I'm intrigued by a comment made by slave marsha in another thread regarding how she approaches her professional career as an attorney 'in service to' her master. As I understand the comment, this indicates that regardless of anything performed in 'day-to-day' life (that might be construed as 'vanilla'), the mindset is that it instead has direct application in her calling as a slave through her daily 'service'. (If I'm mistaken in this interpretation, I hope slave marsha will take the time to clarify; but, I'll proceed into this topic presuming I understood her point.)

In a lifestyle approach (and this is directed to everyone in general, but our special guests in particular), I therefore wonder how such 'service' plays out when personal and professional coincide (conflict?). I'll be candid in saying that I PERSONALLY default to protecting my professional life and keep the personal private (or at a minimum, discreet -- especially if in public) rather than risk my livelihood, particularly in these days of right wing obsession with anti-freedom tactics. Accordingly, any scene-related activism on my part is extremely covert -- and very compartmentalized. But what about those who 'serve' through their professional skills? Where do (or would) you draw the line?

Case in point: If I recall correctly, Master Jim and slave marsha were scheduled to be presenters at Vicious Valentine, which is where the 'Concerned Women of America' (or whatever their group name is) tried to get the event closed down. So, I wonder, slave marsha, if you became involved with that in a professional capacity (or would have considered doing so if asked)? Or would (did) the high profile of the conflict steer you away out of consideration for your professional welfare? If so, would you view not applying your professional 'service' as letting down your master's daily requirements of you? Or would you see that as supporting them somehow (perhaps by protecting your professional side)?

And as an extension of this, particularly in these interesting times in which we live, if the 'conservative right' is indeed mobilizing for what they view as 'THE moral cause', then at what point do you think the concept of compartmentalizing two parts of a life becomes irresponsible? Or does doing so actually make it MORE responsible? Hmmmm.

Be safe,
Thorn

Yes, Master Jim and i were invited to speak at Vicious Valentine -- and, in fact, we did speak there despite the CWA pressure. Master Jim and i, and the seminar we were giving, were specifically identified in a CWA press release. We also spoke at Tribal Fire, another event which received considerable pressure from the CWA. In both cases, it was Master Jim's decision that we not fold to the pressure from the CWA and that we attend and speak, although that decision was not made without a great deal of thought and soul searching on His part.

Thorn, you are correct about the way i view my legal practice. It is service to Master Jim -- but He is the one who decides whether or not i use that service in a particular situation. So, i wouldn't face the situation you describe in which i might feel i'd let Him down in not using my legal training in a particular situation. i wouldn't have made the decision, so whatever i did at His instruction couldn't let Him down -- it would be obedience.

Master Jim decides when and where i use my legal training. At this point in my life, He has decided that i will practice law outside of His home. If He decided tomorrow that He no longer wanted me to serve in that way, i'd tender my resignation. If someone asks Him to allow me to use my legal skills (for example, if Vicious Valentine had asked me to help), Master Jim would likely ask me if what was being requested was within in my field of expertise, and what impact taking on that service would have on my other service. (Even slaves only have 24 hours in their days!) He would take my input and then make the decision as to whether my service would be given.

It seems there is a second question here, and that is the issue of keeping one's personal (i.e., M/s) life separate from professional life. In my case, no one at my job knows that i identify as a "slave." i do wear my collar every day (24 hours a day), but i turn the lock to the back where it's hidden under my hair or i wear a high-necked blouse. Master Jim runs a research center at a major public university. He has not come "out" as a Master to His staff, either. Master Jim will tell you that He and i are more "out" than He had ever dreamed we would be, but He still practices some "identity protection" on our behalf. For example, He will only occasionally identify Himself by His last name, and almost never gives mine. He allows some photos of us to be used in promotional flyers, etc., but generally does not allow photos of us on the Internet.

i think people have to decide for themselves how open they can be about what they do. Some people are in situations where they can be more open than others. Some people care more about being totally open than others do. i think it's a very personal decision.

marsha, if I may step into this and shift it slightly...

I read all about the Vicious Valentine problems on various lists, but not the ones at Tribal Fire.

