Wild Side Sex

I put this photo in an entry some months back. I found it on an old computer; one of the few BDSM images I’d bothered to retain from years ago when I trolled alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.femdom for images of women tormenting men. The clear relish she was taking in what she was about to do the bound man reached down into my back brain. Often I looked at it to admire that smile.

Someone left a comment saying it was an old photo of Midori. I’d heard of her: she’s probably the best-known BDSM and fetish educator in the US. A surprise to connect the face with a name.

Funnily I’d never stopped to think if the woman were beautiful. That happy sadism would bring any woman’s face alive. Her recent book reveals her as a remarkably handsome female.

Wild Side Sex: The Book of Kink Educational, Sensual, and Entertaining Essays has inspired a couple of recent notes (and there more to come).

With no pretence of writing a review I thought I’d share my initial response.

I like Midori’s clear awareness of that D/s, sadomasochism and fetish while often intertwined are three distinguishable spheres. They may not be that distinct in our hearts but should be in our minds if we want to understand our needs and those with whom we play.

While later chapters talk briefly of things like nipple clamps, gags, hoods and electro-play Wild Side Sex isn’t a how-to manual. The book is more of a sharing of her personal kink philosophy, psychology and aesthetics.

Midori’s sensuality and celebratory nature infuse the book lending it much of its charm. And utility: there are plenty of dry manuals out there. Experiencing her sensibility will probably deepen most people’s understanding of what it is that we do.