Kink.com Moves to San Francisco's Mission District
» Fetishes Can Be Profitable
Kink.com the folks behind a large number of S&M websites has bought the old State Armory building in San Francisco’s Mission District. Having lived there I know it is hardly a glamorous location. If anything the company should prove a financial boon.
Although city planners said the studio meets zoning requirements, residents and civic leaders have reservations about allowing people to be tied up, spanked and poked with mechanical implements in the working-class neighborhood.
“While not wanting to be prudish, the fact that kink.com will be located in the proximity to a number of schools gives us pause,” Mayor Gavin Newsom — who is caught up in his own sex scandal, admitting he had an affair with the wife of his campaign manager — said in a statement this week.
Oh, yeah, I’m sure that professional fetish film makers want to be bothered by a bunch of kids.
Adding to the outrage: The building — erected in 1912, empty since 1970 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 — was sold after low-income housing advocates killed proposals to develop the Armory into offices or apartments.
The Mission Merchants Association is in a bind, with some members arguing the studio would provide an economic boost and others worried it would attract perverts, said Jean Feilmoser, president of the group.
I suspect the kink.com people would be more likely than the average San Francisco merchants to chase off troublesome people. Whatever the heck a “pervert” is.
Porn Studio Puts City in a Kink
Comments
So you think that parents should not be bothered by people who come into their community to promote and make money out of films that glorify abuse and violence in relationships? How would you feel if a religious cult opened a church next to you, set up a firing range, and held a service’s which included weapons training? None of which is illegal in the U.S. If you did not feel uncomfortable about this then you would be in a very small minority.
Yet you think its ok for an internet company to come in and film violent sex in a settled community, and the locals should welcome this because it would be an ‘economic boom’. Why should a parent have to explain ‘sexual preferences’ to their young child just because kink.com wants too parachute its reverence for abuse into their community, Or is it because it’s a ‘working class’ neighbourhood, and they should be glad of any economic benefit, no matter how offensive the residents find it. I smell the stench of condescension in all of this.
Pervert is a word that was used in early psychiatry to describe a mental condition that evolved into what became known as fetish, and later a paraphila. It means that someone has a need to objectify something before they can achieve sexual enjoyment. For example if someone liked to see their partner wearing stockings, but could still make love without stockings, they would NOT have a perversion/fetish/paraphila. However if the stockings where not present, and the person could not make love without their presence then they have a perversion/fetish/paraphila.
Pervert and Fetish have found their way into popular culture, and have become synonymous with people who enjoy sex that is a little unusual to that which the majority of the population enjoy. This definition is somewhat different to the dictionary definition of fetish that states ‘object of exaggerated devotion’.
Someone who enjoys a woman wearing stockings would be described by ‘fetishist’ as having a fetish, yet Psychologically speaking they would not meet the criteria for fetish/paraphila.
Language is a living thing, and the words fetish and kinky seems to have evolved in a certain milieu into meaning something quite different to what others outside the milieu would understand. Most people would describe themselves as kinky, who outside some very strict religions make love in only the ‘missionary’ position? Yet to fetishists, if someone describes himself or herself as ‘kinky’ they are assumed to be fully paid up members of the BDSM lifestyle
Posted by: Spartacus | February 5, 2007 6:52 AM
Abuse and consensual bdsm are two very different things.
On top of that, I seriously doubt they’d post a big “kink.com” banner on the outside of the building. Most likely, it’d remain a regular unmarked building, so there would be no need for parents to explain anything to their kids. Besides, how many of your own neighbors take part in this in their own homes? How is that any different, since it’s behind closed doors as well?
Posted by: roo-roo | February 5, 2007 2:13 PM