Thanks For The Protesting...

When I first read about Kink.com purchasing the Armory Building in SF, I didn't think much of it. I figured that there would be the one article, and then the story would die away as the local public's attention moved on to bigger and better things. Well I guess liberal San Franciscan's have nothing better to do than complain about legal sales of vacant buildings where nothing was going on for years and years. Ok, fine. This is a democracy. You have a right to protest this, that, and the other thing. However, I wonder if these protesters have anyone advising them about the efficacy of their actions?

It appears as if legally Kink.com has dotted their i's and crossed all of their t's. When you shoot porn to put food on the table, both they and I do, you learn how to proceed by the book. You know that you're under scrutiny and if the Feds don't inspect you, someone else will. So if you can't legally take action against the purchase and use of this building, then what CAN you do? You can picket and march in front of said business.

I guess not one of those protesters has stopped to think of the outcome of their attempt at gaining attention for THEIR cause: free publicity for Kink.com. Heck, if I were at Kink.com, I'd be sending my staff down to join the protesters. I'd make the ranks swell. I'd go pay the same folks who hold the signs in front of Quizno's to rant, rave, and hold large signs. All the while the name of Kink.com just keeps getting mentioned again and again and again--FOR FREE. National and international exposure. That's free advertising people all thanks to what you DON'T want happening in your back yard. Maybe someone should walk up to the protesters and point that out...

On a more serious note: the protesters are complaining that Kink.com is promoting violence and exploitation of women. Oh really? Are they going across the border and bringing back scared women who then have their passports taken away? Are they then telling these women that they must clean the premises and sleep in dog beds or they will be turned out onto the streets to face a deportation when they are caught? No they're not. They are hiring WILLING WOMEN who UNDERSTAND the nature of the work. They make a tidy sum of money, have their needs paid attention to better than many a vanilla employer would, and they have fun in the process. Have any of these protesters stopped to consider that maybe, JUST MAYBE, women can enjoy being tied up, spanked, whipped, etc.? This is SAN FRANCISCO people! We are supposed to be about doing what you want as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else. Last I checked, getting tied up and paid for it didn't hurt anybody as long as it was consensual...

I wonder how many of those protesters ever turned a deaf ear when they heard a female neighbor screaming in pain because her boyfriend or husband had just smacked her around? When was the last time any of those protesters paid a fair wage to a person of color for child care or house cleaning? I consider low wages for work such as that to be more exploitative than when a stripper gets $20 for doing a table dance, or when a woman gets paid for being suspended from the ceiling.

Exploitation and degradation need to have at least one group in the equation NOT participating in an equal manner. Yes, Kink.com makes a lot of money, but I can guarantee you that was due to hard work and diligence in an industry where customer retention is difficult to maintain over the long term. Their models and staff make fair wages. These people do this work because they WANT to, not because it's the only work they are qualified to do and they can't get straight jobs. I don't call that exploitation or degradation.

All I know is that if I were ever to buy a building where I was going to shoot my BDSM videos, I'd be SURE to let the details get out to the press. Then I'd hire my own protesters and make sure that the controversy didn't die--for as long as I could milk it. The old adage still remains: all publicity is good publicity :).

VQ