Dominatrix Makes Her Clients Read Black Feminist Theory

A dominatrix has revealed how she gets her clients to read black feminist theory which says gives her a feeling of empowerment and helps to change their attitudes towards race and gender.

Mistress Velvet, a graduate with a Masters degree who lives in Chicago, began working two years ago when money problems left her facing eviction.

She works as a ‘Domme’, the person who takes the dominant role in a sadomasochistic relationship or arrangement, and says most of her clients are white, affluent men.

Mistress Velvet says she began to notice her clients would talk about how their relationships with black women changed as a result of their sessions.

‘I would say, first and foremost, that I describe it as a form of reparations ― not in a systemic way like we’re getting land back, but definitely on an individual level, it provides me with an emotional sense of reparations,’ she told the Huffington Post.

Mistress Velvet said she asks men why they want to be in the presence of a black woman

‘I started to think more about my relationship with them. A lot of them were asking questions. Some people were saying, “this is really impacting me in terms of how I think outside of our sessions”.

‘A client said he started to notice he would only hold the door open for black women. One client started an organization for black single mothers in the South Side of Chicago.’

She said passages come from books such as ‘Sister Outsiders’ by Audre Lorde, ‘The New Jim Crow’ by Michelle Alexander, ‘The Black Body in Ecstasy’ by Jennifer Nash, ‘The Color of Kink’ by Adriene Cruz, and selections from the anthology ‘This Bridge Called My Back’.

‘Just allowing them to be submissive doesn’t always allow for the more drastic shift in the framework and thinking that I want.

‘Then, it’s moving from them simply fetishizing black women, to realizing: this is a systemic issue I’m contributing to by the virtue of being a white man and being rich.

‘I ask them, “Why do you want to be in my presence, why do you find me attractive?”

According to the Chicago-based dominatrix, one of her clients now opens doors for black women while another has started an organization for black single mothers

‘And sometimes they might say things that then remind me of stereotypes of black women ― like a jezebel or something ― so I’ll have them read a piece about how what they said is related to this historic phenomenon about thinking about black women.

‘I say, “Here are its roots. Here’s why it’s problematic.” That way, I can say, you can idolize me, but we need to have it be done in a way that isn’t also problematic’

Mistress Velvet said ‘there is something really beautiful about being able to provide someone with pain’ adding ‘in that hour, it can be really liberating. It can be a form of self-care’.

‘I’m providing a service first and foremost, but I’m also getting a lot out of it,’ she said.