::::::::::::::::: Dita Von Teese: Fetish Icon :::::::::::::::::

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What I love about Dita Von Teese as a model is her ability and interest to reference the past—particularly American cultural history as it relates to the sexploitation/fetish era, which means both burlesque and what was then, in the 1950s, labeled as "bizarre," now simply called fetish.

Most often she's still referred to as a burlesque performer because the term "burlesque" in post-porn America has taken on a soft, even sweet, connotation; while "fetish"— still being associated with some form of mental illness, possibly Devil worship, in the minds of some—summons all sorts of mass market disapproval.

But for anyone familiar with the history of sexploitation/fetish artifacts, it's obvious to see where her real talent lies.



Make no mistake, Dita IS a fetishist: take note of her waistline, which should make clear that she indulges in some form of body modification as might be suggested in the book, MODERN PRIMITIVES, a landmark noted for igniting the ink and piercing subculture of the 1990s, which has long since broken into the mainstream.

As most people know, Dita (aka Heather Renee Sweet) studied set and costume design in college and began her career by referencing the founding fetish queen: Bettie Page.

Like Bettie, Dita had to earn a living, so she did cheesecake work, often sporting a retro hairdo for mainstream photo shoots. But, like Bettie's "Dark Angel" incarnation, it's the more mysterious, vaguely European influenced fetish art that remains of greater interest to me—rooted, as it is, in some dark psychosexual truth, which is as natural as night is to day, the moon is to the sun and which underscores the more feral (and least understood) impulses of human sexuality.

Here's my recently updated personal collection of Dita Von Teese sexploitation/fetish artifacts, which includes several DVDs. To see Dita perform in some early videos she did for Marquis is a real treat; she's tranquil, charismatic and mesmerizing to watch: truly a graceful, centered and beautiful Dark Angel.

© 2011 Richard Perez

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More Dita from my private collection:
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“Richard Perez has the ears of the angels—lend him yours.”
—Barry Gifford, author: WILD AT HEART, PERDITA DURANGO

“Perez's is an exciting talent and his work goes far beyond most of what is published today.”
—Henry Flesh, author: MICHAEL and the Lambda Literary Award-winner,
MASSAGE

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Yours at --------> AMAZON!

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)

IS THIS NOVEL RIGHT FOR YOU?

~ Visit:  PermanentObscurity.com

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: what is it?

Buy now Worldwide >> PERMANENT OBSCURITY available here

Permanent Obscurity:  Or A Cautionary Tale
Of Two Girls
And Their Misadventures
With Drugs, Pornography
And Death

by
Dolores Santana
(as told to Richard Perez)

***********************************

Eric Stanton, aka Ernest Stanten, aka Ernest Stanzoni, aka Stan.... Or, In the Beginning, When Mr. Eric Stanton Met Mr. Irving Klaw....

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Eric Stanton!                Irving Klaw!

Also featuring mention of:


John Coutts (John Willie)


Steve Ditko

 
Bettie Page 

In the world of cult fame, Eric Stanton holds a unique position. For years his artwork has been enjoyed around the globe, appreciated by millions, yet few will admit to knowing his work publicly, fewer still will even admit to knowing his name. Such is the fate of a fetish artist.

If ever there was a creative individual from the sexploitation era that engaged me, it would be him. In some ways, I've adopted him, projected on to him, made him a central focus of my sexploitation era investigations. I see him both as a survivor, an outsider artist worthy of praise, and maybe something of a misfit (which may account for some of my affection for him). But there's no question in my mind that he's an icon and that he remains to this day one of the most pirated underground artists in the world.

Biographical facts about his life are often contradictory and murky; and sometimes he would contribute to this misinformation personally. There's even some question of his real name: was he born “Ernest Stanzoni” as claimed in the huge Eric Kroll coffee table book? Or is his birth name “Ernest Stanten,” as claimed by Belier publisher and personal friend and associate, J.B. Rund?

