Reading MUNCH

Courtesy of http://www.readingmunch.org.uk/

1: Where does the word munch come from?

The very first one, called a "Burger munch" because it was held at a burger place, was arranged by STella in Palo Alto, California in 1992. The idea was for people who read alt.sex.bondage (the precursor to soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm) to get together in person to meet one another, eat and chat. Now it is shortened to munch, a cross between a meet and lunch.

2: What is a munch?

A munch is a get together of like minded people in a non threatening environment. It is usually held in a pub, cafe or bar. You can come and go as you like within the times posted.

ISNetwork: Bondage and bigotry. The International Socialist Network has split - over a work of art. Paul Demarty is bemused

 

Dasha Zhukova sitting on the offending art work

A hundred years ago, the outbreak of the Great War caused a split in the social democratic movement - while initially most of the Second International’s sections supported their own states, with only two outliers (most famously the Bolsheviks) taking an anti-war line, by the end of the war the movement was cleaved in two. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the whole bloody history of the short 20th century stems from the response of the workers’ movement to what was plainly an existential choice of indisputable importance.

BDSM is not all about sex!

This is a public information announcement:

BDSM is not all about sex!

Did that get your attention? If it did then my job here is half done; if you agree entirely and know where I’m coming from then you’re excused the rest of the class and can sneak off round the back of the bike-sheds now.

If you think I have no idea what I’m talking about, then, if you’re sitting comfortably, read on…

Many definitions of BDSM include the words “erotic”, “sexual”, “sensual”, etc. While sex can be a big part of a BDSM relationship it does not have to be and, to my mind, limits and detracts from the entire scene.

Thinking Kink: The Politics of BDSM Fashion

"Most of what we do is done in t-shirts and jeans and involves a lot of giggling." Cliff Pervocracy

Trying on my first "proper" corset—steel-boned, torso-flattening, and with an appropriately high price tag—was a mixed bag. As my friend mercilessly yanked harder and harder on the lacing to achieve the four-inch reduction in my waist size that is apparently the aim, I couldn't help but reflect on how wonderfully feminine my figure looked, waist cinched in, boobs thrust up to somewhere near my chin, ass and hips splayed and firmly emphasized below. There was just one little problem: I couldn't breathe properly. Oh, or bend. Or even really sit down. As someone who likes to be physically flexible during playtime, I could see that this was an outfit for remaining stationary, and fantastic as it looked, that's not what I want from my clothes.

Whips and chains excite me: Inside the kinky world of BDSM in Lebanon

ORIGINAL POST: SyndiGate.info

Who knew Who knew? BDSM - or bondage, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism - has a dedicated band of followers in Lebanon. (Shutterstock/BDSM)

Sitting outside a coffee shop in Sassine, Ziad gestures to himself and says, “Look at me. Who could guess I like to whip women? ”It’s a fair question, like other members of the clandestine Lebanese BDSMcommunity with whom the Daily Star spoke, Ziad comes across as an average, middle-aged guy, the kind you’d expect to see at the office or chain smoking in a cafe. Human sexuality comes up in ordinary conversation often, but BDSM – an umbrella term for bondage, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism – is not a sexual preference many understand.

Rape porn Bill introduced to Parliament (England, Wales and NI)

On 5 February the government introduced a Bill to Parliament that will extend S63(7) CJIA 2008 to cover the possession of pornography that depicts rape. Unless the proposed legislation is dropped or amended it may have greater implications for the general public than the first four categories that were originally criminalised. This is because material that depicts rape can be difficult to define.

However, in 2010 the Scottish Parliament introduced its own possession offence legislation (S42 CJ&L(S)A 2010) which included a category that depicts rape. In the light of this, and recent demands from many feminist and religious groups, that material that depicts rape be made an offence to possess, the government has brought forward new legislation.

Many CAAN supporters will be appalled that there really does exist some material that features real rape being committed and this is occasionally shared by exceptionally nasty people. But the publication and sharing of such material is already a criminal offence. Many of us have no sympathy for those who possess extremely brutal and callous depictions of rape, even those where models have consented to appear as ‘victims’, but the current legislation is sloppy, it is poorly drafted and will impact upon relatively soft bondage and domination themed material.

