The Atlantic by Merissa Nathan Gerson Inside an unmarked warehouse in downtown San Francisco, a woman greets guests with a riding crop. She is not there to beat them, but to initiate them with a set of firm and binding rules. A chart posted on the wall reads: State your …
Syracuse.com by John O’Brien A master-slave relationship between the accused kidnappers of two Amish children will likely complicate the criminal case against them, a lawyer for one of the defendants said today. Bradford Riendeau, a lawyer for Nicole Vaisey, said after court today that she and her boyfriend, Stephen Howells, …
Frontiers LA.com by Stephan Horbelt This past Sunday, Sept. 21, the world’s largest leather event, the Folsom Street Fair, returned to San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood for its 30th year. Bay Area residents and tourists from around the world converged on a five-block stretch of Folsom Street to celebrate …
Slate By Jordan G. Teicher These photographs contain sexual themes. Danny Ghitis became interested in the fetish, BDSM, and kink communities for the same reason he became interested in rock climbing: They both inspired a bit of discomfort, but also a bit of curiosity. In 2011, same-sex marriage had recently …
BBC News A rubber fetishist who raises money by going out in public in a bondage suit said he hoped his efforts would start a debate on stereotypes. ‘The Gimp Man of Essex’ gives £1 to Colchester Mind every time someone posts a photo with him to his Facebook page, …
Mission Local By Daniel Hirsch Danarama is a speech coach, of sorts. Here’s a sample piece of advice he gives his students: “If you can practice every sentence so that your voice goes down, you’ll sound much more dominant, that has a very powerful effect on the person you’re …
Slate By Jillian Keenan Once again, I’ve been accused of pedophilia. Well, to be technical, my sexual identity was called “somewhat pedophilic.” But we’re talking about one of the most loathsome things a person can be accused of, so why split hairs? I’m also regularly told that my sexuality is …
Salon by Tracy Clark-Flory I figuratively rubbed my hands together when I saw that Jezebel was soliciting readers’ “weirdest turn ons.” Snarky, no-shit-taking feminists revealing their deepest darkest fantasies! This should be awesome, I thought. So far, the submissions include quirky things like fake German accents, priest collars, fresh …
Westword By Alan Prendergast When Keifer Johnson headed back to school after last year’s summer break, he had reason to believe that the truly awesome part of his college experience was still to come. He was a nineteen-year-old sophomore at Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, a Kerouac-spouting English major …
The Montreal Gazette By Stephen Maher, Postmedia News Terri-Jean Bedford brought her trademark riding crop Wednesday for her appearance before the Senate justice committee considering C-36, the new prostitution law. The retired dominatrix seemed to make the Tories nervous. They should be nervous. Bedford used to run an upscale …
