FETISH: The Leather Identity Project's focus for 2013.

The Leather Identity Project has always been my way to seriously explore topics and show common ground. I've focused on significant issues like labels and identity, HIV, sex role, family, and race. In 2013 I'll be taking the project into a different direction.

We all have limits. Blood, scat, permanent marks, women, and piss are among the most common from my "what are you into?" survey. While a fetishes can be an acquired tastes, they are usually already with us waiting to be discovered. Fetishes that are on the fringe of accepted practice, or at lest unpopular, invite jeering and negative jokes.

Like most people, I have limits. Scat grosses me out. I see BB as an unnecessarily risky behavior. PnP freaks the hell out of me. Never the less, we've all been in situations where a friend opens up about a fetish that turns us off. How did you respond? I've always done my best to be accepting of my friends "other interests." Heck, I'm into water sports and many think that's disgusting.

Next year I'll be exploring different fetishes. Popular sites to get information about safe exploration and etiquette. I'm also looking for experts on different fetishes to help out. You don't have to be the ultimate authority to help out. I want to know what turns you on about your fetish. What was your first experience? Have you ever done it in public? Do your friends know about it?

I'm including a form with this post asking people to contribute thoughts, information, and anyone willing to be interviewed about their fetish. Please take the time to look at the form.

- Fetishist Information Collection - 

Clarification on "Sex Role Preferences"

I'd like to take a moment to clarify one of the questions I use in every survey. It is my view that human sexuality is far more complicated than defining between dominant and submissive. In fact I have a three dimensional view of sexuality shown in the chart below.

The reason I ask everyone to define themselves as dom, sub, or switch is because I believe sex role preference influences opinions in the community. For me, sex role is limited to dominant, submissive, and switch because I consider "level of sexuality" and "level of kinkiness" as separate dimensions of sexuality. People can be anything from asexual doms to vanilla subs. I've also deliberately simplified the vocabulary to preclude words which have different meanings in different circles. Subs and doms do not always see eye to eye and switches often see issues differently. I ask you to define yourself not because I am trying to box you in, but because it's a spectrum that everyone falls on. If you feel that neither "dom" or "sub" defines you, I challenge you to ask "do I desire to take or give control to an other?" If you do both depending on sexual chemistry, then perhaps you should consider identifying as a switch. 

I also draw a destination between labels and sex role preferences. Some labels are clearly defined as dominant or submissive, others are not. I am a boy, but I see myself as a switch much of the time. I've learned a lot in my years and situations arise where I feel more comfortable taking control. These roles are fluid, so if you feel dominant today, it doesn't mean you have to identify as "dominant" tomorrow.

November Update

This is certainly a busy time for leather folks. There is a title almost every  weekend, and the colder weather makes wearing full leather more fun. Our "What are you into?" data will be coming out soon and the results are fascinating. I'm still debating how best to break it out, but there are some surprises in there.

As you probably already are aware we've launched the "Labels and Identity 2" survey this month as well. I'd like to take some time explaining why we're exploring the labels included in the survey and why others were excluded. As with most things, why not use a venn diagram to shed some light on the situation! This diagram is simplifies gender in the community a bit, but it does explain my dilemma.

One of the things I enjoyed about the "What is a boy?" data was the distinctive difference between how boys saw themselves verses non-boys. I wanted to do the same for other labels as well. Unfortunately that meant that we would not have enough identifying with female labels to create an accurate self image of Mistresses, Madamns, girls, ect. I also did not want to clump Mistress/Master together because they are two distinct identities. My solution to this problem is to allow those identifying with under-represented labels a chance to expand on their identity with a paragraph section of the survey. I'll be exploring these labels in a different way in the near future based on the result. In the mean time the female and trans folks in our audience can help increase awareness of the project by mentioning this site on Facebook, Twitter, and on your website or blog.

Current Surveys

	Labels and Identity 2 (Closes 12/31/11): This survey will take inventory of labels and percentage of people using them. The "What is a boy?" survey provided a dynamic image of boys beyond their often submissive role.  The "Labels and Identity 2" survey aims to do the same for other labels.
	Relationship Models (Closes 11/30/11): The second and final month  of the "Relationship Models" survey is here. This survey explores several common relationship models out there as well as their dynamic in terms of jealously and roles away from home. What kind of relationship works for you? The results of this survey will help us explore each model in more detail later.

Project Data

I would love to hear from you! My continuing goal is to keep this project interesting, unbiased and interactive. I am a one man show here, so I take your feedback to heart. Overall charts and graphs aren't as exciting as sex sites, but they do help us understand each other better when we're not getting it on.

Send us feedback or help decide the next topic

October Update

Onto month five in our rebooted experiment. We've put out two data sets and will be releasing the "Switch Up!" data this month. We're also finally attracting more women and trans folks to the project. All I can say is "welcome and please be patient." Right now we are male heavy and breaking the data apart by gender wouldn't present a fair sample of women and trans folks, but that day is coming. Things are getting interesting and soon enough we'll be able to combine data across surveys to see a bigger picture.

Current Surveys

	Switch up! (Closes 9/30/11): This survey explores roll reversal and switching within the community. Do you think it's ok for a Dom to be a sub on a occasion? How about a sub as a Dom? Should exploration result in a fixed role? We'll stop collecting data in a couple days and releasing the report this month.
	What are you into? (Closes 10/31/11): "What are you into?" is a basic question we've all heard before. How prevalent are different kinks? How about different limits? Perhaps that secret fetish of yours isn't so unusual. Go ahead, it's anonymous,  you don't need to be shy.
	Relationship Models (Closes 11/30/11): Describing relationships in the kinkster lifestyle can be complicated. This survey explores the complexities of different relationship models.

Project Data

September Update

Our transition to blog format is nearly complete. Moving over to blogspot will give you greater control of how you consume our content and eliminate the need for us to rework and repost our surveys and data for multiple formats.

We currently have three surveys up and running. 

• "Safe Sex" (Closes 8/31) which explores the how people feel about bareback porn. 
• "Switch Up" (Closes 9/30) which exploring role reversal.
• "What are you into?" (Closes 10/31) exploring the prevalence of kinks and limits in the community.

We also have posted our data for "What is a boy?" The most interesting tidbit is the following graph.

Can't wait to get the "Safe Sex" data up in the next couple weeks. This is a heated topic indeed!