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Clitoraid-assisted FGM Patient, 33, Celebrates First Orgasm!
FGM to become 'a horrific, historical fluke' as word of reversal surgery spreads
LAS VEGAS — A 33-year-old victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) was ecstatic when she made an after-midnight phone call to Clitoraid head patient coordinator Nadine Gary last week.
"I was feeling so good, I didn't want to let go at first," she told Gary. "It was a strange sensation, and suddenly I was overtaken by this incredible feeling that lasted several seconds! I had my first orgasm!"
Mariame (her last name is omitted to protect her privacy), an African immigrant, had undergone clitoral reconstructive surgery in Trinidad, Colo., nine months earlier. The procedure was performed by Clitoraid's head surgeon, Dr. Marci Bowers, who volunteers her services to help.
In childhood, Mariame and millions of other women were forced to endure the ancestral tradition of clitoral cutting, an act of extreme cruelty typically performed on little girls by female relatives. Anesthesia is rarely used and the pain is excruciating.
"Over 135 million women worldwide are currently living the consequences of this horrific act," Gary said in a statement released today. "They can't experience the physical pleasures of relationships that most women take for granted, and many of them also feel inadequate and ashamed. Clitoraid wants to help as many victims as possible, and to make FGM obsolete by offering and publicizing surgery that reverses the damage. When you can repair it, there's no point in doing the horrible deed in the first place."
Las Vegas-based Clitoraid, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 2004 by Rael, founder and spiritual leader of the International Raelian Movement.
"He wanted victims like Mariame to have the surgery they need to achieve sexual pleasure and regain their dignity," Gary said. "That's why Clitoraid is building a hospital in Burkina Faso, West Africa, for the sole purpose of offering the surgery free of charge. The hospital will open next January."
But surgery alone is not enough, Gary said.
"We have to teach patients how to get their sense of pleasure back and overcome their inhibitions," she explained. "Therapy is equally important, and we're very grateful to Dr. Larry Ashley, a professor and sexual trauma counselor who volunteered to give individual sessions to each of our patients."
She said Mariame also benefitted from a workshop inspired by famed sexual therapist Dr. Betty Dodson.
"It helped her recover clitoral sensation and overcome her shyness about sex," Gary explained. "And it helped her accept the appearance of her repaired clitoris and trust that it really could give her pleasure now."
Also helpful to Mariame were vibrators and other sensual toys donated by Clitoraid's new partner, Good Vibrations, an adult toys retailer owned by women that is based in San Francisco.
"Vibrators help FGM reversal patients recover clitoral sensation," Gary said. "They reestablish nerve pathways, which patients can't achieve solely through finger stimulation."
The "Prophet" Rael declared: “Instead of using Clitoraid’s collected money to operate on just a few women, we should create the first Raelian Hospital, the 'Pleasure Hospital,' and operate on all African women, for free, with the help of Raelian or non-Raelian benevolent doctor,” according to the Clitoraid website.
The planned hospital is being built in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. It will be composed mainly of one operation room and two additional rooms. The non-profit Clitoraid has been in the process of raising $70,000 to build and equip it.
“It is a crime against humanity that today, in this so called enlightened 21st century, women in under-developed countries are subjected by force to participate in the sex trades, are denied common freedoms as we know and enjoy in the west, and in certain cultures, are slaves to barbaric practices such as clitoral mutilation in the name of religion and, moreover, male dominance. We can all help. we can support our sisters, and Adopt a Clitoris!” the Clitoraid website declares.
The goal of Clitoraid’s “Adopt a Clitoris” program is to create real, long lasting changes for women who have been forced to experience clitoral excision or genital mutilation against their will. To rebuild the female clitoris, a local anesthetic is applied so no pain is experienced when the surgeon uncovers the root of the original clitoris left after the excision. This root and tissues will become the new clitoris. The procedure takes 6 weeks for a woman to completely heal, with sexual pleasure and genetic normality being the end result.
“Most of the women in Burkina Faso cannot imagine having the money for such an operation. For most of them, it would be like spending two year's salary! Clitoraid is committed to provide these operations for free to as many women as possible. We will minimize our operating cost to the minimum, having mainly benevolent people involved in the whole process,” according to the organization’s website.
“But in order to provide such a service to the millions who have been mutilated, we need your help. By adopting a clitoris, (in part or in full) you can return the female body to its true form, which was denied them by unconscious thought and barbarianism. Imagine all the young girls who are dreaming to be whole again. You can make this wish come true, and be fundamental in the cease and desist of clitoral mutilation of the future!” the website urges.
To read more about the non-profit organization, visit Clitoraid on the web. The famous Good Vibrations sex toy store, located in San Francisco, can be reached through its website; while the legendary Dr. Betty Dodson can be contacted through her own website.
— The Curator
In a report appearing in yesterday’s British Medical Journal, researchers suggested there MIGHT be a connection between certain types of head and neck cancer and oral sex that involves the transmission of semen.
Despite an overall slight decline in head and neck cancers in recent years, cases of a particular form called oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have increased sharply, particularly in the developed world. This growth seems to be linked to cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), scientists said in the report.
But, is this report about public health, or is it more about money and drug sales?
Two vaccines – Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, and Gardasil, made by Merck & Co. – can prevent HPV. HPV causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide. Many first-world nations have launched HPV immunization programs for girls as young as 12 to try to protect them from the common sexually transmitted virus before they become sexually active.
The scientists, led by Hisham Mehanna, M.D., said while including boys in immunization plans has been seen as too expensive, it may be time to look again.
"We need to look at the evidence again to re-evaluate the cost-effectiveness of male children in light of this new and rapidly rising incidence," he said in an interview.
U.K. economic analyst Savvas Neophytou at Panmure Gordon in London said such studies would dispel worries about sales prospects for HPV vaccines, and repeated his 'buy' recommendation for Glaxo stock.
"The emergence of new data such as this may increase motivation amongst national vaccination authorities worldwide to re-double efforts to vaccinate children before they become sexually active," Neophytou said in an equity research note.
As you might imagine, the study and the blatant link to pharmaceutical companies has triggered a lot of online and blogger debate regarding the veracity of the conclusion, and whether it might instead be a not-so-veiled attempt by the drug companies to boost sagging sales of their vaccines.
Most troubling is that lead author Mehanna is also director of the GlaxoSmithKline-funded Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at University Hospital in Coventry, U.K.
