service. Not sure if what regions it’s available in, but I can certainly see it listed in the US. May be worth a look if you’re at all curious about one of the larger companies in the BDSM porn scene.

The image below is from the kink site TS Seduction and features the beautiful Yasmin Lee.

Yasmin Lee from Kink.Com