The SCENESubmissions 2003 Archives

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know I'll always be your slave
Till I'm buried, buried in my grave
~ Sam Cooke, Bring It On Home To Me



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SCENEsubmissions
April 6, 2003
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IN THIS STEAMING ISSUE
New Photos of Sensuous Sadie!
Yaqi Interviews Sensuous Sadie
Submissive and Feminist - Contradiction or Consistency? - By Screamer
Website of the Week

ADMINISTRIVIA
This Newsletter Online with Photos: www.sensuoussadie.com/newsletter.htm
About Sadie and the Mission of this Newsletter
How to Subscribe to this Free Newsletter
Publishing Policy

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New Photos of Sensuous Sadie by David Southwick!
http://www.sensuoussadie.com/photographybydavidsouthwick.htm

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Yaqi Interviews Sensuous Sadie

Yaqi is Houston Press' "Best Fetishist 2002," a Filmmaker, and Tickling Aficionado. This is the text of his recent interview with Sensuous Sadie.


Yaqi:
I’ve always felt that our culture has a lot of fundamental problems with how it approaches sex. I think it’s fortunate that we live in an age where individuals have more avenues to explore their sexuality but despite all that is out there, there is still an overwhelming fear that a lot of people have about exposure and acceptance of their interests. What are your thoughts on the mainstream acceptance of fantasy and fetish exploration? Do you think it will always be segregated in its various countercultures or do you see a day when mankind’s sexual repression erodes sufficiently to insure a society where people are more comfortable at taking risks?

Sadie:
Well, first of all in order to increase acceptance of women in your vision there, I’d change that to "humankind." To answer your question, I see a radical change happening at this very moment. The birth control pill started a radical change in the history of sexuality, and since then it has become increasingly more acceptable in every flavor. If you look at the visibility and acceptance of the gay and lesbian community, you can see our community following in those same footsteps. I compare it to the stock market. Stocks go up and down every day, but if you look at the trend over ten years, the movement is always upward. It is the same for us, despite occasional and periodic backlashes.

This trend is also an example of Alvin Toffler’s theory of Accelerative Thrust, which he wrote about in his book Future Shock. The idea is that technology is not only happening faster, it’s happening faster at an accelerated rate. So instead of an arithmetic growth, there is an exponential rate of change. It’s pretty amazing that he wrote this in 1970, considering he could not have known of the technological revolution to follow. You can see this same pattern in the rate of change in attitudes about sexuality, and that’s a good thing for all of us. I believe the internet also has a big part in this because of the information explosion that went along with that. More information translates to more freedom.

I believe that each of us must work toward that kind of acceptance if we want to live without fear. (See my article on this: Think Globally, Spank Locally). I realize that some of the thrill comes from doing things generally considered verboten, but when secrets dominate your existence you are by definition vulnerable to losing your job, losing your children, and so on. It’s only by being proud and practical about our lifestyle we can live freely.

Because I am still "in the closet" in some ways, a number of people have asked me how I can get on the soapbox for coming out, and yet still keep my identity private. Here’s my thinking on this. I live in Vermont, which is sexually very conservative. In addition to that, it’s so incredibly small that if you knew my real name, and you asked a few people downtown, several of them, including Kevin Bacon possibly, would know who I am.*

While I believe in what we are doing, I don’t believe it’s necessary for everyone and their dog to know about my sexual orientation specifically. That is private in the sense that it’s my business. This is different than my writing, which is out there for anyone to read. My writing is my creative outlet. My actual private sex life is my business. You’ll notice that I very rarely write about actual scenes or things I do with my lover in bed. I consider that intimate stuff and only write about it in the context of a story, which of course has elements of fictionalized reality. I do tell my friends and family, and am an activist in other ways, ways which I choose. Coming out is a lot like feminism. The idea is that feminism, or BDSMism gives us the choice to act as we choose. There is no outstanding directive that we should either get a job outside the home, or become a leather activist, marching in some parade. It’s all about making a choice that best serves our individual and collective goals.