In a footnote to yesterday’s article, it’s disclosed that Mehanna, “is the director of an institute that does contract work for GlaxoSmithKline that has interests in head and neck cancers.” In the media, the footnote information has gotten less substantially attention than a possible “oral sex virus.”
And, a second study author has also reported either being involved with contract work or receiving research grants from pharmaceutical companies.
So how seriously should this oral sex cancer scare be taken? According to the study, it is uncommon in the U.S., affecting fewer than two people per 100,000:
“…the incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma increased by 22 percent from 1.53 per 100,000 to 1.87 per 100,000 between 1999 and 2006.”
In the U.K., it’s somewhat more serious; it’s up to 11 per 100,000:
“The United Kingdom has seen a 51 percent increase in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in men from seven per 100,000 to 11 per 100,000 between 1989 and 2006.”
Mehanna and his colleagues said the increased incidence of HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma may result from sexual transmission through orogenital intercourse (oral sex.)
Cervarix isn’t approved for males, or for preventing head and neck cancers. The competing product, Merck’s Gardasil, is approved for preventing genital warts in boys (the precursor to cancer). Both companies would like the FDA and European authorities to expand the number of reasons people should be given their vaccines.
This link to oral sex was made, the researchers reported, because this type of mouth cancer occurs when the tumor is in the back of the mouth, where it joins the throat. As a result, the authors suggested sexual transmission of HPV through oral sex as a possible reason for the increase in those cases linked to the virus.
Researchers suggest that this increasing form of mouth cancer is likely due to sexual transmission of HPV, pointing to data from a recent analysis of more than 11,0000 people showing that individuals with six or more sexual partners had a 25 percent higher risk for developing the disease.
Additionally, the risk for this type of mouth cancer was nearly three times higher in individuals with four or more oral sex partners. As the authors sum up: "Sexual transmission of HPV – primarily through orogenital intercourse might be the reason for the increase in incidence of HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma."
Mehanna said HPV-related mouth cancer seemed to be a relatively new disease that was different from non-HPV related cancers in the mouth. Mouth and throat cancers are normally associated with excessive smoking and drinking and they usually strike older people, killing around a third of sufferers within two years.
However HPV-related cases have fairly good survival rate with around eight in 10 still alive two years after diagnosis or higher depending on how advanced the cancer was when found.
In the accompanying commentary that also appeared in the British Medical Journal said: "There are also public health implications. Female only HPV vaccination programmes may affect the incidence of HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma. A recent modelling study of the effects of HPV vaccination in males concluded that routinely vaccinating boys for HPV could not be justified on health economic grounds.
"The recent rapid rise in HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma may alter the cost effectiveness of vaccinating boys before they become sexually active."
Nell Barrie, Cancer Research UK’s science information officer, said: “We know that HPV can cause oropharyngeal cancer, as well as several other types of cancer including cervical cancer. But although HPV infection is common, the virus causes cancer only in a minority of people. More research will be needed to determine if patients with HPV related head and neck cancer could benefit from different treatment, and to understand if any changes to health services are needed.
“It will also be interesting to see if the HPV vaccine could help to reduce rates of oropharyngeal cancer. The vaccine protects against cervical cancer by immunizing women against the two most common cancer-causing types of HPV.”
Even though the HPV-related form of mouth cancer tends to impact younger people and often has a better prognosis than other forms of the disease, researchers question whether public health initiatives currently cast a wide enough net to prevent its spread.
A study published last fall in the British Medical Journal suggested that HPV vaccination for boys wasn't cost-effective, or, as the researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health phrased it: "... including boys in an HPV vaccination programme [sic] generally exceeds conventional thresholds of good value for money."
Mehanna and colleagues question those findings, writing that "the low incidence of HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma in that study has led to concern because the recent rapid rise in HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma may alter the cost effectiveness of vaccinating boys before they become sexually active."
There will be public health implications to this increased incidence, the authors write. For example, vaccinating boys for HPV has not been viewed as cost-effective in the past, but may in the future. Also, HPV status may become an important diagnostic and prognostic factor in oropharyngeal carcinoma, and a stratification category in research studies. In addition, HPV-related disease generally has better survival rates than non-HPV-related disease.
"To date, we have no good evidence to support managing patients with HPV-related head and neck cancer differently from those whose tumors are not HPV related, although several studies are being planned to evaluate different treatment options," the authors write.
The next step in research is to determine how treatment of HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma may differ from treatments for other types of head and neck cancer, the authors conclude, suggesting that patients with HPV-related forms of the disease should be encouraged to enroll in clinical trials designed to improve treatment, and tailor it to this specific form of the disease.
It’s true that the signs and symptoms of oral cancer often go unnoticed. However, there are a few visible signs associated with these cancers that require immediate attention, including:
• Red or white patches in the mouth that last more than two weeks
• Change in voice or hoarseness that lasts more than two weeks
• Sore throat that does not subside
• Pain or swelling in the mouth or neck that does not subside
• Lump in the neck
• Ear pain
• Difficulty speaking or swallowing
• Difficulty breathing
Anyone who is concerned, should consult a physician.
— The Curator
Belle de Jour will trade in her trade-mark high heels for athletic shoes next month to participate in a famous U.K. half-marathon race in support of a great charity.
Belle de Jour had been the nom de plume of the famous British erotic author. Last year, Belle revealed she is Dr. Brooke Magnanti, of Bristol, England, a noted scientist. Brooke works at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health, and is is currently part of a team researching the potential effects on babies of their mothers' exposure to toxic chemicals.
But, from 2003 to late 2004, Brooke worked as a high-class call girl for a London escort service.
On April 25, Brooke will run in the renowned Sheffield Half Marathon, in Sheffield, England. She announced her participation today on her award-winning blog. (Note: The above photograph was taken of Brooke while she was training recently at the Newcastle Racecourse.)
She is seeking sponsors for her participation in the run, and all of the money she raises will go directly to the non-profit Sheffield Working Women’s Opportunities Project. The charity is one of 10 featured in this year’s Half Marathon race.
After raising £95,000 for the race’s 10 chosen charities in 2009, organizers are hoping to break the £100,000 mark this year. Last year’s amount brings the impressive total raised in the race’s 29-year history to more than £600,000.
Since she disclosed her identity, Brooke has been able to bring her celebrity in support of worthy causes. She’s participated in the half-marathon before to support other non-profit charities, but no one knew that she was also the illustrious Belle de Jour.
