Black Voices in Kink / Sex Blogging

So Cadi and I have been on a bit of a hiatus from this blog. We haven’t written here since April, and haven’t logged in to Twitter since May (sorry if you’ve DM-ed us!) Cadi’s work has got a lot busier due to Covid, and I’m working on a creative project that is zapping my blogging energy!

However, we both thought it was important to pop in and share some links to a few of the amazing Black people writing about sexuality, BDSM, and queer culture. We’ve both been protesting, donating, reading etc in our communities under our real names, but we wanted to take a small action here to celebrate some of the Black people who we both read, follow and look up to. If you have any other suggestions of writers/podcasters/bloggers/photographers/performers we could add to this, or any offline book recommendations please let us know.

Like most of modern society, BDSM has inescapable ties to racism and injustice. This post by LadyEuphoriaNYC is a really clear and succinct explanation of some of these ties. I was reminded of this recently when I was reading about a statue of a racist 18th century man in a village near where I grew up. He enacted a sadistic punishment against a young Black woman in one of Britain’s colonies. I read the description of the punishment and was thinking about how some elements were similar to a frequently used trope in BDSM. As Lady Euphoria says, it doesn’t mean that we should stop participating in BDSM, but we should be honest about the roots of some of the things we eroticise.

There are many other privileges to being white and in the kink scene. For example, the time I attended London Alternative Market and bought a large impact toy, then felt safe to travel with it in my bag to a work engagement the next day. I didn’t think of it at the time, but I was certainly experiencing white privilege. There are other conversations that we need to have in our kink communities, offline and online, about making sure BAME/BIPOC people feel welcome and supported. We don’t attend many kinky events locally but it will certainly be something that I think about and act on in a post lockdown world.

People, Blogs and Social Media

Aisha Mirza – @uglyinahotway on Instagram

BlackSyn – @kinkyblackeducator on Instagram

Caritia – https://caritia.de/

https://www.dirtylola.wordpress.com

Dollyrose – @the_dollyrose on Instagram, but also her substack coming soon, https://dollyrose.substack.com/p/coming-soon

Gaelle – https://www.instagram.com/gaellegote/

Gingers Desires – https://www.instagram.com/gingersdesires/?hl=en

Kolby Brianne (Leatherworker) – http://www.kolbybrianne.com/

Nae – https://www.honestlynae.com/

@Purplefemme11 on twitter

Robin Wilson Beattie – www.sexabledwithrobinwb.com