This culturalized sexual anxiety also affects people on an individual basis. That is, once they know this about me – they are unable to see me as a whole person, just a neighbor. After this comes out, it’s always Sadie – the kinky girl. I am kinky, but I am far more than that. I do believe if I had a job where this didn’t matter, or if I lived in a metropolitan area, or in a more liberal place, things might be different. On the other hand, maybe I’m just fooling myself. It’s hard to say. Truth will out.

Yaqi:
I think it is interesting that you consider yourself a Taoist. I think that erotic exploration can be very Taoist but don’t you think that bondage, domination, and submission are inherently in conflict with the "natural flow of things" and the "balance" that Lao-Tse spoke about?

Sadie:
There’s a quote I like by Horatio on the television series CSI where he said, "Some horses run better in a harness." What he was saying is that structure and limits can create freedom, even though that might appear paradoxical on the surface. I too am a free spirit, but I also run better in a harness. When I am within the space of a quality Dominant, I am more able to be myself and express myself fully. I can’t even begin to explain this, but it is true. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of every part of my life, and have been for many years, but having a partner takes the edge off.

When I am in alignment with my own true self (this is the only place I believe in Truth), then I am going with the natural flow of things. That flow is not just exterior events and how we respond to them. That flow is about what’s transforming inside of us, and how we engage with that. I don’t think Lao-Tse would say that any particular practice, be it baking cakes or getting the hooey flogged out of us, is in conflict or is not in conflict with our inner path. I think he’d say that if our inner path cries out to be flogged, then flogged we should be.

The natural flow of things is not the "Natural Flow of Things" as determined Lao Tse, or really anyone. It’s the flow within myself as I define it. I am the ultimate arbiter of my own spiritual exploration.

Yaqi:
How has your exploration of BDSM shaped you as a developing spiritual entity? Obviously our characters are molded by the experiences that we have and you have chosen a path that not everyone would travel with the boldness that you have. How have your experiences with BDSM shaped and influenced who you are today?

Sadie:
That’s an interesting question. I have always been the way I am now in terms of my approach to life, my drive, my joie de vivre. BDSM didn’t change that. What BDSM has done for me is given me a niche where my voice can be heard. It just so happens that my writing has coincided with a great need for material that addresses the emotional and spiritual side of things. I’d even venture to say that our BDSM community is on the crest of a great wave of spiritual engagement. I think of it like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Once you have the basic needs taken care of, like eating and food and shelter, you can move on to the spiritual and emotional needs. We’ve spend the last twenty years getting our basic needs for information and community in place. Now we’re ready to take the next step and explore some deeper levels.

In the last few years, my activities in this area have more or less taken over most of my free time. As a result, I am far more focused and integrated in terms of the balance of my thoughts. I still have vanilla interests, which keeps me from becoming one of those horribly dull BDSM people who talk about toys all day, but the focus of my drive and passion is now in one direction. This illustrates the spiritual idea that through commitment, we become more fulfilled. On the superficial level it often appears that by taking one path, we’re missing out on others. Ultimately, it’s more important how deeply we explore our passion, not that we tried every possible diversion on the planet.

That’s the big picture side of how BDSM has changed me. The other side of that is whether the actual practice of it has changed me, and I don’t think it really has. Relationships and sex are far more satisfying now that I am getting what I need. But the actual practice itself is just another expression of my spiritual (and my horndogly) self.

Yaqi:
As a fellow writer I’d like to know who has inspired you over the years and I mean from both a technical and erotic standpoint. Obviously the last century saw groundbreaking mainstream work, from Henry James to D.H. Lawrence to John Fowles to William S. Burroughs, who reduced erotica to a crude, almost primal instinct. Was their any author that inspired or helped shape your writings and philosophies?

Sadie:
The funny thing is that I read very little non-fiction, and I hate to admit it, but almost no classic authors. I read mostly to escape and non fiction is too much work. (I got no culchuh) I prefer mysteries, mostly by women authors. Mysteries offer a nice closed system, where there is a problem, and it gets solved. When I read novels I often wonder when the heck the plot is going to happen. I take that same approach in my writing as well. I don’t assume that people will want to read my stuff because I’m brilliant or whatever. I write a story that hooks the reader, and give them closure at the end.