The half-marathon race limit of 5,500 runners has ALREADY been reached, and entries are now closed. “The pace that entries are coming in this year is amazing. It seems that this year’s race is on course to be the most successful to date and we are looking forward to seeing a record amount of money raised for 10 fantastic local causes,” said Ian Thomas, entries coordinator for the Sheffield Half Marathon.
There are also Senior Men and Senior Women half-marathon categories, with three runners scheduled to participate this year who are 70 years old.
The race's starting and finish line area is the city's famous Don Valley Stadium, the home of both the Sheffield Eagles Rugby League Football Club and the Rotherham United Football Club. From there, runners will head out on an out-and-back course that runs in a roughly southwest direction on the outward route, and a roughly northeast direction on the return route.
Half-marathon runners will encounter long straightaway stretches along Brightside Lane and Princess Street in the race's early going, followed by numerous twists and turns through the neighborhoods as the course winds its way toward and through Sheffield's city center.
The hilliest stretches of the race – which unfolds entirely over paved surfaces throughout – occur in the middle section of the race, between Mile Markers 4 and 9. The course reaches its peak elevation around the Mile Marker 8 (at Fitzwilliam Street) at a height of about 300 feet above sea level; the race's low point, which occurs in the first and last three miles or so of the race, is just under 150 feet above sea level.
Runners in the half-marathon will have a three-hour limit in which to complete the race's 13.1 miles, after which time a race bus will come along to pick up any stragglers or those having trouble finishing in the time allotted.
For runners who don't feel up to running the half, the race also offers a 3K "Great Fun Run," which is open to all ages, including wheelchair competitors and "fancy dress," which means it welcomes runners in costume.
Located just north of the geographic center of England, about 62 kilometers east of Manchester and nearly 270 kilometers north of London, the city of Sheffield typically experiences temperate weather conditions, with ample rainfall throughout the year – December is the city's wettest month of the year on average, while July is its driest. In April, Sheffield's average monthly temperatures range between 12°C and 4°C.
Brooke has linked a JustGiving website to raise sponsorships for the race and the charity she is supporting. The following is her statement in full. Anyone in the U.S., the U.K., or any other country interested in sponsoring Brooke should go directly to her JustGiving website to make a tax deductible donation on the secure website:
“Please sponsor me in the Sheffield Half Marathon
2010 Sheffield Half Marathon
on 25/04/2010
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
I'm running the Sheffield Half this year, because I clearly didn't learn my lesson last time. Or any of the runs before that...even though to date I have been beaten at races by Scooby Doo, Buzz Lightyear, a giant kidney, and pipped to the post by a man in a banana suit.
Nevertheless, please dig deep in your black, black little hearts...not to mention wallets...and sponsor me this year.
I'm running to raise money for SWWOP, the Sheffield Working Women’s Opportunities Project.
SWWOP provides evening street based outreach sessions addressing not only the sexual health needs of women working as street sex workers, but covering a wide range of health and social welfare issues. They drive to the locations where women work, in ‘the Johnny van’ (as the women call it). This has been adapted to enable women to participate in-group discussions or have one to one contact with workers who provide condoms, tea/coffee, biscuits, TLC etc. Advocacy and support is offered as and when needed by the service users.
SWWOP strive to provide a service to all women working as street sex workers in Sheffield, without discrimination. They are committed to supporting and empowering this vulnerable group. This does not include the promotion, control or reduction of prostitution as a goal; their role is emphasising the positives of women’s characters, i.e. the strength and resourcefulness they possess that enable them to do their jobs. This approach also includes highlighting the positives in their lives generally.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. Also, SWWOP will receive your money faster if you use this site and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor me...or else I will run after you! Very slowly!
Kthxbye.
Bxx”
Information from SWWOP appears below, or visit their website directly:
“Sheffield Working Women’s Opportunities Project Ltd (SWWOP Ltd) is a small Voluntary Sector Project, Registered Charity and Company limited by Guarantee.
We have been in existence since 1992 addressing the complex needs of women working as street sex workers in Sheffield. SWWOP have close working partnerships with Genitourinary Medicine Clinic, Turning Point Community Drugs Team, Jessops Specialist Midwives and Action Housing as well as strong links with many other voluntary and statutory agencies in Sheffield.
We strive to provide a service to all women working as street sex workers in Sheffield, without discrimination and are committed to supporting and empowering this vulnerable group. This does not include the promotion, control or reduction of prostitution as a goal; we see our role as emphasising the positives of women’s characters, i.e. the strength and resourcefulness they possess that enable them to do their jobs. This approach also includes highlighting the positives in their lives generally.
SWWOP provides evening street based outreach sessions addressing not only the sexual health needs of women working as street sex workers, but covering a wide range of health and social welfare issues. This is achieved by driving to the locations where women work, in our most valuable asset, ‘the Johnny van’ (as the women call it). This has been adapted to enable women to participate in-group discussions or whenever possible to have one to one contact with workers who provide amongst other things condoms, tea/coffee, biscuits, TLC etc. Advocacy and support is offered as and when needed by the service users.
Condoms are one of our other most important resources, not only to be able to provide them free to the women for their protection, but also as something practical to offer new contacts, and as a way of introducing ourselves and our service.
Outreach work has given insights into factors that make it difficult for women to attend mainstream services, and the aim of our partnerships is to make these services more accessible to the women by booking appointments on request, and by providing a familiar personal link.”
Visit the Sheffield Half Marathon website to learn about the other nine charities featured in this year’s race.
The first marathon race in Sheffield, the Sheffield Independent Marathon, was held in 1929 and started in Barkers Pool, finishing at the Niagra Sports Ground. It was held for two more years with some course changes then was discontinued until the end of World War II.
The Doncaster to Sheffield Marathon was first held in 1946, running between Chequer Road, Doncaster, visiting Rotherham and finishing at Sheffield Station. The course was slightly altered in 1960, and was last staged in 1961. Following the 1981 London Marathon, a marathon boom occurred in Great Britain.
Sheffield introduced the Sheffield Marathon and Half Marathon in 1982, starting in Hillsborough near the Sheffield Wednesday football ground and finishing in Hillsborough Park. The Half Marathon finished in Tinsley Park for the first two years, then changed to a Hillsborough Park finish. The venue for the race changed to Don Valley Stadium in 1991 when it was run in conjunction with the World Student Games Marathon. (The Half Marathon was not held that year.)
It has been run from Don Valley Stadium to the present day, except in 1993 when Sheffield United FC hosted the race at their Bramhall lane ground.
