Talking of collaborations — but this time much further away — news reached me at the start of the year of a new joint venture between the organisers of the scene’s two current Caribbean fetish vacations.
The promoters of Plunge and Domme Trips — Kip, Domina Bellicose and Mistress Absolute — are longtime friends rather than rivals, so it is not entirely surprising that they’d try something together.
What they’ve come up with is a new ‘kink-cation’ called Diversion, offering seven nights on the Mexican island of Cozumel in the Caribbean this October.
The island is a very popular stopover for cruise ships. But the promoters are claiming a ‘full fetish takeover’ of the Diversion resort, which should hopefully mean no bewildered tourists stumbling in on the pervy fun!
The dates for Diversion’s 2018 debut are October 13-20, and there are attractive discounts for bookings made before January 31. Look out for a separate Fetishistas article about this event coming shortly.
And of course if you’re interested in an earlier break of this kind, don’t forget that the next Plunge takes place in Jamaica in March (preview link below).
Among big news for fetish in 2018 from the wonderful world of latex clothing might be a major European label’s announcement that it is under new ownership.
The company in question first put itself on the market some years ago, since when several prospective buyers have reportedly failed to conclude a deal.
Towards the end of last year, however, I heard that another well-known European label was finally going through with purchasing the brand. But to date there has been not a smidgeon of corroboration for this supposedly ‘hot’ tip.
Fingers crossed that it will be confirmed before 2018 is too much older. Because at least then I can say I told you so — sort of.
What major media stories might we expect from the world of fetish in 2018? Given that it’s been a bit quiet of late, some news from the Marquis empire perhaps?
Erstwhile Marquis chief Peter Czernich has certainly been busy on various new projects in the fetish arena, alongside his role as a consultant to new US owner Mike Martell.
And it currently looks like Peter will go live with an announcement about one or more of these projects very soon — perhaps later this month.
But Mr Martell himself hasn’t had much to say lately, at least as far as publishing matters are concerned. Perhaps when he’s got a bit more of 2018 under his belt he’ll favour us with an update on the US end of things too.
WHAT’S HAPPENING? Things have been a bit quiet at the US HQ of Marquis since publication of the magazine’s super-sized edition 66 above
Elsewhere in fetish media, forum site RubberPal looks to have all but given up the ghost. Whaddya mean, you thought it had done that ages ago?!
This community space, once beloved of many serious rubberists, had been struggling for some time to maintain relevance in the face of competition from other fetish networking sites.
If RubberPal really does disappear for good, FetLife’s Latex Lovers group will doubtless take up some of the slack, although the quality of debate there can be pretty variable. And frankly, if you just like looking at lots of sexy latex, these days Facebook and Instagram are rammed full of it.
However, if your browsing tastes are a little more adult and/or esoteric and you live in the UK, you’ll be delighted to learn that, when it comes to fetish in 2018, the British Government has plans to impose further constraints on your digital freedom.
On its agenda this year are challenges to the UK Government’s flawed proposals to introduce age verification for all porn sites accessed in the UK.
It is also campaigning to protect free speech online by forcing a rethink on plans to make social networking sites pre-censor content. And it has pledged to continue fighting the Government’s mass surveillance programme.
If you’re a UK resident and are not already familiar with the important work of the Open Rights Group, I recommend you take a look at its website via the link below.
And for those who can get to a London meeting, ORG is hosting Digital Rights in the Courts at 7pm on January 24 at Newspeak House, 133 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG. Myles will be speaking, and there should be plenty in what he says to interest fetish folk.
RIGHTS PROTECTOR: Myles Jackman, legal director of Open Rights Group, which will be busy in 2018 defending UK citizens’ digital rights
In yet another area of fetish media, a business dispute is brewing which is likely to surface publicly — and possibly unpleasantly — if it doesn’t get resolved amicably soon. This could cast a bit of a shadow over fetish in 2018.
I am not at liberty to identify the quarrelling parties at this point, but I can say that the row concerns a recent venture involving a small group of high profile people.
The fact that the characteristic ethos of both sides in the dispute has previously been that of good-natured collaboration makes this falling-out all the more surprising. I really hope they can sort it out without the legal action that has been talked about.
And finally, one big question-mark in my mind is whether 2018 will produce an organised effort by women in the fetish scene to emulate their sisters in other walks of life and nail their colours to the #MeToo mast.
Women on the scene who use their individual online voices to firmly rebut abuse aimed at them on social media usually attract many supportive comments from other women (and enlightened men).
In this way you could say we already see the spirit of #MeToo manifesting itself in the fetish community. But are these individual skermishes on Facebook and in the Twittersphere enough?
I’ve discussed this with friends on the scene, and the general view seems to be that yes, of course there are some disrespectful people in the fetish world who ought to be called to account.
But a recurring worry seems to be that victims of sexist and abusive behaviour within fetish and BDSM (whether online or in the flesh) may broadly feel they have to tolerate such behaviour because of kink’s inherently sexual nature.
I don’t believe they should, any more than, say, young actresses in Hollywood or young interns in politics should accept that their career advancement might one day depend on a willingness to be sexually accommodating.
If women in fetish in 2018 believe there are people who should be called out for transgressive behaviour, and want inappropriate conduct permanently expunged from our culture, there has surely never been a better time to get together and do something about it.
LINKS A-Z
Avantgardista weekend
Diversion fetish vacation
Dominatrix weekend
EuroPerve party
Ex-Dominatrix DVD and Screenings
Fetishistas Charles Guyette book review
Fetishistas Plunge preview
Fetlife Latex Lovers group
Marquis magazine
MeToo hashtag
Open Rights Group
Professor Marston Blu-ray/DVD/digital
RubberPal community
Tags: Business Matters, Community, Designers, Documentaries, Feature Length Films, Fetish Weekends, Latex, Magazines, Perv Politics