Before I began to actively research the BDSM scene, and the spiritual aspect in particular, the only BDSM book I’d read is Screw the Roses, Send me the Thorns, which really may be all anyone needs because it is both informational and funny. Most of the kink books are practical as in how to tie someone up, and that bores me to no end.

On the spiritual end, I have a few books in my bookcase, but not many. I was brought up Unitarian Universalist, and one of the key tenets is that each of us can experience God directly, without an intermediary such as a priest. So most of my writing is about my own experiences in engaging with my spiritual self.

Generally speaking I don’t read erotica, although I’m currently reading Laura Antoniou’s book The Reunion. I’d have to say if I was going to read erotica, I’d read hers. She gets it. Real characters, real situations. Just enough hot scenes to make me wet, but no gratuitous head jobs.

Here’s what’s on my bookshelf at the moment:

BDSM Books
Leatherfolk – Edited by Mark Thompson. A classic and has a lot of spiritual stuff in it.
Bitch Goddess – Edited by Pat Califia. Another classic.
Slavecraft - by Guy Baldwin – Powerful stuff
Endless Knot: A Spiritual Odyssey Through Sado-Masochism - By Mathew Styranka
Screw the Roses, Send me the Thorns – Molly Devon
The Marketplace and The Reunion – Both by Laura Antoniou

Spirituality Books
Peace is Every Step – Thick Nhat Haan
The Tao of Leadership – John Heider
Listening – How to Increase Awareness of your Inner Guide – Coit
The Tao of Pooh – Benjamin Hoff
Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Yaqi:
"Fetish," to me is an ugly stigmatism because it still insinuates behavior that is "not quite normal," and I’ve always felt that people who have fantasies but never act upon them, repressing them for whatever reasons, ultimately do themselves a gross disservice. What advice would you have for someone wanting to realize an erotic "fetish" but is sufficiently kept in check by the repressive nature of morality?

Sadie:
I’m a terrible person to ask questions like this because I was brought up in a sexually radical household. (For more on that read my article Born a Hoochie Mama) Unfortunately I tend to be impatient with people and their fears. Having not experienced those fears, it’s very difficult for me to empathize. What I usually do is send them to someone who can relate.

I’ve never been someone who believes in changing society from the outside. IE I don’t think marching on Washington generally does a jot of good. I believe in changing things from the inside, and so I see my writing as a way to reach out to people and help them feel valid in what they are doing. It’s a kind of micro engineering where by changing your insides, you end up changing your outsides, and by extension the world. It’s all about doing the inner work, and when that’s in ship shape, it turns out the outside stuff is too, regardless of your particular circumstances. Practically speaking, bad things happen to all of us. But because I’ve got God, I can handle them with far more aplomb.

For example, a few years back I became unemployed. A friend of mine was extremely worried about me, but I told her it was fine, that God would take care of me. Of course she thought I was deluding myself and was very worried about me. A few years later, I’m fully employed and got through the unemployment period with no serious damage. Now once again, the specter of unemployment has come around again because of federal funding issues. I reminded my friend that I was taken care of last time, and that I hoped she could see that, and so I didn’t have to fear this time either. To me, this process showed that I can depend on the universe. To her, it showed that I’m in a state of continual delusion. The bottom line to me is not whether or not she believes in God, but that my life is better because I do. If I’m deluding myself, I can live with that. Neither one of us will really ever know until we hit the pearly gates… or we don’t.

Yaqi:
Recently I’ve been noticing an almost schizophrenic attitude in the Internet tickling community that seems to stem from inner conflict. For example, an individual recently expressed an interest in seeing real, non consensual tickle torture. And a whole lot of folks really jumped on him, saying that is was wrong, not politically correct, how dare he propose this and all sorts of other rubbish, and the discussion thread took on a very judgmental demure. Yet these people who objected to it are the same people who write, read and fantasize about non consensual tickling situations. In fact, one of the driving forces of most tickling fiction, especially stories about celebrities, are the non consensual aspects. So, I’m seeing a real duality in the tickling community, a sort of internal juggling between wicked fantasy and a desire to be morally corrected. Granted, most of the "vocal" components of the community are not necessarily amongst the most intelligent, but the conflict seems valid enough. What is your take on this, as undoubtedly you must encounter it in your circles? Is there a dividing line between BDSM and morality or is a healthier symbiosis possible?