The course has incurred many alterations over recent years, caused in part by the introduction of the “Supertram system,” and partly due to competition for road space resulting from greatly increased traffic when Sunday trading was legalized. In 2001, the route went to Rotherham, visiting Orgreave and using less busy roads. It was a two-lap course for full marathon runners but was not a popular route.
The course was altered in 2003 to its present route through the city center, with the full marathon continuing to Orgreave for its second half. However full marathon numbers continued to fall and difficulties with maintaining a six-hour road closure increased so that 2003 became the last year when a full marathon was held in Sheffield. A lull in road race popularity in the early 1990’s resulted in Half Marathon entries dropping as low as 1545 in 1996.
Since then, participation has risen steadily, totaling 5,500 in 2009 and matching that healthy total again this year. The city center route has produced large crowds of spectators who give tremendous support to the runners, and attractions including live bands playing along the route add to the event. The finish before the crowds in the Don Valley Stadium is cited by many runners as a unique experience.
(Note: The above graphic depicts this year's half-marathon course.)
The SIG Insulations Sheffield Half Marathon has become one of the biggest participation events in Sheffield’s sporting calendar, with city center landmarks and roads lined with enthusiastic spectators to support elite, club and local runners. To attract quality runners from throughout Yorkshire, the event is host to the Yorkshire Half Marathon Championships and the South Yorkshire Half Marathon Championships.
The Sheffield's Great Fun Run steps off after the half-marathon, and is still open to all. Wheelchair entries and children in pushchairs are all accepted. A certificate is presented to all who participate.
Last year’s winning woman runner in the 17-34 year old category was Rebecca Robinson, crossing the finish line in 01:14:52. She will be running again this year, too.
----
I continue to applaud Brooke’s charity endeavors since she’s revealed her identity. Not only is she a uniquely talented and gifted writer, she is a woman with strong social convictions and true compassion. Cheers, m’dear!
— The Curator
Before Belle de Jour became the nom de plume of the famous British erotic author, the woman behind the legend wrote a fascinating article for a different blog describing how she became acquainted with whisky.
The article appeared in 2003, the same year that Brooke Magnanti turned her on-going work as a high-priced call-girl for a London escort service into Belle de Jour’s award-winning blog, and a string of best-selling books. The rest, as they say, is literary history.
Last year, Belle revealed she is actually “Dr.” Magnanti, of Bristol, England, a noted scientist. Brooke’s specialist areas are developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology. She has a PhD in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science and is now working at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health. She is currently part of a team researching the potential effects on babies of their mothers' exposure to toxic chemicals.
But, from 2003 to late 2004, Brooke worked as a prostitute via a London escort agency; she started blogging as Belle de Jour — named after the Buñuel film starring Catherine Deneuve as a well-to-do housewife who has sex for money because she’s bored — shortly into her career as a call girl, after an incident she thought funny enough to write down.
Brooke charged £300 an hour for her services, of which she got £200. The average appointment lasted two hours; she saw clients two or three times a week, “sometimes less, sometimes a great deal more,” she has said.
But, it is yet a somewhat different side of this complex and talented woman that takes center stage in the following article, although the same literary brilliance shines through. It was published for the online blog, Omnivore. The article appears in full below, or read it directly at the blog site.
“Malted
October 20, 2003: Brooke likes a nip of the hard stuff.
The first time I met him, he was drinking whisky. A double of something on ice. When the barkeep presented the drink he dipped a finger in it, placing a drop behind each ear as women once did with perfume.
He asked what I was having. "Whatever you're having," I bluffed. He asked me how old I was. I told him, and he laughed, and bought me a soda.
Acquired taste worth acquiring? I'd never been with an older man. Soon after we were lovers. Twice my age, twice as big, educated and well-traveled. And he put back whisky like it was mother's milk.
Well, why not? He was scion of a family where Jack Daniel's was practically secreted by the womenfolk. Bourbon and whisky: given at every holiday, drunk at every meal, the tawny stuff that kept them going and brought the day to a close. The Johnnie Walker blends, based on Cardhu single malt. The legendary B-21 liquor store on US 19 employed more people than lived in town. An off-license on the border of Florida and Georgia, because the state north of us was dry.
We drove to Panama City to sit on a particular beach, drink a particular drink. I was embarrassed by my unconscious reaction to alcohol: wrinkled nose, curling lips. But I loved the way it warmed from the inside and the way people watched me as I tasted it. I was still five years below the drinking age.
He had the best bar game: pick any three whiskys or bourbons from the bar. Pour a measure of each. Bet you twenty bucks he could tell them apart.
I learned. The shape of the glass matters. The temperature of the glass matters. The measure, the pour, the ritual. Swirling it round, a caramel wave of liquor clinging to the inside of the glass. It retracts slowly like the damp line of the falling tide on sand.
Ice in that? Water? Not for me, thanks. A few years later, sitting on a friend's sofa. A tumbler of Laphroaig, my first sip of the harsh Islay malts. Like starting all over again. But the feeling afterward - not drunkenness, not lightheaded. The opposite. Grounded, focused, full.
One year I spent more money on whisky than on rent. Two vintage bottles in Scotland, dozens of nights out, hundreds of nights in. A miraculous pub in Flagstaff, Arizona. A neighbour who worked bar at a hotel. No wrinkled nose any more. It tasted of melted butter. Golden syrup. An acquired taste worth acquiring.
I moved to Scotland and swam in the thickly peaty rivers Findhorn and Spey. They tasted like sweet, aged whisky. I drank up honey-colored light. Scared off the cold of the evenings with a glass of malt. Sat up on the longest night of the year with a friend's father, drinking and playing the mandolin. The sky at midnight was the color of barley.
In London one evening for a date with a woman and her boyfriend. I was early, they were late. Waited at the bar drinking a single malt finished in a rum cask while the underpaid, overcool staff looked me over in pity. Ordered another and the couple whisked in, silver and scented and fabuloso. Later, when I'd made her come twice before dessert, the waiters couldn't fill my glass fast enough.
But you never forget your first. I never did. Years after we were no longer lovers, a decade after putting a glass in my hand, he was married. At the wedding his family and friends eyed me suspiciously. 'How grown-up you are now,' they said. I smiled, pinned a corsage to someone's lapel. Who ever said heartbreak is a cliche? When he said his vows I felt a spasm in my chest. Afterward I drank long and hard. The taste will always remind me of him.
