1. Bondage and flogging, pain and love
2. Whip It Good
3. Be mine, and hers, and his
4. Sex Party Organizer Says Business is Improving
5. Opponents warn lawmakers that polygamy will be next
6. New Hampshire man arrested in Net sex sting
7. Janet Kink Stink
8. Bondage and flogging, pain and love
1. Bondage and flogging, pain and love
2. Whip It Good
3. Be mine, and hers, and his
4. Sex Party Organizer Says Business is Improving
5. Opponents warn lawmakers that polygamy will be next
6. New Hampshire man arrested in Net sex sting
7. Janet Kink Stink
8. Bondage and flogging, pain and love
by Gregg Hennihan
CityView (Central Iowa)
February 11, 2004
Duane Long Jr. enjoys being whipped. In particular, he relishes being on the receiving end of a single-tail whip, the effect of which he says is "too intense" for most people, even those who enjoy pain. This has always been his favorite. The first time he participated in it, a black 3-foot single-tail whip was used on him. Long withstood two minutes worth of lashes to his bare back, much longer than anyone thought he'd go. "I just ate it up," the 21-year-old says.
Long is a sadomasochist, someone who derives pleasure from either giving or receiving physical or mental pain. For most people, this conjures images of a dominatrix mercilessly whipping a bound man. Though whipping and bondage do take place, it is done between consenting adults and is far from the only S&M practice.
Long is president of Cuffs, a school-supported BDSM student organization at Iowa State University. The group is currently under investigation by the university because of concerns of "hazing activities," says Tom Hill, Iowa State's vice president of student affairs. While being investigated, Cuffs cannot meet.
Long calls this a mischaracterization caused by misconceptions about BDSM, a lifestyle few comprehend.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.dmcityview.com/Main.asp?SectionID=39&SubSectionID=70&ArticleID=40 77
To respond, write to:
the author at gregghennigan@bpcdm.com, the editors at bethdalbey@bpcdm.com
Whip It Good: Barbara Nitke explores fetishes for a coffee table book
by Julia Watts
Metro Pulse
February 11, 2004
The thing I've always hated about Valentine's Day is how it reduces romance to a few cliché accessories that can be purchased. According to V-Day marketing, if you run to your nearest Super Wal-Mart, grab a Hallmark card, a heart-shaped box of waxy chocolates, and as many red roses as you can afford, then you will have captured the spirit of romance for your sweetie.
The trouble with this view, in addition to the obvious fact that romance isn't something that can be bought, is that romance means different things to different people. For insight into how different some people's view of romance is, look no further than Barbara Nitke's Kiss of Fire: A Romantic View of Sadomasochism (Kehrer Verlag, $40). Kiss is a coffee table book of black-and-white photos in which the accessories of romance include leather restraints, harnesses, hypodermic needles (for "play piercing" the skin), and cats o' nine tails. There's not a box of Russell Stover chocolates or a rose in sight, although one of the pictured practitioners is heavily tattooed in a pattern of thorns.
The biggest difference between Mapplethorpe and Nitke's work may be the intent. While many of Mapplethorpe's photos were designed to shock viewers, Nitke's purpose is, as her subtitle states, to show the romance inherent in SM. All of her subjects are real partners in committed relationships, and their facial expressions often resemble the kind of swooning ecstasy that is depicted on the cover of Harlequin romance novels.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.metropulse.com/dir_zine/dir_2004/1407/t_pulp.html
To respond, write to: editor@metropulse.com
Be mine, and hers, and his:
Valentine's Day for the open and polyamorous by Annalee Newitz San Francisco Bay Guardian February 11, 2004
Just for the record, I don't celebrate Valentine's Day. Lucky for me, my lovely partner Charlie could care less about getting flowers and candy. She thinks V-Day is silly. Same goes for the boy I've been dating for the past few months. But my partner Jesse is another matter. He adores romantic, mushy stuff (one of the many reasons he's so lovable). If I don't take him out for a special dinner, he's going to be sad – and then I'll be sad, which will make Charlie sad, and who knows who else will be sad before the weekend is over.
Welcome to the psychologically complex and wacky world of polyamory, where people have romantic relationships with more than one person at a time. While there are many kinds of people in open relationships – swingers, polygamists (hello, Utah!), and orgy enthusiasts just to name a few – polyamorists identify themselves as people who can love more than one person at once. We aren't poly just because we want sex with multiple partners, though admittedly that part is great. Ultimately, we're in it for the love.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.sfbg.com/38/20/vday_polyamor.html
To respond, write to: letters@sfbg.com
Sex Party Organizer Says Business is Improving
by Michelle Charlesworth
WABC Television (New York)
February 10, 2004
Now for something completely different. And a warning: this is for mature audiences only. Sex clubs – safe sex clubs – that encourage spouses to attend together. As Michelle Charlesworth shows us, this is not for everyone. But it is for enough people that business is booming
[According to] Grego, Sex Party Organizer: "We had … 34 couples show, six single females. And at one point during the night just about everybody was back here, at one point …" And there go my eyebrows.