Sadie:
You could substitute whipping or rape or bondage in there for tickling. It’s common for people to fantasize about it being "non-consensual" for several reasons. The main one is that it gives people an "out," – i.e. "I couldn’t help myself, they made me." In real life, no one enjoys being raped or tied up and kidnapped – it’s darn scary. But since most of us haven’t experienced those things in real life, we don’t know about the emotional impact of real violence. Rape and kidnapping victims probably do not fantasize about being raped or kidnapped. It is understandable that people jumped on the person who wanted to see non-consensual play because if we say non-consensual play is okay, then it opens the door for abuse.

In my writer’s group we’ve discussed this at length. I had an issue with stories that didn’t include safe sex, i.e. condoms. My fellow writers helped me understand that writing, reading, or fantasizing about something is a different thing than actually doing it. I still believe that even stories should encourage safe play, but it’s also okay for them to be just fantasies.

All play must be consensual, but that’s only real time play; it has nothing to do with fantasy. It’s incredibly unfortunate that people feel that they can judge others, especially when we are all fighting for acceptance in the larger vanilla community. If I have a problem with anything, it’s with people who go off on others, and this is in no small part because people go off on me periodically. Unfortunately this is very common in our community. I believe it comes out of insecurity and fear. If you are grounded emotionally and spiritually, there is no need to criticize anyone else for what they do, especially publicly. The only time when I speak out is when someone is actually being hurt.

Yaqi:
What has been your experiences with tickling? Do you encounter it much? You’ve already fessed up to being ticklish. Would you ever consider submitting to a mind blowing bondage and tickle torture session administered by, say… me?

Sadie:
When I was growing up my dad taught me to be unticklish, which I suppose made me less vulnerable to my sister and brother. Generally I like it some, as long as people don’t poke me. I recently got a pair of vampire gloves which make me scream and giggle with delight. It’s a lot like tickling, with some pain mixed in.

I have never been "done" by an expert such as yourself, so the answer is a resounding Yes! Consider this a formal invitation to visit Vermont’s beautiful Green Mountains. I’ll even gift you with some maple syrup – yummy!

Yaqi:
It’s been my experience that "tickling" is often snubbed by BDSM communities as something too tame. Ruthless tickling can be exquisite torture of the most diabolical sorts. How do you see tickling?

I suppose that snubbing has to do with tickling being connected with childhood which gives it that childish aspect, not to mention a shadowy specter of sexual abuse of children. There’s also this idiotic underlying idea that the Submissive who takes the most pain wins. So fun things like tickling and spanking can be laughed off as not serious BDSM. It’s just another example of insecure fools thinking they are LeatherGod. I guess some of it is just human nature, but it’s extremely annoying to say the least, not to mention in conflict with a healthy cohesive community.

I think all of that is silly. If tickling turns you on, more power to you! As for my personal experience, well I guess I’ll be better able to address that after you give me your best. J

Yaqi:
Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Sadie:
Yaqi – you sure got some brainolas in your cupola there! Of course I’ve done that interview with myself, which is a compilation of questions people ask me. But you were right in noting that it has a certain leaning to it which of course happened by virtue of the fact that I edited it. It’s a pleasure working with someone who asks intelligent questions and is genuinely engaged in the more complex aspects of our culture. Thank you for interviewing me!

In closing, (climbing up on my soapbox) I say: "Tickle Power!"

Reference: The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

About Yaqi
Houston Press' "Best Fetishist 2002," Filmmaker, 
and Tickling Aficionado
yaqi1@yahoo.com 
http://www.yaqisworld.com 

Copyright 2003

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Submissive and Feminist - Contradiction or Consistency?
By Screamer
screamer_girl@hotmail.com
http://www.thescreamergirl.com

Screamer writes erotica under the pen name Kanthra Adair. Her new book Screaming Inside is available for $12.50 from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1893006387/thescreamergi-20/104-5857078-5020762

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The following letter was written to Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women in 1996.  It took three submissions of the letter, and a threat to not renew my membership to get a response to the following dissertation, about how NOW has continually contradicted itself, and it’s views of a "pure feminism" to come out against S&M a number of times.

