Key Scenes from Rent-A-Girl

This trio of pivotal moments comes from Rent-A-Girl (1965), one of the more accomplished low-budget New York “roughies” of the 1960s. Directed by William L. Rose, who also served as cinematographer for The Defilers (1965), a classic Hollywood roughie produced by David F. Friedman and directed by Lee Frost—this film stands out for its clever integration of exploitation tropes into a coherent narrative. Rent-A-Girl follows the sordid operations of a … Continue reading Key Scenes from Rent-A-Girl

Fetish Stag Films

A stag reel or stag party film is an erotic, often explicitly pornographic, film reel produced from the 1900s to the early 1980s. The term stag refers to single men (“to go stag” = “to go alone”). Some pornographic shorts made in the 1930s even had a fictitious “Stag Films” company logo showing the head of a male deer. These “blue movies” were originally shown in brothels, … Continue reading Fetish Stag Films

Mystical Power Plays

Orientalism and BDSM: A Fusion of Fantasy and Power In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism describes how Western writers, designers, and artists imitated or depicted aspects of the ‘Eastern’ world—spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. This lens was steeped in romance and mysticism, projecting power, sensuality, and exoticism onto these cultures. Edward Saïd’s groundbreaking book Orientalism (1978) revealed how this Western … Continue reading Mystical Power Plays

Perceptions Diverge

The 1877 engraving “Warua Slave-Driver and Slave” from Across Africa portrays a slave-driver with a spear leading a bound slave across a sparse landscape, their minimal attire,loincloths and a headscarf, highlighted by detailed linework. It was published in the book Across Africa in 1877. A book by Verney Lovett Cameron (1844 – 1894) who was an English traveller in Central Africa and the first European to cross (1875) equatorial Africa from sea to … Continue reading Perceptions Diverge

Ernst Schertel, Pioneer of BDSM Research

Ernst Schertel (1884 – 1958) was a multifaceted German figure: a writer, historian, scholar in religious studies, and specialist in the occult. He was also a dance pedagogue, an early promoter of nudist culture, a liberal free thinker, and a researcher of human sexuality with a particular interest in paraphilia, fetishism, and sadomasochism.SpankingArtWiki & Wikipedia Early Life, Education, Career and Contributions Schertel studied history and … Continue reading Ernst Schertel, Pioneer of BDSM Research

Rowlandson’s Satire

Thomas Rowlandson ( July 1757 –1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. Rowlandson was a prolific artist and printmaker. He produced both individual social and political satires. He also created a large number of illustrations for novels, humorous books, and topographical works. Like other caricaturists of his age such as James Gillray, his … Continue reading Rowlandson’s Satire

Exotic Vaudeville dancers Grisha and Brona

Grisha and Brona, the electrifying dance duo of the 1930s and 1940s, lit up vaudeville stages with their captivating performances and stunning costumes. Known for their exotic flair, their outfits, like the iconic tulle overlay with a plastic-like sheen, likely crafted from rayon or nylon for its stiffness and affordability. These outfits, captured in rare 1940s publicity photos, evoke the allure of BDSM aesthetics, blending … Continue reading Exotic Vaudeville dancers Grisha and Brona

Weird Tales

Weird Tales first hit newsstands in March 1923, founded by J.C. Henneberger and published by Rural Publishing Corporation. Its early struggles with financial woes nearly ended it, but the magazine found its footing under editor Farnsworth Wright, who took the helm in 1924. Wright’s vision shaped it into a haven for the weird and wonderful, featuring tales that defied convention.The magazine’s pages were graced by … Continue reading Weird Tales

Madam Satan

Cecil B. DeMille’s Madam Satan (1930) is a cinematic fever dream. It blends boudoir comedy, musical extravaganza, and disaster epic. This blend creates a singularly bizarre pre-Code artifact. For fans of boundary-pushing art, this film offers a treasure trove of risqué innuendo. It features lavish costumes and explores desire and deception in a devilish manner. Madam Satan has been called one of the oddest films … Continue reading Madam Satan

A Secret Spanking Order

Cornelius Adriaensen (1521 – 1581) was a 16th-century Dutch Franciscan priest. He was born at Dordrecht and joined the order of “Frères Mineurs”.Adriaensen moved to Bruges (West Flanders, today in Belgium) where he founded a secret order among the women of Bruges, who were persuaded to meet him in secret, undress, and be chastised for their sins. The order was eventually betrayed to the local … Continue reading A Secret Spanking Order

The Chamber Pot Slave

Some gems are truly rare. Like this photo, the image depicts a scene described as “Sadomasochism,” specifically involving a woman making a man drink from a chamber pot. It is a black-and-white photograph, categorized under themes such as domination, humiliation, and sexuality. The explicit nature of the content suggests it may be part of a collection exploring fetishism or historical representations of sadomasochistic themes.It was … Continue reading The Chamber Pot Slave

Yvon de Carlo in Slavegirl

Slave Girl is a 1947 American Technicolor adventure comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring Yvonne De Carlo (1922 – 2007) and George Brent (1904 – 1974).Wikipedia An American adventurer goes to Tripoli to rescue some kidnapped sailors, but gets involved with a beautiful slave girl. IMDB Slave Girl, directed by Charles Lamont and starring Yvonne De Carlo as Francesca, embodies this myth through … Continue reading Yvon de Carlo in Slavegirl