bdsm

mollenawilliams 216x300 Mollena Williams NYC Tour

Mollena Williams. Photo by Colm McCarthy

NYC is lucky this week, because my friend, West Coast based kinkster and educator Mollena Williams, is in town. These are workshops you’d otherwise have to travel to national conferences to see, so take advantage of her presence here, and go!

Here’s her schedule:

Tuesday, March 16
TES Presents: RACE: The Final Frontier”

The idea of playing into stereotypes and bigotry, of doing scenes that recall horrors from the darkest moments of history is, in many folk’s opinion, best left alone. But…for those who are drawn to explore deeper crevasses of our psyche, the desire to explore that taboo can be compelling. Even if you’re not desirous of acting on these fantasies, taking charge of them and letting go of guilt can be an amazing release. Should you decide to act on these fantasies, you’ll get tips on how to approach this edgeplay, what to do if things do not fall out as planned and the pros and cons of doing these scenes in public venues. Expect the unexpected and prepare to surprise yourself.
http://fetlife.com/events/14083

Thurs., Mar. 18
BDSM Night at In the Flesh

Get kinky with memoir writers, BDSM educators, erotica authors, a porn star, and more at In The Flesh. Featuring Melissa Febos (author of dominatrix memoir Whip Smart), blogger Selina Fire (Pleasure Salon), rope bondage expert Monk (Twistedmonk.com), Julie Powell (author of Cleaving and Julie and Julia), erotica writer Xan West (contributor, Best SM Erotica 3), Mollena Williams (author, “BDSM and Playing with Race” in Best Sex Writing 2010, BDSM educator Lolita Wolf (LeatherYenta.com) and feminist porn star Madison Young (MadisonBound.com). Note: Both floors of Happy Ending will be opened for this event.
http://fetlife.com/events/11598

Friday, Mar. 19
LSM presents: Taboo Play, and Working Through Extremes

If you have ever had a scene that lured you with the promise of edgy intensity, but wondered if you could handle the situation before, during or afterward, this discussion is for you! We will explore the reasons some people enjoy play that is VERY edgy psychologically, emotionally and physically, and how you can go about making that fantasy a reality. Inherent in this discussion is the level of responsibility of both / all partners, how to manage risk, and how you can support your partner in the aftermath. Edgy play can be hot, and we will look at ways to avoid some common pitfalls, as well as how to recover with grace and honor when things go off of the planned path.
http://bit.ly/91f2gk

Sunday, Mar. 21
Instigate NYC: Strong Slaves, Bodacious Bottoms & Ass-Kicking Submissives: Embracing Dichotomy

Self-identification is difficult for anyone in the alternative lifestyle. It can be even more challenging for people who see themselves as strong in their lives but desirous of submission. There is a great deal of pressure in the BDSM community to “seem submissive,” so what do you do when you see yourself as strong and fierce and yet crave mastery and domination? Believe me, you are not alone. There are many submissives and bottoms and slaves who are strong and independent and finding their way through the maze of the Kink Community! This class is an intense discussion of self-assessment personal identification, passion and power. From those who struggle with their desire to submit, to those who strive for greater strength of purpose, this class will be a wonderful opportunity to bond with the likeminded and suss out your strength in an open setting. And for tops, dominants and masters, this is an excellent opportunity to get into the mind of those who are strong and embrace the dichotomy of strength in submission and freedom in slavery!
http://fetlife.com/events/14295

