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A Broad View #2
San Francisco Erotica Convention
The Erotica
conventions began with a bang last year in New York City, thanks to the
prissy objections of their mayor; his whining made the convention front
page news and a howling success. Over 30,000 people ponied up their $30
to see what all the hubub was about. The latest scheduled stop on the
kink express was San Francisco, and I was there to witness a
sociological phenomenon: What may be titillating and thrilling in less
sexually sophisticated cities was a big ho-hum in the city by the bay.
They simply aren't repressed or deprived enough to support this sex
show.
As sex educator Carol Queen grumbled, "Who does this New Yorker think
he is telling San Francisco how to do sex?" Indeed. As you may have
guessed, the brains behind the Erotica shows is from Manhattan, and
evidently he didn't heed the warnings of San Francisco's "sexerati." As
a result, those of us with booths at the show wound up keeping each
other company in the mostly empty convention hall. Thank goodness I'd
agreed to share my space with the staff of The Spectator, a weekly sex
broadsheet keeping the Bay Area "abreast" of all local salacious
events. Every few hours a new employee would show up for his or her
shift and they were all congenial, entertaining sorts.
Another bright spot in an otherwise dim four days were the parties. On
Friday night I eschewed the Erotica-sanctioned bash and attended Islan
DeSade, hosted by Arcane, who also hosts Iniquity, a monthly fetish
event with a strict dress code. The party was held at Jezebel's Joint,
"The Bar for Doms & Daddys, Strippers & Trannies." There was an
intimate (read small) dance floor, a comfortable lounge with a pool
table, a rather stark room for SM play and a darker downstairs lounge
with very low ceilings. The bar area was also somewhat narrow, but the
architecture alone made it worth feeling cramped. That and the $2
bottles of beer! Fetish Magician Paul Nathan took the stage at midnight
and wowed the crowd with firebreathing, fierce magic tricks and a
playful patter of jokes. He was truly impressive and well worth the
price of admission.
Saturday evening I decided I would grace the Erotica-sanctioned event,
especially since it was emceed by the stunning FetishDiva Midori. I
arrived rather early to an almost empty house at Club NV. Here the
beers weren't quite so inexpensive, but once the place started filling
up, I didn't mind a bit. It was worth the few extra bucks just to have
some elbow room--and a view of the spectacular fashion show presented
by Dark Garden. They debuted their new men's line in a military-themed
performance that had the crowd applauding wildly. Dark Garden is famous
for their custom corsetry, although they sell pieces off the rack as
well.
It was getting late and I still wanted to visit the infamous Power
Exchange, reknowned for their live sex shows. But they don't present
live sex shows, as I'd assumed; they encourage their customers to
provide them! I was all laced up in a corset and a little too sober to
oblige, but I did see a few people who were more accommodating. I
watched a docile man having his ass explored by an imperious,
latex-gloved woman and spied on a man lapping at his partner's pussy. I
strolled amid about 20 couples participating in SM scenes and saw two
Asian trannies giving an old geezer head. I was also asked if I'd like
to fuck a senior citizen with a strap-on. I declined.
The cavernous club is a full four floors of casual carnality, with a
soda bar, pool table and go-go dancers in one room, a King Arthur theme
across the hall, pup tents in the "Enchanted Forest" and all sorts of
poorly lit crevices set up expressly for amorous couples to, well,
couple. In one giant room there was a slave auction going on, and I
watched as one woman went down on another in an effort to prove her
worth. All bidding is done in make-believe dollars that are purchased
with real dollars, the proceeds of which go to charity. The auctioneer
was Paul Nathan, from the previous evening's festivities, again the
exemplary emcee. The place is open all night and caters to all sexes
and sexual preferences.
If I'd had a full month to explore, I'm sure I would've seen all the
sexy stuff San Francisco has to offer. There are so many sex stores,
sex shows and sex positive groups to play with there, it's an absolute
heaven for hedonists. I highly recommend it to those of you with little
or no inhibitions!
Erotica: www.whatissexy.com
Jezebel's Joint
510 Larkin Street at Turk Street
San Francisco, CA
415-345-9832
www.jezebelsjoint.com (out of business)
Iniquity Party info line:
415-289-2167
www.clubiniquity.com
Dark Garden
321 Linden Street
San Francisco, CA
415-431-7684
Catalog: $12 to 2215-R Market Street #242-S2
San Francisco, CA 94114
www.darkgarden.com
The Power Exchange
74 Otis Street
San Francisco, CA
415-252-7247
www.powerexchange.com
[Written March 1999, I think!]
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