Would you and Master give us some ideas about what it was like to be at such an event (as regular people not just as leaders/presenters) when it is coming under direct pressure from the right and media? Was there a lot of paranoia or did the people who showed feel a special kind of bond, just by being there? How did the event organizers handle things: did you get letters or phonecalls from them before the event, or did they issue any statements on lists/websites, so SMers wouldn't get all their information about what was going on from mainstream media?

I think we all have to be conscious right now, and certainly throughout Bush's administration, that groups like the CWA are going to be able to garner media attention and thus keep up their crusade. Do you have any practical advice for us on dealing with such boycotts? What do you do when you drop by a BDSM event (whether a weekend at a hotel, an evening at a club, or a munch at a restaurant) and there are a lot more uniforms around than you were counting on--and *authentic* badges? ;-)

Also, since you and Master are professionally and personally interested in the political, legal, and media angles of all this--would you care to make any predictions about how far the CWA will get? Do you think more events will be boycotted?

Glory

To: slave marsha

Thank you for taking the time to give such a thoughtful and open reply to this subject. :-)

Just to seek clarification on one particular point (and there's no judgment here -- just my curious nature), are you saying you completely believe without any reservation that if your master required you to flush away your professional education and experience, you would do it willingly and happily? Or are you simply able to take that position because you're just THAT confident that he would never do so out of genuine care for your livelihood and professional self-actualization?

Be safe,
Thorn

To: GloriaBrame

GREAT questions! Thanks for saving me the typing. lol.

T.

Gloria,

Great questions -- Master Jim and i will try to respond to this later today.

Thorn,

*smiling* No judgment implied. i think you ask a very legitimate question.

Let me try to be excruciatingly honest. The answer to your question as to whether i believe that i would, without reservation, walk away from my job if instructed to by Master Jim is yes. Absolutely. Would i do it happily? God, i hope i would. That's the self-actualization Master Jim is working toward, and that i move toward, ever so slowly -- to make His will my will, and to carry out His will with joy.

In fact, i can speak to this issue with at least a little experience, although from the flip side. About 2 years ago, i was in a job that was a *terrible* atmosphere. i hated it with all my heart. If i had been on my own, in control of my own life, i promise you that i would have walked away from it in a heartbeat. For a number of reasons, Master Jim instructed me to stay. i did -- i obeyed -- but i've got to tell you, i didn't do it with gladness in my heart. It turned out that staying was the right decision, and it led to another, much better job. i hope that experience has given me more faith and trust in Master Jim's ownership, and has helped me go a little further down the path of obeying Him completely and with joy, so that if the day came when He ordered me to quit, i would do it happily.

By the way, if He did tell me to quit tomorrow, He wouldn't exactly wipe my brain. *laughing* i'd still have my training and experience available to be used in His service as He wished to use it. And no -- i think it is quite possible that one day He could instruct me to quit working outside of His home.

MJ and sm,

I can't wait to hear your responses!! :-)

xx,

Glory

I and slave marsha have attended three events that were the focus of attention by the CWA (Vicious Valentine, Tribal Fire and International Mr. Leather). In addition, several other events that we attended were very concerned about attention being brought to bear on them.

Generally, it did not seem to me that the people attending these events were particularly paranoid -- perhaps a bit concerned, but not fearful. Likewise, I didn't sense any particular special bond between the attendees as a result of the CWA and media scrutiny. However, slave marsha says that in her opinion, there was one point when she felt there was a sense of "we're all in this together," and that was the first night of Vicious Valentine.

Both Vicious Valentine and Tribal Fire did communicate with those attending the event via email about the steps they were taking to insure everyone's safety.

Without detailing the specifics of the actions taken by each event, I can say generally that the organizers increased the levels of security surrounding the event. Often, the organizers took special care to curtain off the areas of the hotel being used by the event. They also were particularly careful about insuring only those people registered for the event were permitted by. Wristbands had to be worn at all times, monitors checked people going into presentations and the dungeon areas. Perhaps the biggest change was that the dungeon rules were sometimes made stricter, particularly with regard to nudity.

