The Control Enthusiast

Another article from The Independent Online, this time written by author Howard Jacobson. It’s an interesting contrast with the previously posted article by Westwood the photographer. Ideas and concepts are explored in a much more in-depth way by Jacobsen. Again, certain lines leap out at me as being a bit off the mark, but it’s still a compelling read.

From the article (click for the complete text):

“”In the end,” the great French philosopher of eroticism Georges Bataille wrote, “we resolutely desire that which imperils our life.” Not accidentally, not half-heartedly, but resolutely. I do not say we want to die (though on occasions we think we do) but we want sex to take us as close to death as life allows, the paradox being – and this is a paradox which most sexual perversions celebrate, whereas love, sweet love does not – that we are never more alive than when we are staring into loss……….”

Tags: Pornography, Press, Rights, theorosexual by control
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The title of this post is the last line of an article I found in The Independent Online, written by photographer Ben Westwood and in reference to a law being brought in, under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act in Britain. I find some of the thoughts & arguments a bit simplistic in parts, but truthful enough in sentiment. Click on the excerpt below for the full article.

“Bondage is a game that experiments with control. Dominance deals with having everything under your own direction while you do all the work. Submission deals with having no responsibilities at all you just lie back and submit. These are both good things to know in life generally. You learn to take full responsibility when you act, and you learn when and how to let someone else take the lead (sometimes literally) when they have something to show, or know better, or are simply willing to do the work. Similarly, the dressing-up fetish can be about sophistication and about the knowledge of one’s own sexual body. Where is the crime in that?”

Tags: Press, Rights, theorosexual by control
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I was emailed about this today, with the main headline being, “Kinky is NOT a Diagnosis!”

From the email:

“Statements currently within the DSM Paraphilias criteria are contradicted by scientific
evidence therefore NCSF must conclude that the interpretation of the Paraphilias
criteria has been politically  – not scientifically – based. This politically motivated
interpretation subjects BDSM practitioners, fetishists and cross-dressers to bias,
discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis.

Petition:
“We, the undersigned, support the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) own
goal of making its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) a scientific document, based
on empirical research and devoid of cultural bias. A diagnosis of a mental disorder can
have a severe adverse impact on employment opportunities, child custody determinations,
an individual’s well-being, and other areas of functioning. Therefore we urge the APA
to remove all diagnoses that are not based upon peer-reviewed, empirical research,
demonstrating distress or dysfunction, from the DSM. The APA specifically should not
promote current social norms or values as a basis for clinical judgments.”

To sign, go to:  www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DSMrevisionpetition
(You can make your signature anonymous on this secure petition site so it doesn’t
appear on the Internet)”

This is a link to the NCSF’s White Paper on the DSM Revision – very worth a read. And here’s a link to the NCSF’s blog about the DSM Revision movement.  I often doubt the strength and influence of an online petition, but I can’t NOT sign this. And, frankly, if you’re a reader of this site, you can’t afford to not sign it either.

Tags: Research, Rights, theorosexual by control
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I found this image on a Flickr photostream I follow and immediately thought of posting it here. Three reasons:

1. I (rather often) drink coffee.

2. I (used to) design lighting.

3. I (very much) like rope.

A fourth reason might be that I really want to visit this particular coffee shop in San Francisco (when I can make my way out there, at least) and seeing this light fixture makes me want to visit there all the more.

(thanks to lc for the pic)

Tags: Images, Rope, art by control
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