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Dear Patricia, and Esteemed Board Members,

Imagine my surprise.

I’ve been a feminist for as long as I can remember, going so far as to work with NOW, and an abortion clinic in trying to get a new reproductive health facility in the Quad Cities, where I used to live that would perform abortions for local and rural women.  I carried the presidency of our local chapter of NOW for awhile, and felt myself completely and utterly devoted to the feminist cause.

And now, after careful scrutinization, I find that my own sexual lifestyle has been called into question.  That, after all of the belief, and work, and time and energy I devoted to the feminist cause, believing in it wholeheartedly, I discover that, while it’s fine for a woman to love another woman, it’s not fine for my own boyfriend to tie me up and spank me if it’s what we both want and enjoy.

I am a female submissive.

I’m not entirely sure why NOW chooses to believe that consensual, loving SM goes against the grain of what the feminist regime believes.  Being a member of that regime for many years, and still considering myself a feminist,  I learned a great deal about what I call the ‘feminist philosophy’.  The way I learned it, and understood it, was simply this:  A woman has as much right to her own sexual identity, professional identity and spiritual identity as any man has.  What ever we choose to believe in, as an independent, sure, strong woman, was what we brought to the table as a feminist, and what we shared with our sisters in the struggle for equal rights, and freedom over our own bodies.  The freedom to carry or abort a pregnancy.  The freedom to lay down with another woman.  The freedom to have access to birth control - to construction jobs - to political office.  The freedom to choose what we felt in our hearts was right for us.

You will stand up and fight for the right of a woman to have an abortion.  But you won’t stand up and acknowledge that a woman can do as she pleases behind her own bedroom doors?  The way that I see it, as long as the activity is consensual - as long as the parties behind those doors are adults and mature enough  to decide for themselves what makes them orgasm and what makes them feel spiritually whole, that particular woman is simply acting upon what makes her feel like a complete and total woman, and is, indeed exercising her feminism in the highest regard.

I have seen the arguments against female submissions.  How the act itself sets us back 40 years, and detracts from all the work the so-called ‘true feminists’ have attained.  How it promotes male violence against women.  How the so-called ‘trade’ magazines depict women in a less-than-human light.  How the desire for such activities surely declares that we, as woman, have been trained to want these things.

Bull.

I’m doing what my nature, my female spirit, tells me to do.  I’m not acting as my mother, and my grandmother did, out of a sense of obligation, out of  a sense of  not having any other options, out of a sense of it being my only place in this world.  I am submissive to only specific, well chosen people.  I choose who I submit to, as wholly as you choose who you sleep with.  I am a dominant creature in my career, in my family, in my feminist work.  But when I get home at night, I choose to submit.  Is this going against everything I’ve been taught?  Does this make me any less of a feminist?  Does it detract from my pro-choice work, my gay/lesbian work, my equal rights work?  Does it take away from my woman-of-the-nineties persona?

No.

But you say that it does.

You, in the position of power of the feminist movement.  You, who are our leaders,  our teachers, our  mentors.  You, who preach the role of feminism in this society.  Yet, you leave out, or admonish those of us who enjoy the freedom to give up that freedom.  Where is the social justice in that?  Where is the commonality?  The equilibrium?  The fairness?  It is strangely missing, and it’s absence not only weakens our position as the ‘people of choice’, it lessens our capability to get our points across in a sane and articulate manner.

Am I any less a feminist because I enjoy being tied to a bed?

Are you any less a woman if you choose to love another woman?

Are you any less a mother if you choose to abort a pregnancy after carrying six?

Are you any less a woman of color if one of your parents are white?

All four questions can be answered with a resounding ‘NO !!!’, however, you choose to toss those of us who revel in our sexual submission out of your ranks because you simply don’t agree with our practices?

Isn’t that a contradiction of  what feminism is all about?

I say, "Yes, it is."