What does it taste of? Like mother's milk, I say.”
Pretty great, huh? If you want more, read Brooke’s blog. While you’re at it, do yourself a favor and read all of her amazing, unforgettable books. Her bestselling book from last year, Belle de Jour’s Guide to Men, provides some wonderfully written relationship advice to women about men.
After that book appeared to widespread acclaim, the author promised a sequel for men about women was in the works. Well gentlemen, soon it will be your turn to hear her advice, using the same literate, amusing and entertaining style that has delighted old and new fans for years – but not just yet. It’s scheduled to be published in May.
Her fifth book, Belle's Best Bits: A London Call Girl Reveals Her Favourite Adventures, was released in late 2009 and is widely available across the pond and at Amazon’s UK division.
Here is a description of the book, kindly provided by Orion Books:
“From the summer of 2003 Belle charted her day-to-day adventures on and off the field in a frank, funny and award-winning diaries. She was the first to reveal (among other things) how she became a working girl, what it feels like to do it for money, and where to buy the best knickers for the job. She also discusses her efforts to change from 'working girl' to working girl, whilst sneaking off to visit clients in her lunch hour. From debating the literary merits of Martin Amis with naked clients to smuggling whips into luxury hotels, this is a no-holds barred account of the high-class sex-trade, and an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary woman.”
In addition to Guide to Men and Belle’s Bits, her other books are: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, September 2005; The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl, May 2007; and Playing the Game, June 2009.
Her writing has been so popular that it became the basis for the international hit TV series, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billie Piper. It can be seen on Showtime in the U.S., and the first two seasons are available on DVD. The third season premiered in February, and was previewed by a special 30-minute interview of Brooke by Billie.
— The Curator
New in book stores is “Whip Smart,” a fascinating look into the S&M world penned by Melissa Febos who spent four years as a dominatrix while going to college.
Below is information about the book, about Ms. Febos, an excerpt from the book and published reviews.
Product Description
While a college student at The New School, Melissa Febos spent four years working as a dominatrix in a midtown dungeon. In poetic, nuanced prose she charts how unchecked risk-taking eventually gave way to a course of self-destruction. But as she recounts crossing over the very boundaries that she set for her own safety, she never plays the victim. In fact, the glory of this memoir is Melissa's ability to illuminate the strange and powerful truths that she learned as she found her way out of a hell of her own making.
About the Author
Melissa Febos is co-curator and host of the Mixer Reading and Music Series, she holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and teaches at SUNY Purchase College and The Gotham Writers’ Workshop.
Excerpt
Part One
1
STEVE KNEW TO BE KNEELING when I walked into the Red Room, his torso bent over his knees, forehead resting on the rug. He knew to be clean. He knew to undress, and to fold his clothes neatly behind the door, so that I walked into an immaculate room, nothing between me and the softly folded fist of his body but anticipation. While desire rose off Steve in fumes, steeping the whole room in its cloying vapor, I reveled in its absence. Just minutes before entering the Red Room, I adjusted my garters before the dressing room mirror, wrapped my fingers in electrical tape, and felt that happy absence, whose vacancy made room for some other, unnamed thing to fill me. I felt it already, the way you can smell autumn coming. Steve was into heavy flogging, and the tape protected the clefts between my index and middle fingers where I would soon clench a flogger handle in each hand.
I had cued the music—which piped from the main office into all twelve rooms of the dungeon—to begin just a few seconds before I walked into the Red Room. The music I sessioned to was all the same; while I preferred angrier music for meaner sessions, all that really mattered was the bass line. I didn’t need a plan to have a good session; I needed a pulse.
If that great red-walled room was a womb, I was its heart. I was the moving center, my will a muscular force. There was nowhere I could go, it seemed, that the cushion of my client’s longing wouldn’t support me. It happened to be 10:45 in the morning, but the only time that mattered in that room was indicated on the wall-mounted timer that I turned a full circle when I walked in. There was only ever one hour in the dungeon.
As I closed the door behind me, the pale stripe of my body shifting on the mirrored walls, I dropped my supply box on the floor by the door. Steve flinched at the sound, as I’d intended. I let my heels fall heavy against the wood floor on my way to a row of hooks lining the wall. Retrieving a smooth length of rope, I draped it around my shoulders. Then, finding Steve’s favorite floggers, I held one in each hand, letting their thick tassels swing against my legs as I approached him, knowing the gentle slap of leather against my legs would agitate him. Standing over his curled body from behind, I dropped a flogger to the floor on either side of him and bent over so that only the tips of my hair, and my breath, touched him.
"Get the fuck up," I whispered.
"Yes, Mistress," he exhaled, and hurried to his feet, head still bowed toward his chest. Steve also knew that looking at me was a privilege he had to earn. Pulling his hands behind his back, I slid the rope off my shoulders and looped it around his wrists. With a few quick loops and a single knot, I securely bound his arms from wrists to shoulders. I paused then, giving him a few moments to absorb the warmth of my body so close behind him, and the embrace of the rope, which I knew would only feel tighter as our hour progressed. There were clients I cowed with words, but with Steve his own anticipation was enough to wilt him into submission; I just had to pause and let it accumulate. Slowly dragging the tip of my finger from the base of his spine to the hard vertebral knuckle at the base of his neck, I watched a shudder follow my touch up his body. Pausing again, I let my fingertip rest on him, and knew how the heat of my touch rippled out across his body. No job, indeed, no exercise I’ve ever done, has been so coldly empathic as this one. I grabbed a handful of hair from the back of Steve’s head and pulled hard. Steve yelped, and sank jerkily to his knees. I stepped around in front of him, keeping my handful of hair so that when I crouched down to face him, his head was thrust back to face the ceiling, eyes wide and wild. His mouth trembled with short breaths, lips parted. Pressing a finger against his chin, I gave his hair an extra tug to open his mouth wider.
"Thirsty, Steve?" I asked. He knew I alluded to the golden shower I would end the session with, if he was good. Steve was always good. Between now and then, however, I would tan his ass with those leather tails until he cried for mercy.
