Feminist Pornographer

Did any of you notice when I added the links to Captive Cuties Online a few weeks ago? I had to link to this site because it combines three things I love. Diverse beauty. Objectification of women. And rope bondage.

Oh, and well, it also happens to be run by a friend of mine, Aaron. So I suppose our friendship may create a bit of conflict of interest in this review. But honestly, there’s a more fundamental reason why I’m unabashedly biased towards this site … a much more selfish reason for my pro-CCO stance.

Captive Cuties Online features several models with my favorite kind of tits. What are my favorite kind of tits? My kind of tits. By which I mean tits that literally look like my own.

Tits that hang.

Tits that sag.

Tits like Kat’s:

Or Elizabeth’s:

Or Melody’s:

But as I said, I like diversity so, really, I enjoy looking at Racoon’s young perky tits on her petite frame and Scarlet’s tiny tits on her athletic body just as much:

I also love the way Aaron writes about the models – he uses a nice mix of objectification and appreciation of their natural looks. And his blurbs often capture the essence of what I love about rope bondage. One of my favorite examples is his writing about Cat A Lyst, another busty gal with hanging titties:

One of Aaron’s blurbs about Cat A Lyst is:

Big tits, red hair, a gorgeous look and a love of rope bondage – Sounds like a great Captive Cutie to me! I was lucky enough to get to shoot Cat A Lyst while she was in town from Chicago, and what a great submissive model she is to work for. This curvy babe told me she liked to be tied tight, and I started her first set by stripping her down to just a garter and stockings. Of course, a rack like that demands a chest harness, not to mention giving me the opportunity to focus on those lovely breasts. Since this sexy girl needs some restraint, I added a frog tie on her legs and secured her wrists to them.

Something about a guy referring to a girl’s chest as a rack really turns me on.

And did you notice Aaron’s great rigging in those shots? He does some nice rope work on these gals.

When I told Aaron that I wanted to do a post about his site, I told him that I had an interview question. I asked him whether he considers himself a feminist. He said yes, and then he promised me a longer answer. I found Aaron’s long answer to be a treat to read. I hope you do, too.

I find it very interesting that you use the term “objectifying” often in your writing, and discuss both objectifying women, specifically in the context of pornography, but also in general, as well as your enjoyment of being objectified. I really think that the entire concept of sexually objectifying ~anyone~, male or female (although in light of the current topic of feminism and simply ease of writing, I’ll write from here just in the feminine form) has gotten a bad rap. Every person has multiple aspects to their personality, and essentially to their very being, and different ways in which they interact with other people, and even ways in which they interact with the same people in different situations. Sexuality is most certainly one of those; it’s intertwined with everything else, and in some interactions it is part of a mix; in others, it is entirely the focus. There is a sexual being part of each person, just as there is a sense of humor, intellectualism, creativity, and all the other aspects of their personality. Particularly with women, sexuality is displayed to and perceived by men (and other women) via the physical, the shape of the body but also in the way you move, your reactions, the way you look at me, touch me, interact with me… etc.

When I’m with a lover for sex, BDSM or best of all, both, my focus on you (and I’m using the second person form for the sake colloquialism, convenience, and unabashed optimism) is carnal, primal and entirely on your body, your sexual reactions. You are objectified. That does not mean that outside of that situation I don’t see the other sides of you and respect and appreciate your love of art, opinions on politics, or sense of humor, but at that moment, those are irrelevant. When you’re tightly bound, sweating and helpless with my hands pulling your hair as I roughly take you from behind, I’m certainly not being aroused by your appreciation of Sartre.

For sexual gratification, objectifying your partner is what it is all about. Other facets of attraction can play into that, and in fact can feed into that physical attraction, but it is still the physical. I’m still physically using you for sexual gratification, and enjoying seeing you react, and I also receive gratification from your objectification of me. At that moment, it is irrelevant to how I look at you as a person in other arenas.

The problem comes from those who ~only~ view women as sexual objects. Essentially, the cliched phrase of “a time and place for everything” comes into play. So ultimately, yes, I objectify women, both when I’m with you sexually, and when I look at porn, or sometimes even looking at a hot woman at the grocery store. But I’m fully aware that there is more to each individual woman than just your physical appeal and sexual use toward my gratification. However, feeling comfortable with the balance and knowing when it’s appropriate to objectify you and when not to, and always being aware of, interested in, and respectful of all of those aspects, I can guiltlessly enjoy that carnal gratification and still consider myself a feminist.

Now, coming to Captive Cuties…I’ve been actively involved in BDSM for about a decade now, and I have really widely varied tastes. Sometimes I like simple vanilla sex, sometimes I like mild, playful bondage and play, but I also have a strong sadistic side, and I like to do very intense, brutal scenes. When I am doing an intense scene it can be very raw, emotional and dark. Super restrictive bondage, painful activities, from harsh clamps, caning, etc. – I’m sure you can imagine any number of things. It’s not unusual for subs to scream and cry and whimper. But at the core of it, there’s an interactive dynamic of not just consent, but more than that. I play with people who enjoy enduring the things I like to do, so when we connect and do intense scenes, the energy of you wanting and deep down enjoying what I’m doing is there, feeding the scene. It is an interactive energy that is present to the participants.

However, when you represent that in porn, in images, that connection is harder to make. It is really personal and directly between the people in the scene. You can sense some of it in some video scenes, but it usually is quite easily lost in still photography. Oh, for those of us “initiated”, those into BDSM and who have an understanding, we can sense and see some of that, but to th
e lay person, it comes across much more as simply women in helpless, suffering positions. It is likely exciting for the misogynists, but off-putting or disturbing for the lay person, even those with some interest in softer bondage and kink.

My intent is to portray women enjoying being in bondage and participating in kinkier activities. To do this without blurring the lines and mixing messages, it seems like the best way to do that is through the glamour bondage genre, showing lovely women of all shapes and sizes in various types of bondage, and showing them having fun, with no confusion as to their enthusiasm and enjoyment of the activity. I want to show that bondage and BDSM (particularly Mdom/fsub) is not all about men subjugating women, but something that is enjoyable and even empowering to the female participants as well.

I love it — Aaron is a fellow feminist pornographer.