Bondage pornography
Encyclopedia
Bondage pornography specializes in the depiction of sexual bondage
or BDSM
activities, as photographs, stories, movies, or drawings.
" covertly provided a way of publishing bondage imagery. Comic book
s often featured characters being tied up and tying others up, particularly in "damsel in distress
" plots.
There were also a very limited number of specialist fetish magazine
s which featured images of bondage, such as the famous Bizarre magazine published from 1946 to 1959 by the pioneering fetish photographer John Willie
, and ENEG's Exotique magazine, published 1956-1959. These disappeared with a crackdown on pornography in the late 1950s. New York photographer Irving Klaw
also published illustrated adventure/bondage serials by fetish artists Eric Stanton
, Gene Bilbrew, Adolfo Ruiz and others. Klaw ran an international mail-order business out of his store, Movie Star News, selling cheesecake pinups and bondage/spanking photos. His most famous model was Bettie Page
, who became the first celebrity of bondage film and photography.
(HOM, Inc.), and Lyndon Distributors Limited. House of Milan have since been purchased by Lyndon Distributors Limited.
These magazines were not generally available through mainstream distributors, and were sold either in sex shop
s or by mail order
. They contained little advertising content, and were therefore entirely supported by the cover price.
Typically, each magazine consisted of several multi-page pictorials of tied-up women, often with a fictional narrative attached, and one fictional story of three or four pages in length. Sometimes pictorials were replaced by artwork by a fetish artist and/or included an interview with one of the performers in the industry. In the case of House of Milan and Lyndon Distributors, the magazines were simply illustrated text versions of videos published by the same title. Such practice cut costs and allowed a streamlined output of material.
Another type of magazine was the "compendium magazine", usually consisting of a large number of individual photographs drawn from previous magazines, without any linking story.
Because of their relatively small circulation, compared with mainstream pornography, most bondage magazines were printed in black and white, except for the cover and centerfold. In the 1980s and 1990s, experiments were made with adding more color content, but most magazine content remained black and white.
The attitude of some the early magazines could be regarded as misogynistic, in spite of editorial disclaimers that the magazines represented only fantasies, as the storylines deviated from the old-fashioned damsel-in-distress motif towards more restrictive and explicit BDSM practices. However, in reality the opposite effect often happened: as a bondage performer was cast in more material and engaged in more acts, she would often develop a stronger fan base and became a recognized star in her own right. Nikki Dial
and Ashley Renee
are two examples of performers who won awards for their work as subs in bondage videos, and typically endured the most punishment.
In the 1990s, as homosexuality and bi-sexuality began to be more socially acceptable, magazine publishers started to produce femdom material depicting men in bondage, as well as portraying female models as participants in mutually satisfying bondage games, usually with at least one actress performing as a dom and at least one as a sub. Sometimes, the roles of dom and sub would be reversed. Be Be LeBadd and Alexis Payne are two professional dominatrices who also found themselves on the receiving end of a whip from time to time.
As the Internet becomes more widely available as a delivery vehicle for pornographic material, the bondage magazine market is beginning to decrease.
, and the presence of bondage imagery in mainstream pornographic magazines such as Nugget and Hustler
's Taboo magazine.
However, the tradition of bondage magazines continues in the form of "art books" of bondage photographs, published by mainstream publishers such as Taschen
.
Certain websites have begun providing bondage videos and photographs featuring kidnapping roleplay that has largely been the hallmark of 'detective' style bondage magazines. These styles are much closer to the style of bondage scenes in mainstream television.
Bondage (BDSM)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
or BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
activities, as photographs, stories, movies, or drawings.
Detective magazines, comic books and early fetish magazines
In the early 20th century, "Detective magazinesBondage cover
A bondage cover, as opposed to a bondage magazine, was a general-interest magazine that featured bondage imagery on its cover, usually an image of a bound and gagged woman.- Painted covers :...
" covertly provided a way of publishing bondage imagery. Comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s often featured characters being tied up and tying others up, particularly in "damsel in distress
Damsel in distress
The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
" plots.
There were also a very limited number of specialist fetish magazine
Fetish magazine
A fetish magazine is a type of magazine originating in the 1960s which is devoted to sexual fetishism. The content is generally aimed at being erotic rather than pornographic...
s which featured images of bondage, such as the famous Bizarre magazine published from 1946 to 1959 by the pioneering fetish photographer John Willie
John Willie
John Alexander Scott Coutts , better known as John Willie, was a pioneering fetish photographer, illustrator, and bondage artist.- Life and work :...
, and ENEG's Exotique magazine, published 1956-1959. These disappeared with a crackdown on pornography in the late 1950s. New York photographer Irving Klaw
Irving Klaw
Irving Klaw was an American photographer and filmmaker.Klaw is best-known for operating a mail-order business selling photographs and film of attractive women from the 1940s to the 1960s...
also published illustrated adventure/bondage serials by fetish artists Eric Stanton
Eric Stanton
Eric Stanton was an American bondage and fetish illustrator, cartoonist, and comic-book artist.The majority of his work depicted female dominance scenarios.-Early life and career:...
, Gene Bilbrew, Adolfo Ruiz and others. Klaw ran an international mail-order business out of his store, Movie Star News, selling cheesecake pinups and bondage/spanking photos. His most famous model was Bettie Page
Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...