Who pays to get peed on before their breakfast has been digested? It’s a logical question, and one I’ve answered after nearly every explanation of my working hours. The day shift began at 10:30 A.M. on weekdays and ended at 5:30 P.M. Often I would arrive at the dungeon at 10:20 and already have a client waiting for me. It didn’t take long to figure out that most of the patrons of the dungeon were not, as I had originally suspected, social outcasts who spent their time in basement apartments fondling pet snakes and watching pornography. They were seemingly normal. The majority of them were married fathers, and they were nearly all professionally successful. My client base consisted of stockbrokers, lawyers, doctors, rabbis, grandpas, bus drivers, restauranteurs, and retirees. Getting peed on, spanked, sodomized, or diapered was less often a delicacy than a basic provision to these men. And while the need for it was compulsive, it was also routine; it was an itch that they had been compulsively scratching for many years, and it did not require an atmosphere of nighttime, intoxication, or great fanfare. The day-shift crowd scheduled their whippings the way they scheduled business luncheons: out of necessity and convenience. En route to the dungeon they dropped off the dry cleaning, or their wives at Macy’s. Just as the cafés all over midtown Manhattan had their lunch rushes, so did we.
After Steve’s thirst had been quenched and he’d showered and dressed, we exchanged the usual pleasantries: I asked after his wife, and he tipped me a crisp fifty-dollar bill. Leaning my head out the door of the Red Room, I called, "Walking out!"—our practice of warning the occupants of nearby rooms to stay put. Clients could never meet in the halls of the dungeon. Then I led Steve down the opulent passageway to the magnetically locked chamber leading to the elevator.
"I’ll see you on Friday," I said.
"Thank you, Justine." Steve smiled warmly and adjusted his tie. Before I had even heard the click of the door’s lock, I pulled my hair into a bun, kicked off my heels, and headed back to clean the Red Room. I had an exam the next morning to study for.
Excerpted from Whip Smart by Melissa Febos.
Copyright © 2010 by Melissa Febos.
Published in 2010 by Thomas Dunne Books.
From Publishers Weekly
Febos's candid, hard-slogging debut about her four years working as a dominatrix at a midtown Manhattan dungeon cuts a sharp line between prurience and feminist manifesto. Having grown up on Cape Cod, Mass., then dropped out of high school before moving to New York City and enrolling in the New School in the fall of 1999, Febos slipped into drug use and needed a way to finance it. An attractive law-school graduate neighbor in her Brooklyn apartment building mentioned that she worked as a domme, and Febos decided to give it a go. She spanked grown men, professionals, fathers, and rabbis, sometimes inserted enemas, sodomized them with dildos, and otherwise verbally humiliated them, all for $75 an hour, plus tips. At first, Febos managed the grueling, unsavory work while high on heroin and cocaine, and gained a tremendous sense of confidence, even invincibility at being able to justify her livelihood as one of the few well-paid acting gigs in this city. In time, she also became addicted to her job; she eventually joined AA to help get clean of drugs, but kicking her addiction to sadomasochism was harder, and in this emotionally stark, excoriating work, Febos mines the darkest, most troubling aspects of human interaction. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Other Reviews
"All memoirs are an attempt to follow a trail of breadcrumbs home, yet WHIP SMART steps off the path, into the wooded shadows, and names that part of ourselves that could linger there forever. Melissa Febos masterfully brings us into these unexpected, unsettling places, the least of which are the dungeons she so vividly – briefly – occupies. WHIP SMART is a wild, bright-eyed, ride home."
— Nick Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Another Bullshit Night In Suck City"
“WHIP SMART is remarkably honest, brave and provocative about growing up: the pleasures and perils of being visible, the temptations of being numb, and the weird kick of being desired.”
— Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone critic, and NY Times bestselling author of LOVE IS A MIX TAPE
“Mesmerizing. A brave, darkly wild and powerful memoir, Melissa Febos's fearless journey through drugs and dungeons into the uncharted territory of true intimacy will shock, inspire, and leave you breathless. Don’t even think about resisting."
— Rachel Resnick, author LOVE JUNKIE
“Melissa Febos takes us by the hand and leads us into a curious, disturbing, and funny world of a dominatrix, and she does so with often startlingly beautiful, expansive prose. That would be engaging enough. But what's even more gripping is Febos' fierce intelligence as she examines herself inside it. A must read for anyone interested in enlarging his or her understanding of sexual politics.”
— Kerry Cohen, author of LOOSE GIRL
"Melissa Febos writes with lacerating wit and insight into the world of the professional dominatrix, saving the sharpest sting for herself. An unsparing, deep, and dazzling read.
— Janice Erlbaum, author of GIRLBOMB and HAVE YOU FOUND HER
Whip Smart is widely available in book stores and onling, including at Amazon, as well as across the pond. It is also available for digital download at Amazon for its Kindle e-reader. You can also check out Ms. Febos’ website, which also links to her blog. You can also follow her on Twitter.
— The Curator
Do you call out to deity during sex – when the universe dissolves and the only thing that exists is your body? Do you call out to deity during sex – when your body dissolves and the only thing that exists is the universe?
Sex is saving my life – or more precisely, has helped me decide to hold onto it for as long as I can.
I have Lupus, which I refer to as “Mr. Wolf,” because lupus is the Latin word for wolf. I have the most serious form of the disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (pronounced: er-uh-thee-muh-toe-sus), also called SLE. (Click here for the Lupus Foundation of America.)
SLE is an autoimmune disease. As such, it is characterized by a malfunction of the immune system. In these types of diseases, the immune system cannot distinguish between the body’s own cells and tissues and that of ‘foreign’ matter. So, rather than simply producing antibodies to attack invading viruses, bacteria or other similar foreign substances, my immune system creates auto-antibodies that attack my body’s own cells and/or tissues.
The past few months have been bleak. Mr. Wolf has been feasting virtually at will – and sister, does he have a lot of will. During the current onslaught, I also had a sudden, horrible realization: I can no longer truly remember what it felt like to be well. Oh, I have memories of being very active, athletic and whole, but they are no longer sense memories. It’s as if that part of my life was so insubstantial it has been absorbed into the unreality of dream.
When I was first diagnosed about 15 years ago, I was consumed with knowing why my own body was trying to destroy me. At first, I found myself looking deeply into the mirror: Who was this stranger that had taken over my body? And, even more importantly, how could I ever learn to live with her?
I fell into a deep-as-the-deepest ravine depression. There was nothing left of the person I once was. Nothing, absolutely nothing, remained. Or so I thought then. I was wrong. Very wrong. A tiny, itty-bitty, bright even luminous speck of something had survived.
Was it my soul? I still don’t know, but I think so. I also came to believe it was the divine spark of creation housed within all beings; that indescribable “something” that connects us all to each other regardless of race, gender, age, creed, religion or geography. Whatever it was, I felt it. Visceral.
