Fetish klæðnaður

Hvaðan kemur hin svarta leðurímynd BDSM? Í mjög stuttu og einfölduðu máli má segja að svarta leðurmenningin hafi þróast í Bandaríkjunum upp úr 1950. Það er líklega engin ein ástæða fyrir því en svartur hefur oft verið tengdur bæði valdi og jaðarsetningu í samfélaginu. Mótorhjólagengi sem urðu til upp úr seinni heimstyrjöldinni klæddust leðri og Marlon Brando í myndinni The Wild One var einn helsti innblástur Touko Laaksonen (Tom of Finland) sem á hvað mestan heiður í sköpun ímyndar leðurmannsins. Leðurklæðnaðurinn varð ákveðið sameiningartákn á tíma þar sem til dæmis BDSM einkamálaauglýsingar þurftu að vera dulkóðaðar til þess að vera birtar.

Það má rekja lífstíl BDSM leðurhomma aftur til fjórða áratugs síðustu aldar. Það var ekkert skipulag en menn náðu samt sem áður að gera kóðuð skilaboð í blöðum skiljanleg. "Sadi Mazie" stóð t.d. fyrir SM

"There was no crowd as there is today. There were isolated individuals who might tie you up and beat the hell out of you. Ah . . . but it was dangerous. And you didn’t know . . . in the early days, even as late as the forties, you didn’t . . . ah . . . there was no codification of it. No ritualization of SM as there is today. It was catch as catch can. But . . . ah . . . Sadie Mazzies were looked down on by all of us ordinary, normal homosexuals in the twenties and the thirties. We thought that"

"Thom Magister described the early days of the leatherman culture built by men like Steward, Renslow, and Baron: In the early 1950s the leather scene in California was a strictly serious business. The men involved in S/M action lived by a code. There was no tolerance, as there is today, for phonies and onlookers, although there were always plenty of them. Since there were no popular leather magazines, porn videos, or even books to inform the novice, everything was passed on by legend and word-of-mouth tradition—just like any other nomad tribe. The worlds of S/M, leathermen, and leather-bikermen were intertwined. Gay bikers and straight bikers commingled with little conflict. Their commonality was leather, Harley-Davidson bikes, and painful memories of a war that had disfigured them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This was not carefree youth on a spree. These men were angry. Hell, they were pissed off! And they could never, ever, go home again. Among outcasts there is little distinction or discrimination. Certainly a kinky sexual preference seemed of little consequence. Just your everyday oddity in a world light-years from reality. There were gay bars and leather bars and biker bars and tea rooms and truck stops and all the other gathering places of men hungry for sex with other men. But there was, under the surface, another group—hidden—on the prowl among the general population of leathermen. These were the true sadists and masochists who were both serious and devoted. There were no markings—no signals—no keys, no bright, multicolored hankies of identification, no displayed handcuffs and cock rings—just burning eyes and attitude.11"

Tupper, Peter. A Lover's Pinch: A Cultural History of Sadomasochism . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Gagnkynhneigt BDSM fólk var að sjálfssögðu einnig til á þessum tíma en sú neðanjarðarmenning var ekki eins einsleit og sýnileg og hjá leðurhommunum.

"The formation of a subculture was hampered by the sparse population and official censors attacking the major communications channels like the postal service and magazine publishing and distribution.

Tupper, Peter. A Lover's Pinch: A Cultural History of Sadomasochism . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Kindle Edition.

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