, who became the first celebrity of bondage film and photography.
Bondage magazines return
Dedicated bondage magazines again became popular in America in the 1970s. Publishers of bondage magazines included Harmony Concepts, Inc. and the House of MilanHouse of Milan
House of Milan was a successful publisher of bondage magazines and BDSM videos, that was mostly run by fetish photographer and producer Barbara Behr...
(HOM, Inc.), and Lyndon Distributors Limited. House of Milan have since been purchased by Lyndon Distributors Limited.
These magazines were not generally available through mainstream distributors, and were sold either in sex shop
Sex shop
A sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, clothing, pornography, and other related products...
s or by mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
. They contained little advertising content, and were therefore entirely supported by the cover price.
Typically, each magazine consisted of several multi-page pictorials of tied-up women, often with a fictional narrative attached, and one fictional story of three or four pages in length. Sometimes pictorials were replaced by artwork by a fetish artist and/or included an interview with one of the performers in the industry. In the case of House of Milan and Lyndon Distributors, the magazines were simply illustrated text versions of videos published by the same title. Such practice cut costs and allowed a streamlined output of material.
Another type of magazine was the "compendium magazine", usually consisting of a large number of individual photographs drawn from previous magazines, without any linking story.
Because of their relatively small circulation, compared with mainstream pornography, most bondage magazines were printed in black and white, except for the cover and centerfold. In the 1980s and 1990s, experiments were made with adding more color content, but most magazine content remained black and white.
The attitude of some the early magazines could be regarded as misogynistic, in spite of editorial disclaimers that the magazines represented only fantasies, as the storylines deviated from the old-fashioned damsel-in-distress motif towards more restrictive and explicit BDSM practices. However, in reality the opposite effect often happened: as a bondage performer was cast in more material and engaged in more acts, she would often develop a stronger fan base and became a recognized star in her own right. Nikki Dial
Nikki Dial
Nikki Dial is the stage name of an American porn actress. Dial began her adult film career as a teenager, in the film American Built, and performed in more than 70 movies between 1991 and 1996....
and Ashley Renee
Ashley Renee
Ashley Renee is a producer, director, bondage model and pornographic actress. She has appeared in many bondage magazines and films for over 20 years.Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she is of Italian and Russian ancestry...
are two examples of performers who won awards for their work as subs in bondage videos, and typically endured the most punishment.
In the 1990s, as homosexuality and bi-sexuality began to be more socially acceptable, magazine publishers started to produce femdom material depicting men in bondage, as well as portraying female models as participants in mutually satisfying bondage games, usually with at least one actress performing as a dom and at least one as a sub. Sometimes, the roles of dom and sub would be reversed. Be Be LeBadd and Alexis Payne are two professional dominatrices who also found themselves on the receiving end of a whip from time to time.
As the Internet becomes more widely available as a delivery vehicle for pornographic material, the bondage magazine market is beginning to decrease.
Bondage websites and bondage imagery in mainstream pornography
As of 2003, specialist bondage magazines have been mostly displaced by the availability of bondage material on the World Wide WebWorld Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
, and the presence of bondage imagery in mainstream pornographic magazines such as Nugget and Hustler
Hustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...
's Taboo magazine.
However, the tradition of bondage magazines continues in the form of "art books" of bondage photographs, published by mainstream publishers such as Taschen
Taschen
Taschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. It began as Taschen Comics publishing Benedikt's extensive comic collection...
.
Certain websites have begun providing bondage videos and photographs featuring kidnapping roleplay that has largely been the hallmark of 'detective' style bondage magazines. These styles are much closer to the style of bondage scenes in mainstream television.
See also
- Japanese bondageJapanese bondage' means 'tight binding ' which literally means 'the beauty of tight binding'. Kinbaku is a Japanese style of bondage or BDSM which involves tying up the bottom using simple yet visually intricate patterns, usually with several pieces of thin rope–often jute and generally around 6 mm in...
- Sexual fetishismSexual fetishismSexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
- Spanking magazine
- Irving KlawIrving KlawIrving Klaw was an American photographer and filmmaker.Klaw is best-known for operating a mail-order business selling photographs and film of attractive women from the 1940s to the 1960s...
- FM Concepts
- Bondage artist
- Fetish photographer
- Bondage model
- Sadism and masochism in fictionSadism and masochism in fictionThe role of sadism and masochism in fiction attracts serious, scholarly attention. Anthony Storr has commented that the volume of sadomasochist pornography shows that sadomasochistic interest is widespread in Western society; John Kucich has noted the importance of masochism in late-19th century...
- InsexInsexInsex was one of the biggest BDSM pornographic websites on the Internet and arguably the most extreme American pornographic production featuring female submissives. It was also a leading innovator in both live video streaming, pioneering the concept before broadband Internet access existed, and in...
- List of bondage magazines
- Bondage riggerBondage riggerA bondage rigger is a person who ties up others primarily as an art form, as opposed to people who do this to immobilize a bottom to prepare them for other forms of BDSM like flogging....
External links
- "Between the Rubber Sheets: A Look at Modern Fetish Magazines", essay by D.K. Holm