This sexual roundelay about power and powerlessness, about the imagination butting up against so-called “reality,” is played out by two contemporary characters. As it begins, we sit facing Thomas (Wes Bentley), a playwright who has written an adaptation of “Venus in Furs.” He’s in a rehearsal studio—a grayish, minimal, anonymous space with fluorescent track lighting. He is talking on the phone to his fiancée, at the end of a long day of auditions for his play; he wants to get home. We can hear thunder and rain outside. But no sooner has Thomas put down the phone than Vanda (the phenomenal Nina Arianda) enters, dressed in a trenchcoat and carrying a broken umbrella. Vanda is like the weather: a force of nature that drenches whoever gets caught up in its sway. She wants to know if she can audition for Thomas. He tries to brush her off, but the brassy Vanda sets about to convince him that she’s the only woman who can play the part. Sometimes she throws him a compliment; sometimes she tries to appear helpless, which she is not at all. She’s simply testing Thomas’s “maleness”—that is, his desire to be counted on, to be admired, to be “Daddy.” Would he like her to wear a white dress for the audition? she asks. (Thomas is too shocked or timid to mention the bondage-like gear that Vanda has on under her coat when she arrives.) Donning the white dress, she asks is it “real 1870”? She wants to know what kind of accent she should use to play Wanda, the dominating woman whom Severin eventually meets at the spa. When Thomas still doesn’t know how to respond, Vanda just does her thing. And, as soon as she starts to read, she’s no longer Vanda but Wanda, a measured woman with impeccable Continental diction. The transformation is subtle and not so subtle—acting is Vanda’s bag, and it becomes ours, too, as we watch Thomas become more and more powerless in the presence of her unconquerable vitality, her seductive energy.

-Hilton Als, writing in the New Yorker

I ventured out in during the snow day to see it, and it was totally worth the messy trip.  CSC is a small theater and this play is performed in 90 minutes with no intermission. The chemistry and power exchange that develops between the actors, both in the play and the play-within-a play, are riveting.. I’ve been telling everyone to see it. I found out from my pal Thor that the run has been extended until March 28rd. If you hunt around the internet, you may be able to get discounted tickets. If you’ve never read the book, you can find it at the Gutenberg Project.

lsm tm 300x71 LSM Presents: The Artists Way to Designing Scenes

Where: The LGBT Center at 203 West 13th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues

Cost: FREE FOR MEMBERS of LSM, TES and NYbol, only $5 for non members (special price in honor of Leather Stimulus Package)

Beyond simply an excuse to get off, a BDSM scene is an intimate performance where the directors and actors are also the audience. Join accomplished artist Nayland Blake, as he introduces a five step method for coming up with, planning and executing scenes based on the ways by which artists construct their peices. Learn how to articulate goals and wants for a scene, and how to get more out of your play in ways that engage your creativity.

This special workshop is open to all genders.

Nayland Blake is an artist and educator, an investigator and instigator. He has presented on kink related topics at TES and Leather Retreat, ImsL and GMSMA, and has taught and lectured on art at numerous colleges around the United States, including Harvard, Yale, UC Berkely and the Art institute of Chicago. He is the director of a masters program in photography.In 2004 he was named International Pipebear at Briar Bash.

rough sex Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Tristan Taormino’s Rough Sex (2009)
Studio: Vivid
Director: Tristan Taormino
Cast: Adrianna Nicole, Christian XXX, Daniel Wylde, Derrick Pierce, Francesca Le, Julius Ceazher, Marco Banderas, Marie Luv, Mark Davis, Sasha Grey, Satine Phoenix

Tristan Taormino’s Rough Sex is brutally sexy!  It has a very cool and simple premise: five hot vixens dream up their best “rough sex” fantasies and get to live them out on camera with their most desired stud porn hunks.  The idea itself is a wet dream come true, and when these sassy (or submissive) sex kittens team up with guys who like to play rough, the sparks begin to fly.

If you are into naughty role playing and hardcore, rough sex, this film is for you. They don’t fool around and there is plenty of face slapping, humiliation, degradation, whacking and general “man”-handling action going down. The sex is pretty rough and the fantasies are fairly common role-play scenarios that many women have. There are three fem-submissive scenes about being forced or taken like Adrianna Nicole’s intruder alert, Marie Luv’s punishment and Satine Phoenix’s stranded damsel meets dominant stranger.  Then, there are the divas that turn the tables on their fuck obsessions such as Francesca Lee’s femdomme supremacy and Sasha Grey’s switch play.  Each scene features a prelude interview of the female cast member as she talks about what’s hot and what’s not, and why “rough sex” makes her wet.