Most of what I know about the sexploitation era and the subgenre of what was then labeled “bizarre,” which today would be assigned fetish culture or kink, I've learned through tracking Stanton. He remains, in some strange way, a central figure for me (my own personal Dante) whose life intersected with other curious characters of the day, artists and business people, gangsters and hacks ... shadowy and mythologized figures I've come to admire and who I never grow tired of hearing about: Irving Klaw, Bettie Page, Gene Bilbrew, Lenny Burtman, Eddie Mishkin, Stanley Malkin.... And then, of course, there's Steve Ditko, Spider-Man co-creator and Stanton's friend-as well as his studio mate of 10 years.

When it comes to the sexploitation era, there are so many unverifiable facts. Eric Stanton lived and operated in a subterranean culture where few people kept records and everyone operated under a multitude of aliases. This was the sexploitation era preceding XXX; a time when any association with “porn” could get you arrested. And most of the characters involved were arrested and brought to trial—often repeatedly: Irving Klaw, Lenny Burtman, Eddie Mishkin, Stanley Malkin.... In this period, operations connected with producing this sort of “smut” were tracked by government agencies, Postal Inspectors (who acted as censors, with strong ties to the local police), even the Catholic church (hugely influential then); and these publisher/distributors were raided. Irving Klaw's Nutrix warehouse, Lenny Burtman's Exotique editorial office, Stanley Malkin's Queen's warehouse, virtually anything connected to Eddie Mishkin was under surveillance and sooner or later put under wraps—at least temporarily. Even the working studio shared by Steve Ditko and Eric Stanton was subjected to a police raid with all the materials confiscated and much of it destroyed.

Eric Stanton was born and raised in Brooklyn, the child of Russian immigrants. The true direction of his life took shape when he wrote to Irving Klaw—then an underground publisher and distributor of kink material—and boasted to Klaw that he could "do better," meaning better than the fighting girl episodes he had purchased via his mail order business. Invited to show what he could do, Stanton contributed his own sexy catfight illustrations, which although primitive Klaw bought and later sold, taking on the young man at his legitimate shop, Movie Star News.

Irving Klaw established Movie Star News largely to sell movie star photos and Hollywood ephemera, but following 1947, on the suggestion of a customer, he entered the fetish trade, building his catalog with anything he could get his hands on: customer/practitioner's contributions produced outside or inside his store (where he would set up monthly bondage shoots), European acquired kink material originally sold by Charles Guyette (a local merchant and his predecessor in the kink trade) and illustrations, photographs and art by John Coutts, aka John Willie.

In 1949, Klaw would also start producing underground fetish-oriented films, in addition to commissioning illustrated kink-pulp stories (bondage serials). Eric Stanton would contribute where he could, starting in 1948 (by some accounts) or 1949 (by others).

Although Eric Stanton's first work for Klaw seems to be “fighting girl” episodes, his first bondage serial contribution appears to be the latter half of "Poor Pamela" (the first 5 pages or episodes produced by another artist [as per publisher J.B. Rund]).

(Reproduced in BIZARRE COMIX, vol. 3, the 1970s)

Two notable works from the Irving Klaw 1950's period produced by Eric Stanton—true masterpieces of fetish art—were:

“Bondage Enthusiasts Bound In Leather,” book 1& 2
Reproduced by Belier Press from surviving photo prints.

“Pleasure Bound,” Books 1 & 2
Reproduced by Belier Press from surviving photo prints.

In the early 1960s, after he moved his kinkster base of operations from New York to New Jersey, Irving Klaw would publish different versions of these same serials under his Nutrix imprint. Unlike the bondage serials sold as loose single page episodes printed on photographic paper, these 5 x 7" versions, featuring cropped and edited versions of the original illustrated serials, were bound (stapled) and sold for the first time as “books” or illustrated novellas. Distribution was via mail order and through adult bookshops (like those owned by other Stanton employers, Stanley Malkin and Eddie Mishkin, along Times Square).