As for practice advice -- if the CWA or other groups continue to single out leather/BDSM events, the best advice that I have is for people to support the event and the community by attending. However, I do think anyone who is considering attending an event would want to make sure that the event organizers have taken the necessary precautions to do all they can to insure the attendees' safety. What do you do when you arrive and there are a lot more uniforms than you counted on? I think the best course of action is simply to be very open and friendly to those who have been hired as security. At Tribal Fire, we actually encountered law enforcement personnel who were armed and who had been hired by the hotel. Admittedly, the first reaction people had was one of surprise and, I would say, mild concern. But as the event wore on and it was clear that we were doing nothing illegal, the officers were very friendly and open. In fact, slave marsha overheard one of the officers who was just outside of the dungeon area say to his partner, "Hey -- have you been to that vendor area? They've got some great stuff there! I've got to get their business cards before they leave!" Another event hired off-duty policemen as security. They also were armed during the event, and essentially became participants during the weekend, having their boots blacked, having lunch with some of the attendees and asking good questions about presentations. At the event's closing ceremony, these officers were called in and given a standing ovation by the participants.

The last question asks about our views on whether leather/BDSM events will continue to receive the attention of the CWA and other organizations. First, let me say that while we may not like the attention that we get, the CWA has every right to express their opinions, as long as those expressions are done within the bounds of the law. Conversely, we also have the right of assembly and freedom of speech, even though some may disagree with what we have to say and what we do, as long as we too remain within the bounds of the law. As to predicting what might happen this fall and next year, I really have no idea. I can say that since IML, I have not heard of any events that have received the level of attention we saw at Vicious Valentine and Tribal Fire. Once again, I believe that we should simply go on holding and attending events while taking some extra precautions to insure that we are within the law.

While I can't give you any scientific evidence, I can say that the hotel staff at events I have attended regularly compliment leather/BDSM people on their courtesy, their general behavior, their compliance with hotel policy. And, they tell us, we're good tippers!

I don't know how many of the readers of this list attend leather/BDSM events, but if you have not, I would encourage you to attend one. And if you have attended these events in the past, I would encourage you to continue. I simply believe that we in the leather/BDSM community should continue to meet, to talk, and to engage in the activities that are meaningful to our lives.

I hope that these responses answer the questions Gloria raised. This gives me the perfect opportunity to highlight an event that I, slave marsha, and Mark Frazier are producing in Dallas in March 2003. The event is South Plains Leatherfest and I will give details in a separate post early next week.

Since Master Jim didn't really talk much about IML, let me say a word about it. For those of you who don't know, International Mr. Leather (IML) is the largest leather title contest and one of the largest leather events around. Every year, over 3,000 leathermen (mostly gay) and a few leatherwomen (there were probably 100-200 of us) gather in Chicago for the contest -- and the vendor area, which was 70,000 square feet this year.

This year, the CWA turned its attention to IML. It was the *only* place we saw protestors -- a couple of pretty lonely looking guys whose signs nearly blew away. (They really seemed more concerned with the fact that the attendees were gay, rather than into leather/SM.) Well, IML went on -- leather pride flags flying in front of the hotel, attendees in full leather, and a letter of support in the program from the city's gay/lesbian liason. There's not a whole lot a conservative organization can do when a community exerts that level of influence (and ecnomic benefit) in a city.

At another event we attended, one of the police officers hired as security came into the dungeon. One of the organizers was taking him around, showing him that all was in compliance with the law. Suddenly, i overheard their conversation -- the organizer was explaning what was going on in a flogging scene, about the endorphins the bottom was experiencing, about the Top's technique, etc. The officer was clearly facinated -- not facinated and repulsed, just facinated. At the end of the conversation, he turned to the organizer and sincerely thanked her for explaining what was going on.

And now i'll end this post echoing Master Jim. If you have never attended a leather/BDSM educational event, think about giving it a try. There are some great ones out there, all over the country. It's incredibly empowering to suddenly realize that you are not alone in what you do. And if you're interested in M/s or D/s relationships... well... as Master Jim said, we'll tell you about South Plains Leatherfest in a separate post.

MJ and sm:

Excellent, informative answers.

