The beauty of dominant women
I’ve been thinking I need to buy some more artwork for my walls. Edgy and provocative can be good, but I probably will not be shopping at this Divine Bitches gallery. I can’t imagine managing smalltalk over drinks with friends and colleagues with this kind of painting lurking in the background. I wonder if Michelangelo’s David would still be as famous today if it sported an enormous and realistic erection?
It’s possible probable I’ve been spending too much time lurking on kinky sites. During my coffee break browsing today I stumbled on this article on useful knots, and was shocked that bondage wasn’t featured front and centre. I think I read through all 200+ comments looking for mentions of kink, and only spotted a couple. The fact I found the lack of kinky comments weird is perhaps a sign I should get out more. Maybe do some fishing, camping, climbing and sailing and use knots as God intended.
For those perverts out there like myself who have trouble picturing family friendly uses for a knot, this article on Rope Bondage 101 might be more interesting. It’s got a lot of great advice on materials, techniques, safety and of course knots.
There are various cropped version of this image floating around on tumblr (where I found it originally). A bit of detective work led me to the original by the photographer David Lawrence. This is from his series Vertis.
While I’m on a horsey theme, here’s a nice shot of couple indulging in some horseplay. It’s probably a really odd thing to say, but I like the understated fetishistic elements in the scene. Horse and pony play often lends itself to really ornate leather gear and fancy equestrian costumes. This has some very sexy but sensible clothes and a worn but solid looking leather saddle. It’s hot without sliding into fetish flamboyance.
I’m afraid I don’t know the source of this image. If anyone can help with that please leave a comment.
I was sad to see that Ellen Pao lost her case of gender discrimination against the Venture Capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The very existence of the lawsuit will have had some effect on Silicon Valley, but a win would have done much more to shake up a male dominated tech industry.
I wasn’t on the jury, so can’t speak to the details of the case, but I do know the deck is stacked against women in these situations. The jury is being asked to decide if someone was fired for incompetence or fired because of the firm’s culture and biases. Unfortunately there’s little chance that a randomly selected jury can come to an independent informed decision on the issue of competence in a VC firm. I suspect even a carefully chosen panel of technology experts would struggle on that. Instead they’re forced to use the reviews, notes and opinions from the firm itself, and that’s where the deck is stacked.
I’ve covered the double standards for women working in tech in the past, along with the more general issue of attitudes to forceful women. Characteristics that get a man promoted – aggressive, pushy, argumentative – will count against a woman. Women who are laid back lack initiative, where women who forceful are difficult to work with. Those biases end up in emails and performance reviews. The data that the jury is forced to use to decide competence is coming from a tainted source – the very firm that’s in the dock. So unless it’s a horribly egregious example of discrimination, then the biases of male bosses and co-workers continue to function as part of the trial evidence. I think this Jezebel article does a pretty good job of covering the issue.
I sadly don’t have any answer to this problem, other than raising awareness of it. I’ll leave you with a picture of a very successful independent businesses woman. She’s created her own media empire based on the latest technical innovations. Plus, she has an excellent T-shirt on. This is of course the one and only Mistress T.
While I was on vacation I sadly missed the Emerald City Comicon. That’s particularly annoying as I live just a block or so from the Washington Convention Center. I could have walked out my front door to get a coffee and bumped into a dozen or more cosplayers roaming the area. I’m not a big comic book geek, but I do enjoy experiencing interesting cultures and seeing people having fun with their hobbies. I particularly enjoy the effort and creativity that goes into cosplay. The fact that this sometimes involves attractive ladies in fetish influenced outfits is just an added bonus.
This is the Baroness (played by Cobra North) and Snake Eyes (played by Danquish). Photographed by The Will Box.
I’m back in Seattle at the end of a pleasant holiday. On the last day I was fortunate enough to get to play with Domina Yuki, which resulted in a very fun session. At one point she played ‘whack-a-mole’ with a leather strap for a hammer and a very nervous mole. Or, as Captain Hammer might less subtly put it, the mole was my penis. I actually have a short video of that which, if I can deal with the conversion issues, I’ll try and post to tumblr.
We also did some zippering. That’s always an interesting but intense activity. The placement of the zipper, the length of time it’s left on for and the type of clips used can vary the sensations quite dramatically. These clips were particularly evil, especially when placed across the tight skin at the top of the chest.
The image below is a zipper from the Dudes in Distress site. For anyone wishing to see a zipper in action there’s a couple of scenes from kink.com in animated gif form here and here.
I’m continuing a theme from yesterday’s post. Last time it was a smile with what looked very much like cane marks. This time the image is a smile with what are obviously paddle marks.
I know some masochists are very particular about the type of pain they want, but personally I care far more about how it’s delivered than what it’s delivered with. Give me a happy domme and I don’t care if she’s using an old slipper or a rhinoceros hide whip. That’s not to say that the level of screaming created will not vary dramatically between those two extremes.
I don’t know where this is from originally. It looks like a still from a movie. If anyone can help me track it down then please leave a comment. If found it on the Femdom Style Counsel tumblr.
I was lucky enough to get to play with the wonderful Mistress Ai-Li today. I now have a warm glow and a lot of sore parts. We did a fair amount of caning, in various poses and with a variety of canes. There was also a fair number of smiles on both sides as things were poked and tickled. Sadly we didn’t get any photographs of the resulting marks or smiles. I’m therefore forced to finish with an image that’s definitely not Mistress Ai-Li and myself, but is appropriate for the play we enjoyed. The lady below looks pretty happy with her work.
I’m afraid I’ve no idea what the source of this shot is. If anyone can help with that then please leave a comment.
A couple of tweets by pro-domme Ms Michelle Lacy made me laugh today.
Can we change the word “worship” used in this industry to the word “slobber?”
Tweet 1“Mistress do you provide foot and ass slobbering? I’m really good at slobbering all over feet and ass.”
Tweet 2
I hope the gentleman below isn’t slobbering. It’s a nice shot and it’s be a shame to drool all over the ladies stockings.
I’m afraid I don’t have an original attribution for the image.
I’m traveling again. This time I’m taking a long weekend vacation down in San Francisco. Kinky play, good food and fine wine will be featured heavily. Blog posts may be interspersed between those three.
For an image I’m featuring Selina Minx enjoying two of my three favorite vacation activities. I can only wish I was this flexible. Some people cringe at images of piercing, or heavy whipping or claustrophobic bondage. For me, I cringe at shots like this that involve awkward angles and pressure on the lower back. I guess that’s a sign of getting older.
I found this on Selina Minx’s tumblr.