“Bondage Enthusiasts Bound In Leather,” v. 3



“Bondage Enthusiasts Bound In Leather,” v. 4






“Pleasure Bound,” Book 1, Vol. 1





“Pleasure Bound,” Book 1, Vol. 2





Detail: Original Nutrix Bulletin (advertisement issue #53)







Original Klaw Nutrix Bulletin (featuring “Cruel Duchess” ad)

While it appears that Eric Stanton generally stopped working for Movie Star News after Klaw moved his fetish-oriented operations to New Jersey—during which time Eric Stanton disastrously took a “straight job” as a parts clerk of Pan-American Airlines (apparently to please his wife)—evidence shows that he contributed to Klaw's imprint after 1960 with a series of booklets offering new art. So not all Nutrix booklets featuring Eric Stanton material are recycled from older serials.

(This is a hand-copied version of one of Klaw's post 1960 Stanton booklets—purchased directly through Stanton's “Archives” mail order business. When Eric ran out of genuine material, he would personally reproduce it on his in-house xerox machine. The letter symbol in the upper corner—“V”—is a catalog marking [his Conneticut POB address stamped inside].)

Detail: Original Nutrix Bulletin (advertisement issue #30)

“Vacation In Fetterland,” Vol. 1,
just another of Klaw's many Nutrix booklets



(All part of my personal Eric Stanton collection.)

Thanks, Eric!

© 2011 Richard Perez

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Support this author by purchasing his work: here.



“Richard Perez has the ears of the angels—lend him yours.”
—Barry Gifford, author: WILD AT HEART, PERDITA DURANGO


“Perez's is an exciting talent and his work goes far beyond most of what is published today.”
—Henry Flesh, author: MICHAEL and the Lambda Literary Award-winner,
MASSAGE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yours at --------> AMAZON!

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)

IS THIS NOVEL RIGHT FOR YOU?

~ Visit:  PermanentObscurity.com

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: what is it?

Buy now Worldwide >> PERMANENT OBSCURITY available here

Permanent Obscurity:  Or A Cautionary Tale
Of Two Girls
And Their Misadventures
With Drugs, Pornography
And Death

by
Dolores Santana
(as told to Richard Perez)

***********************************

Femdom? What's That? A Sub-genre Of BDSM Defined. Along With A Few Masculine Terrors.

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I love how Wikipedia defines BDSM, and I think it’s accurate: “Functionally, it is a form of ‘power play,’ where power dynamics are used as part of the erotic experience.”

I think this would define a femdom BDSM exchange as well, only that in the case of femdom scenarios or “power plays” or power exchanges it offers an extra subversive element of challenging gender stereotypes—a reversal of the usual power dynamics and, as such, reveals a host of deeply-conditioned male fears (involving the loss of control, the loss of “masculinity,” of not being “on top”).

In this way, I see femdom scenarios as playing out like little psychosexual horror stories for men (“power exchange horror stories”), or black comedies (as in the Polanski film, Bitter Moon, or the Japanese film, Moonlight Whispers), or sometimes like cautionary tales (as in Venus In Furs, for instance, and the endless online “true life” tales subtitled, “Careful What You Wish For”).

I see such scenarios as having more to do with breaching vulnerable psychological territory rather than just being obvious physical confrontations involving whips and chains, which is the most referenced cliché. These power play scenarios are head-games really—mind-fucks—repeatedly touching on male fear (as in the fear of inadequacy, of castration?).

What’s the greatest terror for a boy? Of being called a sissy. What’s the greatest terror for a straight man? Effeminacy. Ineffectualness. Impotence. Being cuckolded. Of being seen as “less than a man.” The terror of not “wearing the pants” and being “owned.”

Femdom BDSM scenarios bluntly challenge—even poke fun at—the status quo. And a close examination of femdom scripts reveals a lot about cultural notions of masculine privilege and about the anxiety and paranoia men have of being stripped of this power.