I will echo and strengthen the comments made about the hired police officers to say that at events I have organized (none bdsm oriented), the officers hired were approachable, friendly, courteous and interested. (One even went so far as to inform attendees that if they did want to buy marijuana - which of course he did not condone - the best and safest place in town to get it was...)

This is due, at least in small part, to the fact that off-duty police typically receive time-and-a-half pay. It is also due, I am sure, to the fact that I and my staff made sure to communicate clearly and openly with the officers about what we were doing, how we would handle it, how we would like them to handle it and etc. (At a rave party where use of various substances was undoubtedly going on, the officers stood with their backs to the party. They stated that they would only intervene if 'something' 'forced' them to respond. This attitude was in turn, communicated directly to the attendees, who cooperated by not providing the 'something')

I would say that most events should budget to hire local officers for the previously mentioned and one other reason: if you do have a problem, the police department anyone might call already knows that they have officers on location - the very same ones who you have been (hopefully) getting friendly with. Defusing potentially bad situations is therefore much easier.

On the issue of right wing targeting of events: those folks do more damage through economic means than through local media coverage. Master Jim's request that everyone try to attend events is one way to combat that. A city's convention and visitor's bureau calculates their support and involvement strictly on economic lines: How many room-nites will the event be?

Unfortunately, not nearly as many people who wish to attend these events can do so, and I am not aware of any system in place that would allow our community to demonstrate to corporations that there is a price to pay for banning events just as there is for not-banning them.

Although only half-baked now, I'm wondering if an internet petition, written broadly but for specific and limited uses, might not provide a tool to deal with this problem?

In other words, a petition that lifestylers could sign, which could be used in multiple circumstances; initials, city and state, income range, annual hotel stays and annual airline flight infomation would be provided by each signer, maintaining anonymity yet giving a good idea of economic muscle of our community.

Sorry for being long-winded: I'm kind of thinking as I go.

rabidchihauhau..

i agree completely that showing we have ecnomic clout is extremely important. In fact, each time an event has been targeted, the word has gone out to the community to write letters of support to the host hotel and/or parent corporation, including information about how often the writer travels, stays in hotels, etc. Master Jim and i have both written such letters.

Truthfully, i'm not sure an internet petition with anonymous signers would carry much weight with the corporations. i understand fully the difficulty some members of the community have in putting their legal name to something like a letter or petition... but i also understand a corporation simply not assigning much credibility to an anonymous petition. Maybe there's someone reading the board who can speak from the corporate hotel perspective? What would get a company's attention?

One thing that could be done without divulging anyone's name would be for event organizers to make sure to let hotel parent corporations, city chambers of commerce, etc. know how many room nights were used for an event, to let them know a hotel sold out for a day or two days or whatever. But that isn't very effective either until we start selling out the hotels, or at least substantially filling them. Right now, there are very few events that can sell out a hotel or hotels. IML is one. Black Rose is another. Thunder in the Mountains and Beat Me In St. Louis both did last year. We're really hoping South Plains will, too, either this year or next.

i focus on hotels because that's our biggest problem. The airlines aren't going to ban us from flying -- they never need to know why we're going to a particular city, so the CWA can't target them. But hotels... that has been a real problem. It is becoming very difficult to find places that will host us, because the hotels are on the front line of the pressure. We have to give them an economic reason to honor our event contracts -- filling their rooms gives them that reason.

slave marsha,

I wouldn't call a digital signature of initials, city and state 'anonymous', but I do understand the point. As well, perhaps you were saying this, but I'll repeat myself for clarity's sake:

CVBs (Convention and Visitors Bureaus) calculate the 'economic impact' of an event on what they call 'room-nites'. Their full support begins to kick in at 1000 (100 rooms for ten nites, 250 rooms for 4 nites...) but more importantly, they use this and other formular to guesstimate all other dollars that will flow into their city - estimated air travel (port fees) meals (restaurant visits) events (plays, parks, etc).

If the events you are talking about are NOT contacting CVBs, they should start, so the CVB can start doing their own impact analysis. They'll track it and as the event grows, so will their interest.

The petition idea was more to demonstrate potential and to indicate that there would be a price, more than anything else.