Scene 1- Adrianna and Marco

rs11 200x300 Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Adrianna longs for fantasy rape by an intruder who breaks into her apartment. Just as she gets out of the shower, Marco steals up behind her, grabs her, and then clasps a hand over her mouth warning her not to scream.  Adrianna’s eyes go wide with fear and this scene looks like it is going to be really hot.  He slaps her around a bit, chokes her, and then drags her into the bedroom like a dog on a leash.  After that, the scene kind-of looses it raw edge and the intensity in those first few seconds is really never captured again.  Sure, it’s rough, but there is something lacking, like my connection with the performers.  While they both seem genuine, I never really get into it and I find myself critiquing it rather than enjoying the scene for what it is.

Scene 2- Satine and Derrick

rs2 1 300x168 Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Whoa!  This scene is perhaps the best in the film.  So fucking hot, it sizzles and the chemistry between Satine and Derrick is tangible. Not to mention that Derrick is to die for (bald, alt and tattooed, with a rock-hard body) and Satine is a sultry little minx. Satine’s fantasy is getting stranded on a lost desert road, where she meets a “kindly stranger” who offers to stay with her until someone comes for her vehicle.  The sun is hot, the sand is dusty, they are sweating and flirting, and then things turn a bit dangerous.  Derrick realizes no-one is coming for a while and he can have his way with her.  There is a lot of foreplay which becomes increasingly rougher as he realizes, hey, she likes it.  He starts pushing her around, groping her roughly, pulling her hair and smacking her face and tits and you can tell that Satine is getting so turned on and juicy before he ever starts fucking her.  I can’t tell you how many times I watched this scene and came.  Definitely jilling off material! Rough sex, lots of unique positions on the vintage jeep, and crowned by a choking messy forced blowjob.  These two rock the screen with a riveting performance.

rs 1 201x300 Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Scene 3 – Francesca and Christian

rs3 1 300x168 Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Christian is a magnificent brute of a man (again bald and sexy) and Francesca is a hot busty milf.  She’s a bit fed up with her husband ignoring her all the time, being the perfect housewife and all, and thinks it’s time for a little pay-back. And, pay-back’s a BITCH in stilettos and corset, with a nasty attitude and the will to dominate her much larger opponent. I like my brutes dominant and my bitches submissive, so for me this scene didn’t hold a lot of sexual pizzazz.  Although, Christian is adorable and so submissive for such a big boy it was interesting seeing him dominated.  Still, all the while she was crushing her tits and ass in his face, slapping him around, and spitting cum in his mouth (yuk!), I was wishing he’d grab her and give her a few smacks of her own.  I guess for me there was a problem with the believability factor.  I just didn’t believe she could dominate him in real life, and didn’t like the way she shrieked orders at him and brutalized him, when he was being such a good boy.  Not that I don’t think that he can be dominated, as he seemed to like it.  She just came across as a bit shrill and lacked authenticity. Still, I’m sure this is a fantasy that would appeal to many women and men who would find it hot.

Scene 4 – Marie and Julius

rs12 300x200 Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Marie wants to be punished for fucking around and treated like the slut she is.  The fantasy sounded great and I was all for it.  But, then the action starts happening, and there’s not much cussin’ and a fightin’ goin’ on here, and I’m like “Whoa, wait a minute?”  Why isn’t he calling her nasty names and treating her like a little tramp, whore, slut, which she obviously wants and deserves? Man, give me ten minutes with her and I’ll have her crying and begging for more.  Again, like the first scene there was no build-up, no sizzle, and it didn’t seem very rough to me, but maybe my finger pressed the fast forward button by mistake and I missed all the good stuff.  Nope. Don’t think so.  Weak scene, but too bad as it had potential.

