tagged w/ Permanent Obscurity by Richard Perez
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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....
(Heavily illustrated article with Dita Von Teese magazine cover images.....)
http://permanentobscurity.com/perm-obsc-dita-von-teese.htmWhat I love about Dita Von Teese as a model is her ability and interest to reference... more
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Permanent Obscurity plays out like an existential BDSM sex farce written by Jean Paul Sartre. At the center of this black comedy is Dolores and Serena, two bickering, self-deluded wannabe artists. Dolores, our quasi-teenage narrator, rages about society and how she’s oppressed while puffing away nonstop from her weed pipe; Serena, a self-absorbed beauty, can’t be bothered to work for a living so she puts out Craigslist ads for slaves who provide her with the adoration and attention she craves as a failed singer and performer. One such “slave,” who becomes an important character in the book, is a man referred to as “Baby,” a self-sacrificing little saint who can’t stop from bending over backwards for Serena, even though it’s clear she’s moved on to others, including a new male servant who might better serve her purposes. Appropriated slave #2 is a failed writer by the name of “Dick,” who may or may not stand in for the author himself, Richard Perez.
.... Full review...http://melvillehousebooks.com/no-exit-a-review-of-permanent-obscurity-a-novel-by-richard-perez/Permanent Obscurity plays out like an existential BDSM sex farce written by Jean Paul... more
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Two major contributors to sexploitation/fetish history were Irving Klaw and Leonard (Lenny) Burtman.
Although Irving Klaw was first in entering the fetish business in 1947, it's Lenny Burtman who envisioned going beyond mail order and creating the first sexploitation/fetish publishing enterprise with nationally distributed digests and magazines.
(Heavily illustrated article with vintage images and retro magazines. From Irving Klaw, to Bettie Page and more.....)
http://permanentobscurity.com/perm-obsc-lenny-burtman.htmTwo major contributors to sexploitation/fetish history were Irving Klaw and Leonard... more
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Case in Point:
PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or A Cautionary Tale of Two Girls & Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography & Death by Richard Perez
RE: News Release Item
New York Times Author Considers a Two Million Dollar Law Suit Against the ABA ... For Censorship
Former New York Times contributor and novelist, Richard Perez, author of PERMANENT OBSCURITY, has decided to strike back against censorship. "This would be on behalf of all independent authors everywhere," he has said, currently assembling his case with legal council.
The target of his fight is the ABA (American Bookseller's Association), currently representing 1,100 independent bookstores, who almost one year ago refused to carry or permit any advertising for his above mentioned novel, on the basis of content.
The result of this very deliberate act of censorship has resulted in less than 5% of independent bookstores nationwide actually carrying the title, and to this day the novel, which has received generally favorable reviews otherwise, remains virtually unobtainable and unknown to a wider reading public outside of Amazon.com.
"When it comes to the arts and politics, we live in an environment completely owned and operated by the corporate media, and the publishing industry especially personifies this," Mr. Perez was quoted as saying. "Promotional agencies like the ABA come into play because by choosing which books are granted exposure and which are not, they are in effect setting the agenda, laying out the choices and possibilities that a reading public might otherwise consider."
In the past, the ABA has been an agency that has publicly touted its anti-censorship advocacy. That "pro-indie" and anti-bias rhetoric is loudly proclaimed on its website: http://www.bookweb.org/advocacy
Yet when it comes to truly independent books, books about true dissension in America, representing alternative views into subcultures and non-mainstream sexuality, be it with lesbianism, sexploitation, or bdsm, as in the case of PERMANENT OBSCURITY, that stance obviously doesn't apply
"As the axiom goes," said Mr. Perez. "'Don't listen to what people say, watch what they do.' "
Asked if the ABA was exposing their corporate ownership with their gesture of forbidding any advertising of his book, the author replied, hardly able to contain his sarcasm: "You tell me. It's not like corporate titles are their bread and butter, right? Any title, like mine, that might potentially 'denigrate' their relationship with so-called 'indie' bookstores and their exposure of corporate product needs to be brought into question."
Asked how he arrived at the figure of two million dollars bandied in his suit, Mr. Perez expounded, "Easy. Subsidiary rights need to be considered, not just straight book sales, and this includes foreign translation rights, film rights." According to Mr. Perez: "All this has been affected by the ABA in its deliberate attempt to cut off or sabotage the chances of this particular literary property, obviously on the basis of content."
Richard Perez's last novel, THE LOSERS' CLUB, an independently published romantic comedy set in the East Village of the 1990s, sold widely and was translated into several languages, including Turkish, Korean, and Italian, with the novel optioned and broadly considered for the basis of several films, including a mini-series.
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Me again: So with all the talk of cutting off funding to NPR, thus cutting off the voice of dissension, comes another question:
By denying exposure to those asking the difficult questions are we tipping the game in favor of the non-dissenters? Those pro-conservative, pro-traditional, pro-mainstream (and therefore corporate) agencies charged with supporting and maintaining the status quo?
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By Karen O'Conner:
Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110318212307AAjz1JNCase in Point:
PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or A Cautionary Tale of Two Girls & Their... more
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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”).
Continues.....
http://permanentobscurity.com/perm-obsc-what-is-it-femdom.htmI love how Wikipedia defines BDSM, and I think it’s accurate:... more
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