Grego took me on a tour of his loft, which includes conspicuous bowls of condoms and theme rooms. This 36-year-old who throws exclusive sex parties out of his 2,500-square-foot Brooklyn loft says partner swapping is back in full swing – so to speak.
In case you're wondering, this is not the only place sex parties are going on. Grego says there are more of these around the city, and that the scene is growing. As he said – and this surprised me – most people are there with their spouse. But my question was – what ever happened to monogamy?
[cont.]
To read this article (adapted from television report), go to:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_021004_sexparties.html
To respond, go to:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_emailforms_general.html
Opponents warn lawmakers that polygamy will be next
by Raphael Lewis
Boston Globe
February 10, 2004
Opponents of gay marriage stepped up their rhetoric yesterday, warning state lawmakers that Massachusetts will soon see the legalization of marriages with multiple spouses if they do not overturn the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling allowing same-sex marriages.
"I think once you cross this bridge, this is a bridge gone too far," said Tony Perkins, who heads the Washington-based Family Research Council. "I think there's no turning back the clock."
Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, a Princeton University professor who spoke with Perkins at a State House press conference, said the SJC's ruling Nov. 18 paved the way for further challenges to traditional marriage. He said the courts would not be able to bar other arrangements made by consenting adults, once the heterosexual union of a man and a woman is adulterated.
Satinover said that what he called polyamory — relationships involving any number of people, regardless of gender — are "definitely the next arrangement that will be pushed just as soon as male-male unions and female-female unions are institutionalized in law." The Coalition for Marriage, a group of organizations pushing for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, called the press conference.Gay marriage supporters dismissed the polygamy argument as a myth. The argument appears to stem from the dissenting opinion penned by Justice Antonin Scalia in a 2003 US Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, that overturned antisodomy laws in that state.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/02/10/opponents_warn_lawmakers_that_polygamy_will_be_next/
To respond, write to: letter@globe.com
New Hampshire man arrested in Net sex sting
by Michelle Tuccitto
New Haven Register (Connecticut)
February 10, 2004
A New Hampshire man was arrested Monday after he allegedly arranged to meet a 13-year-old girl outside a city coffee shop in hopes of making her his sex slave. Bradley Sweeney, 45, of 35 Abbott St., Apt. 5, Nashua, allegedly started a relationship via the Internet with what he believed to be a young girl.
Sweeney was actually writing to an FBI agent posing as a teenager, according to the U.S. Attorney'soffice.
"You will address me as Master when it is just the 2 of us, but when someone could hear us, you could call me Daddy," Sweeney wrote to the agent, according to the criminal complaint.
When Sweeney showed up outside the downtown coffee shop for the rendezvous shortly after 9 a.m. Monday, city police and FBI agents arrested him without incident. Investigators refused to identify the name of the coffee shop.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1281&dept_id=7576&newsid=10942392&PAG=461&rfi=9
To respond, write to:
the author at mtuccitto@nhregister.com, the editors at letters@nhregister.com
Janet Kink Stink
by Jennifer Fermino and Bill Hoffman
New York Post
February 6, 2004
Janet Jackson already has CBS, MTV, the NFL and the FCC angry at her — and now the S&M crowd is spanking mad, too!
Furious staffers at the freaky Manhattan fetish shop that sold Jackson the bustier she wore at the Super Bowl say she altered it to make a tearaway bra cup giving folks the impression that their clothing for the kinky crowd is badly made.
"There's no way it would have ripped that way," fumed Sam Hill, the female manager of DeMask, which also sells whips, masks, studded collars, harnesses and scary-looking rubber sex aids.
"We're known for putting together solid, long-lasting pieces. People use our stuff for mind-altering, body-altering experiences. It has to be good quality."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/15996.htm
To respond, write to: letters@nypost.com
HOW TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Feedback letters are an effective way to convey a positive image of alternate sexual practices such as SM, swinging, or polyamory. You can help to correct negative social myths and misconceptions about these types of practices. These letters help achieve the advocacy goals of the NCSF.
Generally, for a letter to be published, it's important to include your name (or first initial, last name), city and daytime phone (for verification only). For more information, see:
https://ncsfreedom.org/media/writelettertoeditor.htm
Please alert us to positive, negative or neutral stories about SM, swinging and polyamory at media@ncsfreedom.org