Scene 5 – Sasha and Daniel

rs5 1 300x168 Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Okay, did I say that scene 2 was the best scene?  Maybe I lied.  To tell the truth, this scene is so hot that it rivals scene 2, and they both win best scene in my book.  Smokin’ Sasha wants to play switch in a power play scenario and who does she pick?—my all-time favorite male porn star, Daniel.  Daniel is known for his rough play style in many alt porn films, as much as for his playfulness.  Sasha picked him because she thought he would let her slap him around, which he does and seems to like it too.  They talk about what they’d like to do and Sasha defines her only limit—No tit slapping.  So, the pair get it on and right from the beginning it’s a power struggle but Daniel takes over and does his nasty choking and slapping number on her.  The scene has a series of peaks as it continually builds momentum, switching back and forth, while they get lost in the passion of each moment.  And, then, Daniel forgets and slaps Sasha’s tits, immediately cringing like dog about to be punished.  Sasha pins him on the pool table and Daniel starts apologizing profusely, and then they are snickering and laughing and back into the hot rough sex play.  This scene was not only hot but so much fun.  You can tell they are both getting off on it and are enjoying the ambiguity of working together for the first time.

rs5 201x300 Tristan Taorminos Rough Sex

Tristan Taormino’s Rough Sex is overall a great porn if you like rough sex and some serious role-playing power exchange fantasies.  It is worth it just for scene 2 and 5 alone.  I applaud Tristan for giving the women in the film the chance to design their own scenarios and define what is rough and sexy to them.  The production quality is pretty good in most places although the sound was off a bit sometimes and some of the camera work looked a bit shaky.  The extras includes a Choking and Safety snippet with Penny Flame who teaches the proper way to choke to avoid injury which I thought was a very good idea, as no doubt a bunch of novices will see this film and want to start practicing without a clue.

Check out Tristan Taormino’s Rough Sex at Babeland, where you can find many other films by Tristan and other cool women porn directors.

Viviane also posted the trailer to Rough Sex here.

Location: The LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th St (7th/8th)
Cost: Sliding scale $5 – 0
Presenter:  Seraphin

Presented by Instigate NYC

You’re a Bottom. What does that mean? The answer to that question isn’t simple. Who you are as a bottom and what you want can only be defined by you. The possibilities are limitless. What turns you on? What terrifies you? What turns you on because it terrifies you? What qualities are you overlooking in yourself that help to make you a great bottom? Exploring/Examining your desires will help you identify what you want, need & how to pursue the dynamics, play & scenes that fit you. Are you brand new? Or, do you feel like you’ve seen & done it all? Thinking about what really does it for you & what makes you unique can kick start & give direction to your explorations. It can also help you to remember what it is about bottoming that turns you on in the first place. Come ready to think, learn, question & share.We’ll touch on topics including identity, physical do’s & don’ts, processing pain, edge play & situations such as – ‘when you thought it’d be hot, but its not’. It’s all about getting where you want to go& what to do once you get there.

New York’s only Queer/Trans Led, Anti Racist, Anti Classist, Pro Pervert BDSM/Sex/Kink Infoshare! Third Sundays!

Seraphin is a NYC based queer switch masochist & occasional sadist experienced in numerous permutations of bottoming. She has served as Programming Co-Chair for LSM and has been a member of TES, MAST & NCSF. She has co-presented, assisted and demoed alongside some of the best and brightest at events such as South Plains Leatherfest, Pacific Friction, TES Fest, Floating World, Boston Fetish Flea & Dark Odyssey. After years of contributing her bottoming perspective to numerous presentations and pushing the limits of extreme play publicly, she’s now most often found behind the scenes. Seraphin has served as a consultant for various media pieces on alternative sexuality and is co-founder of the LGBTQ booking agency, PhinLi Bookings.