1. Bondage Unbound
2. Play Time: The Toys of Leather
3. SU investigation puts hold on Cuffs
4. Cuffed: Physical demonstration at a Cuffs meeting raises concerns about student disciplinary violations
5. Parties Where an ID Is the Least of What You Show
1. Bondage Unbound
2. Play Time: The Toys of Leather
3. SU investigation puts hold on Cuffs
4. Cuffed: Physical demonstration at a Cuffs meeting raises concerns about student disciplinary violations
5. Parties Where an ID Is the Least of What You Show
Bondage Unbound
by John Cloud
Time
January 19, 2004
It turns out that you call it "S and M" only if you don't do it or if you experiment only occasionally with those handcuffs you keep hidden at the back of the nightstand. If, on the other hand, you are seriously involved in the sadomasochistic subculture – if, say, you have attended one or more of the nation's 90 annual sadomasochistic events ("Beat Me in St. Louis," for instance) and own not only handcuffs but also a spanking bench, a flogger, some paraffin wax, an unbreakable Pyrex dildo and various other unmentionables – you call it, simply, SM.
The linguistic distinction between S&M and SM may seem tiny, but the pop-culture, peep-show version of S&M has little to do with the real lives of those who practice SM (which is why sexologists who study sadomasochism have now also adopted the shorter abbreviation). S&M is Madonna in kinky outfits, Anne Rice chapters that run to the louche – even a recent Dannon ad featuring a woman in a French-maid uniform. Such S&M imagery has become so common that our astonishment at Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs of leather and pain 20 years ago now seems quaint. Today you can watch Samantha on Sex and the City in virtually the same poses.
But those who practice sadomasochism – including those halting dabblers who tee-hee their way through spankings, hoping to paddle excitement into their marriage – know it's still taboo. (After all, if it weren't, it would lose its power to excite.) To reconcile the icons with the actual practice, I spent several weeks recently talking to SM practitioners around the U.S. – in New York City and San Francisco, yes, but also in North Carolina and New Mexico. Whether they were nervous novices or experienced dungeon masters leading some of the nation's 250 SM organizations, virtually all of them asked for anonymity. One man said he had lost a job when his boss found directions to a bondage workshop in his office. Others said they would be embarrassed if their families learned of their proclivities. We live in a culture in which sadomasochism is everywhere – from Versace billboards to at least a dozen college campuses where SM support groups have been established – but somehow it remains unseen and unspoken, just beyond the edge of respectability.
[cont.]
To read this article. go to:
http://www.time.com/time/2004/sex/article/bondage_unbound_growing01a.html
To respond, write to: letters@time.com
Play Time: The Toys of Leather
by Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly
(Washington DC)
January 15, 2004
"This is a real boy beater."
Patti Brown hoists a large wooden plank. The short end has been molded to comfortably fit the contours of a hand, the long end sanded to a smooth finish.
The onlooker gulps.
"Wouldn't that really hurt?"
"Isn't that the point?" smiles Brown.
The two-by-four plank is but one of a large assortment of paddles of varying sizes and makes – some wood, some rubber, some leather – hanging in a corner of The Leather Rack. Brown, 55, has been general manager at the Connecticut Avenue store for two and a half years, and a part of the leather community for the past quarter century. So when it comes to the playthings used in the GLBT community, and in particular the leather SM/BD community, he's somewhat of an expert.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to: http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=813
To respond, write to: the author at rshulman@metroweekly.com,
or go to http://www.metroweekly.com/about_us/contact_us.php
SU investigation puts hold on Cuffs
by Tom Barton
Iowa State Daily
January 14, 2004
Iowa State's Office of Judicial Affairs investigation into Cuffs has resulted in an interim suspension of the group's activities, said the club's president.
Cuffs is a student organization dedicated to educating the campus about bondage and sadomasochism.
Bethany Schuttinga, director for the Office of Judicial Affairs, said Harlan "Duane" Long Jr., Cuffs president and senior in psychology, and Cuffs have not been accused of violating any disciplinary regulations. Schuttinga declined to comment on which regulations might have been violated.
The judicial affairs office implemented the investigation after concerns of possible student misconduct and violations of student disciplinary regulations were raised following the Dec.15 Iowa State Daily article "Pain and Pleasure: The stigma over Cuffs hurts community."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.iowastatedaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/14/4004d4ca794a2
To respond, write to: letters@iowastatedaily.com, or comment in feedback section at bottom of article
Cuffed: Physical demonstration at a Cuffs meeting raises concerns about student disciplinary violations
by Tom Barton
Iowa State Daily
January 13, 2004
University officials' concerns about sadomasochism demonstrations performed at a student group's meeting on the ISU campus has led to a investigation into whether the group violates Student Disciplinary Regulations.
University Judicial Affairs is conducting an investigation into what occurred at the Nov. 10 Cuffs meeting. Cuffs is a student organization dedicated to educating the campus about bondage and sadomasochism. At the meeting, the group's president, Harlan "Duane" Long Jr. performed a demonstration on another member to show how to properly use S&M toys, said Bethany Schuttinga, director of judicial affairs for the university.
Schuttinga said the investigation was spurred by a Dec. 15 Iowa State Daily article "Pain and Pleasure: The stigma over Cuffs hurts community," which provided a detailed look at a Cuffs meeting and featured a photo of Long flogging a clothed woman during the demonstration. Judicial Affairs is looking for more clarification to see if Student Disciplinary Regulations were violated.
"Actually striking a person is a violation, even if it is a demonstration. It's like doing a demonstration on how to amputate a hand and actually amputating a person's hand. You don't do that," said Thomas Hill, vice president for student affairs. "No matter how you describe it, the activity could potentially injure someone."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.iowastatedaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/13/40037e7ead294
To respond, write to: letters@iowastatedaily.com, or comment in the feedback section at bottom of article
Parties Where an ID Is the Least of What You Show
by Warren St.John
New York Times
January 11, 2004
Anna, a 22-year-old graduate student in Manhattan, said she remembers clearly how she was introduced to one of New York's sauciest underground social scenes. It was via an instant message from a stranger who had seen her personals ad online at Nerve.com. A local promoter of erotic events called One Leg Up was organizing a party in a TriBeCa loft on the theme of the film "Moulin Rouge," her suitor wrote, and he wanted to know if Anna would be interested in going "with me and my hot tattooed girlfriend." Anna mulled her reply, then fired off an e-mail message.
"I was like, 'Yeah, dude, I'll check that out,' " she recalled.
To gain entry, Anna first had to send an erotic essay and a photo of herself to One Leg Up's founder, a husky-voiced, 33-year-old proselytizer for sexual experimentation who goes by the name Palagia. Anna made the cut, was given the party's location and a pass phrase – "untie my corset" – and on a chilly night last year donned fishnet stockings and high heels and headed out to her first sex party.
The gathering was awkward at first, she said, but at 12:30 a.m., a gong rang, signifying that guests should strip to their underwear, and things soon began to heat up. Anna said she spent most of the evening entwined with a couple she had just met – not the one that invited her – and besides the minor annoyance of having to locate all her clothes at the end of the night, she said the experience lived up to her expectations. She has since been to 15 similar parties in Manhattan, and though just a year above the legal drinking age, counts herself a full-fledged member of what insiders refer to simply as "the lifestyle."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to: [note: free registration is required for access]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/11/fashion/11SWIN.html
To respond, write to: letters@nytimes.com
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