Most Sincerely,

(signature removed)

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The response I finally received was very unsatisfactory.  The short letter, from Patricia herself, stated that NOW did not have a policy on SM.

From the letter: "NOW Does not have any policy condemning SM.  We are concerned with a woman’s consent and having control over her own body."

I discovered the quite contrary.

In "Delineation of Lesbian Rights issues 1980", a NOW resolution states first that:

"NOW does not support the inclusion of pederasty, pornography,

sadomasochism and public sex as lesbian rights issues, since to do so would violate the feminist principles upon which this organization was founded."

And then, in a separate resolution of the same year:

"A third non-feminist, non-lesbian rights issue is sadomasochism. Although sadomasochism is practiced among a small percentage of the overall population, it has been grossly misrepresented as an integral part of gay lifestyles. The attempt to identify sadomasochism as a lesbian and gay rights issue serves primarily to confuse issues and to thwart the drive for lesbian and gay rights.

Sadomasochists seek to legitimize and provide a premeditated structure for violence. NOW opposes any repressive legislation concerning private consensual sexual activity between adults. Nevertheless, NOW opposes institutionalized violence as well as social structures which encourage or advocate the use of physical and psychological violence or domination among individuals. This opposition to violence precludes support or advocacy of sadomasochism as a feminist issue."

There is a large movement on the Internet now which seeks to change NOW’s stand on consensual SM.  There is a web page, dedicated solely to this cause at

 http://members.aol.com/NOWSM/Home.html

If this issue insults your common sense and intelligence as it did mine, please feel free to visit the web page and voice your support.

I did not renew my membership in NOW.  SM was a big part of the reason, however, it wasn’t the only reason.  The inconsistencies and the bigotry I found, as a result of my SM research within NOW turned me off to the whole thing.  I still consider myself a feminist, but I’ve decided that I don’t need the backing of anyone to be able to say that to the world - without fear, without contradiction, without guilt.  I just am.

Copyright 1997, "Screamer"

All Rights Reserved

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Website of the Week

DomSubInfo
http://www.domsub.info/main.html

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ADMINISTRIVIA

ABOUT SADIE AND THE MISSION OF THIS NEWSLETTER
I'm Sensuous Sadie, editor and all around diva of this publication. I am a BDSM columnist, as well as founder and leader (1999-2001) of Rose & Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM group. SCENEsubmissions is a venue for information on BDSM and spirituality, exploring BDSM not as a conduit for toys and protocol, but as an erotica mystica. You can also find more information about these topics on my website in the BDSM & Spirituality section.

You can reach me at SensuousSadie@aol.com or visit my website (and see a hot photo of me) at www.sensuoussadie.com

BDSM WRITERS GROUP
I moderate a Yahoo group for BDSM Writers of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Our goal is to share input and feedback on ongoing writing projects. You do not need to be published, but we want people who will be engaged in offering and accepting feedback. To join, just send an e-mail to:
BDSMwriters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

QUICHER BITCHIN' - SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Send 'em to me! I LOVE letters reaming me out for my views. Send to SensuousSadie@aol.com

SUBSCRIBE DIRECTLY TO SCENEsubmissions NEWSLETTER. IT'S FREE.
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RUN THIS NEWSLETTER ON YOUR WEBSITE OR DISCUSSION GROUP
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PUBLISHING POLICY
As per the United States copyright office, this newsletter follows "fair use" guidelines when reproducing material. Quotes come from both paper-based and electronic materials available in the public domain, and are reproduced under that doctrine which specifies: "Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentages of a work." In all cases we acknowledge the author of the quote if it is available. All articles are reprinted with explicit permission of the authors.

We will treat you with courtesy and respect and we expect the same. Do not expect us to run your information if you are acting like a jerk.

If you have a concern about the newsletter, please write us about it and include suggestions for fixing the problem. Insults with no corresponding suggestions will not be responded to. For example - one reader accused the newsletter of being "cyberdomme." That may or may not be true, as many of the writers are indeed women, but it did not suggest any solutions (such as this male writer offering to write some articles.)

Copyright 2003 Sadie Sez Publications