I'm In The Orlando Weekly Again!

[joreth]

Well, my picture is, anyway.  They did an article on Orlando's Newest Dungeon, The Woodshed, and asked me and my sweetie zen_shooter to pose for the pictures.  So I got to get half-naked and tied up to a giant wheel and whipped in front of a camera!  What Fun! 

Comments

[aziraphalesshop.livejournal.com]

I have to say, that's a sexy shot.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

Looks like a fun place!
I have never played in such a public forum. I'm considering it, though.

[joreth]

I find them to be great fun, but they're certainly not for everyone. For one thing, I'm really not an exhibitionist (the act of someone watching or "catching" is, itself, an erotic element or contributes to the excitement). But I am OK with public displays of various things (nudity, affection) when the display is not the focus, not unusual, something acceptable, something ignored, part of the overall atmosphere, etc.

What that means, basically, is that I don't really care if someone is watching or not, so long as their observance is brought to much to my attention as to be distracting or make me self-conscious.

The benefits to dungeon play is that they often have all the really neat toys that are too expensive for personal purchase. And they tend to be extremely concerned with personal boundaries and privacy (although I hear of some dungeons with more negative atmoshpheres).

Basically, I highly recommend that everyone even slightly interested in BDSM and kink to attend a couple of dungeons to watch, observe, learn, and possibly stretch their own comfort levels and explore.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

So, I just went to a public dungeon in SF for the first time...it was completely awesome. Will definitely be returning, and I appreciate your advice on the subject.

Also, picture? hot. ;)

[joreth]

Glad I could help :-)

And yeah, the pics turnd out pretty cool. I'm still waiting to see if I can get copies of the other pics he took during that shoot. If I do, I'll post them

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

Cool! I'm still disappointed that the pictures of mine they used in a similar article for Watermark didn't go up on that website :-(

[dayo.livejournal.com]

Cool, I'm always intrigued by the legal structures around these clubs required by the various municipalities. In Chicago, we can't have walk in parties - no casual membership. But once in the club, anything goes.

[joreth]

I'm always interested in these things too.

There was a private club in Tampa that had no membership dues, but requested "donations" (with a minimum suggested donation amount, of course) that was on private property. It was explained to me that, because it was in a person's home and not-for-profit, there were no prohibited acts other than those that are illegal even on private property (no drugs, for instance). Simultaneously, there is a club in Tampa that opens their upper floor to BDSM once a month and they had the standard public nudity and penetration prohibitions (no female nips, no pink parts, no visible penetration).

This club, as I understand it, uses an annual membership dues structure that removes some of the "public" restrictions, because it's a "private" membership club. However, I believe I was still instructed for no pink parts and penetration acts. This is also in Orlando, so there may be jurisdictional differences.

[(Anonymous)]

Spiffy! Hope the photographer hooked you up with copies of the shots he took.

It would've been cool if the shot in the article had included a larger woman as well, just to back up the fat acceptance talk, especially if that would be more representative of the clientele.

[joreth]

I was not chosen because of my body type, I was chosen because I was the only female who would do it. I was literally asked 4 hours before the event. The photographer and the owner of the dungeon asked everyone they could think of and I even called a couple of people last-minute when I found out. The average body type of the dungeon (as implied by some of the comments in the article) is *not* my body type, so if anyone had been willing, I'm sure they would have been included.

[may-dryad.livejournal.com]

Oops, that anonymous comment was me. Must've forgotten to log in. Anyway, I know it was all last minute, I was just considering what my reaction would've been if I'd been a more objective observer.

Actually, if I weren't (very marginally) involved in BDSM myself, I'd probably think it was totally anti-feminist. I'm glad the article included Cecil's explanations to the contrary. The way I see it, what's anti-feminist is relationships that take gender roles and the power differential inherent in traditional gender roles for granted. BDSM, as far as I can tell, is pretty much the opposite. Power is explicitly negotiated, and nothing is taking for granted. Which would be an excellent procedure to follow for vanilla relationships as well, I think