MORE BULLSHIT!
As you probably know by now, this site is mostly about demythologizing and debunking and the reason for this is that most of the stuff people are told about or read about in the scene is a worthless load of crap. So here’s another one you’ll encounter and should be aware that it is totally false.
“Our acceptance is the result of the clubs and groups that have their roots in the Gay leather community.”
HORSE FEATHERS!!!!!
I was a club officer for 9 years and the discussion clubs did absolutely NOTHING to get us any acceptance or recognition. Their purpose was to provide support for people who were uncomfortable with themselves and act as sort of unofficial dating services (which they would bend over backwards to deny). Even CDG, which was about as open and public as a BDSM club could get, was pretty well hidden in its point of view.
These were not activists. If they found themselves in a position of having to make a stand for their sexuality they would have run so fast the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em.
And the canard about the Gays—GARBAGE!
If anything, Gay leather has been one of the biggest drawbacks to public acceptance of bdsm. It is a joke, and they are a joke, a collection of clowns in stupid costumes who parade around and get laughed at. Believe me, if someone wants to make fun of bdsm, they don’t use the image of a het in a jacket and tie. They use the image of a Gay leatherman in chaps and a silly harness, often with a stupid hat. They are an embarrassment and should be regarded as such.
So, where has our acceptance come from?
Well, it is actually very easy to answer this. It came from a book, The Joy of Sex, published in 1973. In that book, there were a number of sections on bondage and discipline, which took B&D out of the shadows of the porno shops and put it into bedrooms all over the country. With the publication of that volume, bondage gained instant acceptance as a form of sex play and it no longer mattered what anyone else thought.
And then there were, Gods help us, the Gor novels. Horribly written, confusing, and the gospel to nutcases who think that you can base your life around fiction (but let us not be too unkind, there are morons out there who use Antoniou’s Marketplace series for the same thing) they nevertheless sold a gazillion copies, were in print for 20 years and turned a whole generation of science-fiction fans into bdsmers. And the science fiction fans were the computer geeks who created the culture of the internet!
And, finally, there was fashion. Never ever underestimate the role fashion plays. It is the final determiner of who is cool and who is boring. And to fashion designers, bdsm was beyond cool. And that meant that all the fashionistas fell into the party line and determined that bdsm was cool. Remember, Skin Two was not a cheap bondage mag, it was an expensive fashion mag.
With those powerful forces at work in our favor, it is any wonder that the media is saturated with our images?
So forget the nonsense about clubs. And for Satan’s sake, never believe anyone that says the Gays have helped us. Our cultural legitimacy, and often dominance, comes from far different sources.
Now, if only we can find some place to hide the Gays and their stupid outfits before they make us all look totally ridiculous!
geovisit();
As you probably know by now, this site is mostly about demythologizing and debunking and the reason for this is that most of the stuff people are told about or read about in the scene is a worthless load of crap. So here’s another one you’ll encounter and should be aware that it is totally false.
“Our acceptance is the result of the clubs and groups that have their roots in the Gay leather community.”
HORSE FEATHERS!!!!!
I was a club officer for 9 years and the discussion clubs did absolutely NOTHING to get us any acceptance or recognition. Their purpose was to provide support for people who were uncomfortable with themselves and act as sort of unofficial dating services (which they would bend over backwards to deny). Even CDG, which was about as open and public as a BDSM club could get, was pretty well hidden in its point of view.
These were not activists. If they found themselves in a position of having to make a stand for their sexuality they would have run so fast the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em.
And the canard about the Gays—GARBAGE!
If anything, Gay leather has been one of the biggest drawbacks to public acceptance of bdsm. It is a joke, and they are a joke, a collection of clowns in stupid costumes who parade around and get laughed at. Believe me, if someone wants to make fun of bdsm, they don’t use the image of a het in a jacket and tie. They use the image of a Gay leatherman in chaps and a silly harness, often with a stupid hat. They are an embarrassment and should be regarded as such.
So, where has our acceptance come from?
Well, it is actually very easy to answer this. It came from a book, The Joy of Sex, published in 1973. In that book, there were a number of sections on bondage and discipline, which took B&D out of the shadows of the porno shops and put it into bedrooms all over the country. With the publication of that volume, bondage gained instant acceptance as a form of sex play and it no longer mattered what anyone else thought.
And then there were, Gods help us, the Gor novels. Horribly written, confusing, and the gospel to nutcases who think that you can base your life around fiction (but let us not be too unkind, there are morons out there who use Antoniou’s Marketplace series for the same thing) they nevertheless sold a gazillion copies, were in print for 20 years and turned a whole generation of science-fiction fans into bdsmers. And the science fiction fans were the computer geeks who created the culture of the internet!
And, finally, there was fashion. Never ever underestimate the role fashion plays. It is the final determiner of who is cool and who is boring. And to fashion designers, bdsm was beyond cool. And that meant that all the fashionistas fell into the party line and determined that bdsm was cool. Remember, Skin Two was not a cheap bondage mag, it was an expensive fashion mag.
With those powerful forces at work in our favor, it is any wonder that the media is saturated with our images?
So forget the nonsense about clubs. And for Satan’s sake, never believe anyone that says the Gays have helped us. Our cultural legitimacy, and often dominance, comes from far different sources.
Now, if only we can find some place to hide the Gays and their stupid outfits before they make us all look totally ridiculous!
geovisit();