tv – The History of BDSM

Guest Post: Growing Up Femdom

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May 212021

Growing Up Femdom: Mass Media Reflections I

By TammyJo Eckhart, PhD

When I was a little girl, I was already dominant leaning. TV shows, books, movies, and even the stories I made up, that were girl-led, woman-led, or populated by Amazon-like societies, were filtered by my mind, so I only remember what strongly appealed to me. Today I’m a published kink author who has a PhD minor in the History of Gender and Sexuality. I know that I will still filter what I see and hear through a personal lens, but I have the tools to try to be objective. I’m glad that I’m finally able to write about some of the mainstream images of kink I remember liking when I first encountered them. I’m going to talk about some of the TV shows, TV clips, and TV movies from the tape you see a photo of, though this is an artificial limit for this post and not even close to everything I could write about. It has been over two decades since I last recorded on this tape. Do I think these are still examples of woman-led relationships, or do they play into stereotypes that harm women, relationships, and kink in general?

Bones S03E03: The Celluloid Dungeon

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May 172021

“Death in the Saddle”, Aired Oct 9, 2007

Some films and TV episodes at least play lip service to the idea of BDSM being a consensual and healthy sexual variation. Others, like this one, don’t even bother.

This time the deceased is a man found buried in the woods, his feet cut off and buried separately as is done with dead champion racehorses. (The forensics techs refer to him as “Mister Ed”.) This and other evidence lead Booth and Brennan to a ponyplay convention at a ranch near the body site.

Millennium S01E12: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Apr 282021

Millennium is a 1996 horror/mystery TV series, loosely spun off from The X-Files. Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) is a criminal profiler for the mysterious Millennium Group, investigating serial murders and other occult-tinged crimes.

In “Loin Like a Hunting Flame” (S01E12, aired January 31, 1997), this week’s serial killer is Art Nesbitt, a pharmacist with a habit of drugging people, abducting them, videotaping them having sex, killing them, and then leaving their bodies in artistic tableaux in public places. The victims are selected because they match his fantasies of sexual experiences he didn’t have: a young heterosexual couple at a rave, a pair of married women from a swinger party, and a newlywed couple.

Billions, Season 5A: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Apr 222021

Note that production of season 5 of Billions was interrupted because of COVID.

S05E01

Now that Chuck and Wendy are separated, he’s seeing Mistress Cassie, though we only glimpse her as he leaves her dungeon in the morning. When he turns his phone on, he finds messages from Wendy about his teenage son being sick overnight.

Julianna Margulies as Catherine Brant in BILLIONS ÒOpportunity ZoneÓ. Photo Credit: Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME

Billions, Season 4: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Apr 162021

S04E01

Chuck speaking with Charles, his father.

Charles: “I would slap your face and tell you to act like a man if I didn’t think it would turn you on.”
Chuck: “Ah, It wouldn’t, Dad. Not from you. That’s not how it works. Good lord.”

Another kinkphobic comment from Charles Rhoades, Sr.

Billions, Season 3: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Apr 062021

Season 3 opens with Bobby free on bail, his assets frozen, his trading license revoked, and Axe Capital on hold. Chuck has lost most of his money and alienated his father and his best friend in his scheme to get Bobby arrested, and is in the delicate position of having to ensure that the scheme doesn’t link back to him. Wendy is even more involved in Axe Capital in Bobby’s absence. Chuck and Wendy have reunited, while Bobby and his wife Lara are de facto separated.

L-R: Wendy (Maggie Siff), Chuck (Paul Giamatti) and Troy (Clara Wong)

Billions, Season 2: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Apr 012021

Chuck and Wendy are separated at the beginning of season 2 of Billions. Until episode ten, there are not even mentions of Chuck and Wendy’s BDSM practice season 2. Chuck gets into judo, which seems to be a partial substitute. They both have flings, by mutual consent, but only Wendy actually consummates it, with another billionaire like Bobby.

Billions, Season 1: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Mar 252021

Billions is a 2016 drama about the conflict between US Attorney Chuck Rhoades Jr. and hedge fund billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod.

The very first thing we see in the pilot episode is Chuck stripped and bound at the mercy of a woman in lingerie. This is his wife Wendy, who is also the in-house therapist of Bobby’s investment firm, setting up the triangle at the heart of the series.

BDSM is not a big enough theme in Billions to do an episode-by-episode review. Thus I will focus on certain episodes in which Chuck and Wendy’s BDSM relationship is a major element.

Bonding S02E08: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Mar 122021

The season 2 finale wraps up various plotlines.

Portia has departed, but she left a note for Frank instead of ghosting him.
Rolph still hangs out with Pete, apparently as his “friend who knows your whole schedule” rather than his submissive. Pete has put Josh behind him, but is still uncertain about Tiff, and his career in comedy.

Tiff and Doug have reconciled. She says she loves him, and knew it was because she was vulnerable to him. She even offers to show him around the dungeon sometime.

Bonding S02E07: The Celluloid Dungeon

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Mar 052021

Josh’s coming-out to his father goes disastrously wrong, as his father, MJP, thinks this is actually about him being kinky, because that’s how he knows Pete.

MJP takes off his tie, undoes his shirt and reveals his padlocked collar.