The legislation will also include anything that involves penetration with any object. So, if you were to possess an image of a submissive man, gagged, in bondage, with a butt plug being inserted, how could you prove that this was not rape? It could well be the case that the lucky man involved is having the best day of his life, but his facial expression might be interpreted by police as pain and the gag as proof that there was no consent to the act.

Nearly a third of the UK population (British Sexual Fantasy Research Project: 2007), fantasise about types of forced sex, often involving bondage, gags and invariably a dark dungeon. There is a huge amount of porn that caters for this demand, but anything without a BBFC certificate will be very dangerous to view/possess.

CAAN is doing everything we can to secure a sensible amendment to the legislation to protect those into bondage, submission and/or domination.  Working with the 4 other campaigns (Backlash, Campaign Against Censorship, Sex & Censorship and the Sexual Freedom Coalition) we have warned MPs and peers of the dangers of this legislation, explaining the potential for thousands of harmless people to have their lives destroyed. The government has pointed to the experience in Scotland and notes that it is believed there has only been one conviction for possession of material that depicts rape. However the government also predicted that S63(7) CJIA 2008 would only result in “a handful of convictions” but the reality was very different, with over 1,000 people charged with offences per annum. In the year 2012/13 1,348 people were charged under S63(7) for possession of the first four categories of extreme porn. By criminalising possession of “rape” material, a category which will include some sexually explicit bondage and entirely consensual material, a category that will include material in which millions of people have an interest, it is likely that prosecutions will soar.

Let there be no doubt that we are in engaged in war on two fronts. The state is determined to seize control over the internet and is equally determined to marginalise the lives of those who are into even the mildest forms of BDSM. Evidence is also mounting that police investigations and prosecutions are disproportionately being directed at the LGBT community. As a consequence we fear that the new legislation poses a serious threat to minority groups and have adopted the stance that if anything depicts a real rape, where there is no consent, that cannot be tolerated; but anything that is consensual should not be criminalised. Finding a watertight definition or dividing line between the various different categories of material that exist is impossible and so we oppose the creation of this new category.

Please write to your MP and explain why this is an exceptionally dangerous piece of legislation. Please also write to members of the House of Lords. This step is also important because we believe it is more likely that this part of the legislation will be scrutinised in the Lords than in the Commons.

Here is a link to the draft Bill (The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill): -

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2013-2014/0169/cbill_2013-20140169_en_3.htm

Campaigning against extreme and unjust laws

Under the present government, a growing number of laws have been passed that criminalise ordinary people for their sexual choices.  The best known example of this is the extreme porn ban which since 26th January 2009 affects England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

But the Government has also been instrumental in:

• criminalising the possession of images depicting perfectly legal sexual activity;
• putting in place a “Committee of Public Safety” whose job it will be to vet nearly half the workforce – and remove them from their jobs if they possess any porn that is “sexual and violent in nature”
• proposing to make it a criminal offence for an adult to pay for sex.

CAAN needs YOU!

If you’d like to know more about these Laws go to our Issues page. If you’d like to campaign against them go to our Campaigns page.

We’re creating many ways to join in so that everyone who wants to get involved can do so, either behind the scenes, or out and in public. All consenting adults are welcome in CAAN, we aim to include people of all orientations, social or cultural groupings and genders, and we can also provide our information in alternative formats on request.

Other BLOGS & Discussions of interest on this topic: 

The Campaign to Ban Rape Porn is Far Too Broadly Drawn

The Objectification of Women - It Goes Much Further Than Sexy Pictures

Rape Porn: Rapists by Proxy?

The Nanny State – legislating on health and morality

 

 The Nanny State – legislating on healthand morality By Merry Neal

“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant… Over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”

The above principle laid down by John Stuart Mill is a cornerstone of liberal political and jurisprudential thought. Mill argued that, provided you cause no harm to others, you should be free to do what you like with your own body and life. This is what the right to personal autonomy and self-determination means; and it is a right which is being steadily, and quietly, eroded. If liberty, as Mill said, consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else, then we are already not free – and if the current trend of legislating on public health and morals continues the residual liberty we do enjoy will be diminished.