But for the past few months, nothing. It had been a long process, but I had finally begun to believe again that I had a body, that I was a woman, not simply a lump of flesh that temporarily housed my brain until my ever-approaching death. Unfortunately, almost imperceptibly, I had become a “thing” again.
I had thought that once I had found my “soul,” that knowledge – that sense of self, would be mine forever. It was sobering indeed to realize that self-knowledge, even hard-fought, can be forgotten in the face of relentless disease and disability. So, once again I stood on the very brink. I had managed to take a step back once before, but did I have the ability, or even the will, to do it again?
For days, I stared at the pill bottle, my “stash” I had hoarded for years that would bring on the ultimate darkness. If I gave in to its seduction and the sweet oblivion it promised, I would finally rest. And, I was so very, very tired.
I thought back, what had I done before? What was it that had caused me to give a damn whether I met the next dawn? Slowly, I remembered – it was that little zing of life. That shooting feeling that you are, indeed, alive. Even muted by illness, it was still there, still calling me unceasingly back from the brink: Sensation.
I sighed and put the pill bottle away. I would begin again. Instead of fighting with/or hiding from Mr. Wolf, I would try to regain the truce, the peaceful co-existence, the political accord that I had hammered out with him before.
Since then, I have worked to reclaim my body, make her a part of me again. Integration in a literal sense. I have been kind, nurturing, drawing her back – wooing her as would a gentle lover. A long, heart-felt embrace. The ultimate seduction: The self.
Once again, she is transformed. She is no longer the enemy, nor a victim. She is simply me. My honest sexuality remains the key. I worked to feel arousal again, even a nano flash of sexual interest. Once I did that, I almost immediately remembered the long-lost feeling of my “soul.”
When I’m having sex, I am no longer disabled. The pain that has been Mr. Wolf’s calling card transcends into pleasure. Touch and intimacy is my link to the divine. In those moments, I am my true self again. Not a disabled person on her way out, but a living, vibrant woman who was put on this planet for some purpose beyond my finite understanding.
It seems significant that I had to relearn this simple message. Perhaps I failed to appreciate that it needs to be practiced often and with mindfulness to be remembered. The truth is I can still feel – a lot. I am still a human being. So, I plan to stick around this ol’ planet of ours until I’m finally called home. My hands may shake and my legs may not work, but my heart and soul are still mine. Real intimacy reminds me when nothing else does.
It’s not easy, emotionally or physically, to have a satisfying sex life when you’re disabled; suffering from an acute disease; or illness. I am convinced, however, that it is impossible to thrive without one. Sex doesn’t just promote overall health, it promotes the very breath of life.
— The Curator
Controversial libel laws in the U.K. are the subject of a powerful reform movement, which has gained another supporter and voice of reason: Belle de Jour.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with her, Belle de Jour had been the nom de plume of a celebrated British author, who was also a London call girl for two years.
Last year, Belle revealed she is Dr. Brooke Magnanti, of Bristol, England, a noted scientist. Brooke’s specialist areas are developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology. She has a PhD in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science and is now working at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health. She is currently part of a team researching the potential effects on babies of their mothers' exposure to toxic chemicals.
It is Brooke in her science hat who has written a thoughtful guest column that appeared in today’s Guardian U.K. Below is the full article. Read it here, or directly at the newspaper’s website:
Libel tourism is a public health risk
By Brooke Magnanti
(Guardian Profile: Brooke Magnanti is the author of Belle de Jour: Diary of a London Call Girl, and works as a scientist in child health at Bristol University. Her areas of research include cancer biostatistics, genetic epidemiology and forensic science)
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 March 2010 13.35 GMT
Article history
British libel law is being used by corporations from around the world to suppress legitimate reporting of bad science
Legal manual: the British Chiropractic Association is suing science writer Simon Singh over an article he wrote in the Guardian questioning the efficacy of certain chiropractic treatments.
Above Photograph: Corbis
"Last year, I had mumps. I blame the libel laws.
The recent case of Simon Singh being sued by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) is one example of the out-of-control libel laws in this country, and how they can stop people telling good information from bad. This week is Libel Reform Week and there is no shortage of cases bringing the health risks of such lawsuits to light.
Public discussion – journalism included – involves freely debating topics in the public interest. It is similar to what scientists do in peer-reviewed journals. But because most people don't read those, we depend on trusted sources like Singh to bring the facts and arguments to us.
Libel laws have good reason to exist – to stop irresponsible reporting. However, British laws so favour one side that they can be used to intimidate journalists in other countries: "libel tourism". A US citizen can write for a US paper and be called up before courts here. Hence the likes of the Wall Street Journal considering not selling papers in the UK.
Nor is libel simply a concern of big business and Brangelina.
The international nature of collaboration and publication makes scientists particularly vulnerable. A British cardiologist, Peter Wilmshurst, is being sued by US company NMT Medical after he had questioned the effectiveness of a heart implant. NMT Medical says he accused the firm of research fraud; yet the company is based in Boston, and it was a report on a US-based website that triggered the libel action, Wilmshurst is being sued in the UK.
I can understand his frustration. As an employee of the NHS, research requires a mountain of paperwork. Patient confidentiality must be guaranteed and ethics applications approved. I once spent five months of a year-long project on the paperwork alone. You could be tempted to think if the Trust R&D department eventually green-lights your project, there won't be any further liability problems.
You could be wrong.
The implications of these cases mirror the MMR scare. While epidemiologists such as myself can read Wakefield's original publication and judge whether his conclusions regarding autism were justified, others rely on what is re-reported elsewhere. It was years before that paper was publicly retracted by the Lancet.
Even now, fresh suits threaten the dissemination of knowledge that is widely accepted among scientists. The damage can't be undone. In spite of the retractions, many people still believe a discredited study. This could have a devastating health outcome for a family.
Given the option, wouldn't you choose a treatment that works over one that doesn't? But when a face cream can claim to be "inspired by the science of genes" while real scientists are tied up in the courts, it's little wonder many people can't tell the salve from the snake oil.
Now, about those mumps: I had a full course of MMR as a child. When I moved to the UK, I had it again.
The MMR confers herd immunity – not everyone becomes immune, but the few unlucky people who don't (like me) are protected when most other people are immunised.
So when I moved to an area where many parents opted out of jabs, I fell ill. I was, after two courses of MMR, not immune to measles. I had follow-up jabs and am still not immune to rubella. If I become pregnant this could be a great concern.