Ultimately, this might explain why most femdom BDSM scenarios are scripted by men—because they address masculine anxieties—some of which women may not be aware (status and power being less of a defining factor in their lives). The passive-aggressive nature of submission in men, I think, comes from the conflict of eroticized fear being transposed over deeply rooted, shame-based masculine conditioning. It goes without saying that humiliation is central to femdom BDSM scenarios. This is how femdom is provocative.

And speaking of femdom. And why drugs and female domination don't mix....

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Support this author by purchasing his work: here.



“Richard Perez has the ears of the angels—lend him yours.”
—Barry Gifford, author: WILD AT HEART, PERDITA DURANGO


“Perez's is an exciting talent and his work goes far beyond most of what is published today.”
—Henry Flesh, author: MICHAEL and the Lambda Literary Award-winner,
MASSAGE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yours at --------> AMAZON!

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)

IS THIS NOVEL RIGHT FOR YOU?

~ Visit:  PermanentObscurity.com

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: what is it?

Buy now Worldwide >> PERMANENT OBSCURITY available here

Permanent Obscurity:  Or A Cautionary Tale
Of Two Girls
And Their Misadventures
With Drugs, Pornography
And Death

by
Dolores Santana
(as told to Richard Perez)

***********************************

Serena Moon ... and The Fine Art of Face-sitting

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Face-sitting of course is heavily referenced in the artwork of Eric Stanton. In some ways it's a staple of female domination scenarios, because what could be more humiliating or shameful as a man than to be conquered and subdued in that way? What could be a more clear display of subjugation than that? Kissing a woman's feet is sinking pretty low on the scale of surrender, pretty much an acknowledgment of abject slavery and a complete renunciation of pride. But then finding yourself below her ass, conveniently used as a seat cushion is really pushing the boundary forward a notch.

When it comes to being "topped," it's about as topped as you can get. Being her bottom, in her bottom is almost overstating the case. You've gone way beyond ass-kissing to form a whole new communion.

Yeah, it's vulgar, I know. And I don't need to mention that when it comes to face-sitting there's a certain degree of shock value, some crass humor involved. Not to mention that the act has a subversive quality, which seems to go contrary to standard feminine behavior. In fact, face-sitting may be the most unladylike practice I can think of. 

In my private life, I have to admit, I don't like it much. I mean, having a naked butt on my face: getting intimate with her a-hole. (Much as I wish that weren't true.) Aside from the weight of it being too heavy for comfort, a stinky butt is a stinky butt, whether it belongs to your girlfriend or wife or Rachel Welch in her prime. But to this day there remains something startling, even jarring, about the imagery connected with facesitting.

Or maybe that's just a typical guy's view (with a guy's inbred terror of having his masculinity squashed). I mean, the thought of a subjugated male allowing himself to be sat on—his face wedged deep where the sun don't shine ... there's something about the very idea that stops me cold, carries with it a trace of boyhood fear.

Face-sitting of course is an important pychosexual element in PERMANENT OBSCURITY, particularly as it comes from someone in the story named Serena Moon. "Obscurity" as in: "It's dark with my face wedged up here!" "Permanent" as in being butt-snuffed, which is where things lead ... if it's where you wanna go ....

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Thanks, Eric!

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you enjoy this blog?

Support this author by purchasing his work: here.



“Richard Perez has the ears of the angels—lend him yours.”
—Barry Gifford, author: WILD AT HEART, PERDITA DURANGO


“Perez's is an exciting talent and his work goes far beyond most of what is published today.”
—Henry Flesh, author: MICHAEL and the Lambda Literary Award-winner,
MASSAGE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yours at --------> AMAZON!

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)

IS THIS NOVEL RIGHT FOR YOU?

~ Visit:  PermanentObscurity.com

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: what is it?

Buy now Worldwide >> PERMANENT OBSCURITY available here

Permanent Obscurity:  Or A Cautionary Tale
Of Two Girls
And Their Misadventures
With Drugs, Pornography
And Death

by
Dolores Santana
(as told to Richard Perez)

***********************************