That's what happened to me some months ago, and led to an interview with the lovely Selene and Noelle, 20-somethings and part-time professional dominatrixes. I also talked extensively with Chris, the woman who runs FantasyMakers, a House up in El Cerrito, CA. The interview with the dommes will be appearing in the next issue of Puritan Magazine, and will eventually be reprinted on my site. What I'd like to talk about here is the philosophy behind the House, and Chris's execution of that philosophy.
In my last column, I told you about Lady Sally's, an invention of Spider Robinson. Lady's Sally's House was staffed with artists, not hookers, who interacted with clients, not johns. It was a safe, sane place to work, and Lady Sally genuinely cared for all of her artists. For more on that philosophy, check out the last column -- this won't make as much sense if you haven't read it. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Chris at FantasyMakers had not only read about Lady Sally, but had modelled her House on Sally's.
It's a House of domination, not a whorehouse, of course. Prostitution isn't legal in California, but professional domination is, as long as the participants don't actually have sex (defined as penile/vaginal intercourse by the law, if I remember correctly). Chris is even more careful than that -- the clients aren't allowed to touch the dommes' genitals or vice versa. Either can masturbate themselves, if they care to, but it's strictly a spectator sport. Still, one wonders about the state of California's definitions of sex -- there's a hell of a lot you can still do, if you choose to, outside the narrow confines of penile/vaginal intercourse. And some of the women (there were one or two male artists associated with FantasyMakers, but it was predominantly female) did choose to go to the limit of the law. Only if they chose to, though...
One of the most clear ways in which Chris attempted to protect her artists was by means of a chart. The chart categorized various behaviors (tickling, massage, toy shows (artist masturbating with sex toys for client's view), f/f play, foot worship, submission, dominance, roleplay, etc...) and the artists each marked how they felt about the activity and what they were willing to do. If you worked there, you could say that you loved tickling and massage, would be willing to do toy shows for extra money and absolutely refused to do foot worship, for example. There was no stigmatism attached to only being willing to do a few things -- it simply meant that there'd be less chance of you being matched up with clients, and therefore that you'd probably make less money. The House didn't pressure you into any activity at all, even though they took a percentage of what you earned as rent. Chris believed strongly in treating artists in the House as independent contractors -- and so, of course they got to choose what they wanted to do.
Chris also did education. She was always willing to demonstrate the safe way to do a technique, or have someone else teach it, or organize a class. She brought in outside instructors on safe play, to ensure that everyone understood how careful they needed to be. Little medical fliers were posted on the bulletin board, warning of the dangers of carelessness with fluids. Knowledge was freely disseminated, openly available. She was strict about the use of latex barriers anytime the artist and the client were in danger of exchanging fluids. She made sure that incoming artists knew the hazards of the job, and the ways to protect themselves.
There was a good atmosphere there. The women were not only beautiful -- they were bright and interesting as well, friendly to a stranger and willing to talk about their work. They seemed comfortable with each other and with their own bodies. The common room (off-limit to clients) was often a cheerful chaos of women laughing and changing and chatting and munching on the macaroni and cheese or other basics that Chris stocked to make sure nobody went hungry if they were pulling a long shift or broke that week.
I'm not saying FantasyMakers was perfect. I only hung around for a few days, and undoubtedly as an outsider I missed some problems, some tensions. What I am saying is that it was refreshing and reassuring to see what can be done with a positive attitude, with the feeling that this is not just a job -- it's an art form, a pleasure. Selene said in her interview that she regarded her work as a gift to the client, one that they were happy to accept. A lot of positive feedback to be had, and a lot of pleasure to be shared. What struck me most in the time I spent at FantasyMakers was how HAPPY the women seemed -- when they were griping, they were griping about how their bike had gotten stolen, or the kids were sick...not about the work.
Maybe in the new, healthier sexual world that I'm hoping to help create, an atmosphere like the one at FantasyMakers will become the norm. Maybe that place is a sign of a change in our culture, of a new way of looking at sexuality and human relations. Intimations of good things to come, perhaps.
Next column: Elements of Attraction: Is There a Place for Androgyny?
- Mary Anne
October 14, 1997