At first, I was angry; and then sad. It costs £100,000 and more to defend libel suits. The sources we trust are being gagged because they can ill afford a case, even if they win. The costs are too high, the process too long, to risk it.
Nature abhors a vacuum, as does knowledge. Misinformation reigns.
These cases influence what the news tells us. If sources won't report facts established through scientific process, what is left to trust? It leaves a gaping hole that charlatans and manipulators will rush to fill.
• The Libel Reform Campaign's libel reform week culminates in the Big Libel Gig on Sunday 14 March 2010.”
Important FYI: The lawsuit against Mr. Singh was dismissed on March 12. See Amy Wallace blog for details.
Anyone reading this and lives in the U.K. should strongly consider signing this petition. If I lived there, I would sign it in a heartbeat.
Thanks to Brooke for writing about yet another important topic!
— The Curator
Are you a geek? If so, are you ashamed? Well, let beloved Belle de Jour encourage you to embrace who you really are.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with her, Belle de Jour had been the nom de plume of a celebrated British author, who was also a London call girl for two years.
Last year, Belle revealed she is Dr. Brooke Magnanti, of Bristol, England, a respected scientist. Brooke’s specialist areas are developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology. She has a PhD in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science and is now working at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health. She is currently part of a team researching the potential effects on babies of their mothers' exposure to toxic chemicals.
But from 2003 to late 2004, Brooke worked as a prostitute via a London escort agency; she started blogging as Belle de Jour — after the Buñuel film starring Catherine Deneuve as a well-to-do housewife who has sex for money because she’s bored — shortly into her career as a call girl, after an incident she thought funny enough to write down.
She charged £300 an hour for her services, of which she got £200. The average appointment lasted two hours; she saw clients two or three times a week, “sometimes less, sometimes a great deal more,” she has said.
Before I spotlight her current post, I would like to share my personal feelings about the good doctor. I have supported, rooted for, and always cheered Brooke since her blog first hit the Internet in 2003. Over the years, her writing has touched me many times and in personal and profound ways. I find her unforgettable. She can bring me to tears in one paragraph, then make me laugh loudly in the next. She has caused me to consider life in a different way, challenging stereotypes I didn’t even know I held or employed.
Since she disclosed her identity, she has had the freedom to pen a variety of topics that are far afield from erotica. I say, BRAVO! The world needs real writers of depth and quality, and that IS Brooke Magnanti.
It is absolutely true that she has written the best erotic-themed posts and books that I have ever read. But she is so much more. When you read today’s post, you will feel her originality, the importance of her voice. She should not be dismissed, or type cast because of that famous blog, but given the respect that she is due.
Ironically, it is this very talent that has caused some in the “literature” world to reject her. I think they are threatened, because her complexity is impossible to capture or ignore. She is a feminist who likes men; she was an escort who became a respected scientist; she is witty, educated, but can also be earthy when it’s least expected. And, best of all, she is unapologetic.
So, whether she likes it or not, she is one of my role models – a woman who lives her life on her own terms. It is that core power of her's that is wonderfully illustrated in today’s post. Read that post here in full, or directly at her blog, then do yourself a favor and check out all of her wonderful books:
“mercredi, mars 10
For a long time, I've been a geek about, well, loads of things (the paintings of Van Dyck, for example). I'm also a dork by temperament and a nerd by trade. I also am mystified at geek being appropriated into coolness, hipness, and trendiness.
The prominence of the word geek in current parlance has me torn. On the one hand, it's nice it's no longer an insult. But on the other hand, as someone who has been uncool from approximately conception, it's a head-scratcher. I don't get hipsters and don't especially want to.
So to misquote Justin Timberlake, I'm bringing geeky back, yeah. Here are some real-geek-spotting tips:
9. Real geeks don't need a press release to tell them what to like. I love Apple as much as the next girl but well-designed, widely popular, mass-marketed entertainment devices are not geek. Fact.
8. Real geeks aren't only focussed in technology areas. If you know someone who can discern tulipwood from kingwood at thirty paces, then that my friend is a geek and it don't matter what fucking phone he owns.
7. Geek isn't necessarily holding qualifications, but it is intellectually rigourous. If you can wing it with half an hour on Wikipedia, it's not geek.
6. Real geeks don't care what's next, because that would imply caring what other people think. The process of deciding whether or not you care what other people think is inherently not-geek.
5. Real geeks know that to a man who only has a hammer, every problem looks like a nail, but they will probably try to turn a screw with a hammer anyway.
4. If real geeks had to do it all over again, they would do it all over again. Apart maybe from the ramen bit.
3. Real geeks can't stop doing and thinking what they're doing and thinking. Remuneration for it does not really enter the equation and holidays do not switch it off.
2. Irony is not a part of a geek's worldview. If you like dodecahedral dice and polyester shirts, you like them without inverted commas. And real geeks don't give a shit what comic books you read.
1. A real geek is either fully aware of his geekiness or shockingly unaware of it. There really isn't an in-between, but these two states can exist together.
0. Examples: Springer-Verlag, Samuel French, and Loeb Classical are geek; Penguin is not. Burda is geek, McCall's is not. Dallas Dhu is geek, Benromach is not. Juggalo is geek now, emo isn't geek anymore. Trapeze was never for geeks and diabolos are never not. Invented a new way to yo-yo? You're a geek.
Addendum: I don't hate iPhones and Benromach is one of my favourite whiskies. When people discover things that used to be niche interests, it makes me happy. Do what you do, and like what you like, and be real about it. But when people ape liking things and then leave them for the Next Big Thing (um, cigars in the mid 90s anyone?), that's just dumb.
POSTED BY BELLE DE JOUR AT 4:58 PM”
We will be blessed with a new book, Belle de Jour’s Guide to Women, expected to be published in May. Her other books are Belle de Jour’s Guide to Men, 2009; Belle’s Bits, 2009; The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, September 2005; The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl, May 2007; and Playing the Game, June 2009. All of them are worth reading and re-reading – trust me! Several of the books have yet to be published in the U.S., so the easiest way to obtain them is to go to Amazon's U.K. division, where they are all available.
Her writing has been so popular that it became the basis for the international hit TV series, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billie Piper. It can be seen on Showtime in the U.S., and the first two seasons are available on DVD. The third season premiered last month, and was previewed by an entertaining special 30-minute interview of Brooke by Billie.
— The Curator
