Thanks for the comments (and emails) welcoming the blog back.
I have to say that I am feeling like I am in a cultural pincer movement with these high brow comments, which would be all the more intimidating and frankly alarming if you two could spell & type :o)
About my partner, yes your right… you don’t want to pry! I only feel comfortable about talking in general terms, other than to say I DO have / want to make compromises to the totality of my enclosure for her/our sake. That’s why I shy away from the whole “24/7” terminology which sets up an unhelpful metric by which total enclosure lifestyle is often judged, and which is often not continuously sustainable for us. I prefer to think of a rubber oriented lifestyle where my default natural state is as rubber enclosed person. Parenthetically, fetish does involve the imagination and so inevitably you do get into that grey area of the ideal being totally enclosed forever – but for me this is somewhere between a long term aim, something to maybe try for a limited time (experiment) some time and a fantasy perfect existence.
A TE lifestyle is inner directed and can see how it may not be a primarily sociable activity or even unsociable (although antisocial seems to be a bit strong). It would not be the first lifestyle that was not focused on a purely social agenda. However, I feel much of the social problems are to do with the perception of society’s intolerance to rubber fetish in public – which I view as innocent fun and my self expression. The actions of people like Blackie to push society’s limits mean that it would be a brave soul who could predict how easy/difficult it will be for future fetishists to live out their chosen existence in public. I believe people like backie are groundbreakers, and can only do good for acceptance of fetish lifestyles. If the past is any guide, we may be amazed by future attitudes.
A major social stumbling block seems to be the mask / hood and lack of eye contact. Now I can see that TE may be possible with various degrees of face occlusion. There are different transparent materials for a start – from transparent rubber through to a transparent glass helmet and lots of variation in between. Then there is the prospect of ever thinner masks that portray a human face with some degree of facial expression possible – even if it is a chosen face and not the given (natural) face of the individual.
However, it is likely that for a social existence a rubber enclosed person may chose to vary the type and severity of facial mask – depending on situation as to how comfortable they and others will feel about a mask. It is likely that until society attitudes catches up, that the rubber enclosed persons may find it better to bare their face for many situations – which I frequently do.
Back in the home, I suspect that facial appearance and masking are less of an appearance. As time goes on in some relationships, facial cues seem to become less essential. Maybe this would become a barrier if I were advocating that non lifestyle TE fetishist partner never be allowed to see the given/natural face of their lifestyle TE partner – but for me nothing is ever this absolute. About as realistic as never having seen your wife (or live in partner’s) body when they take a shower – that level of privacy could be arranged I guess, but never felt the need myself.
To again repeat the nature of my fetish as a lifestyle of being a rubber enclosed person, the starting point would be to be regularly enclosed in rubber for significantly longer than necessary for just acting out a fetish sex scene. A normal situation being to generally wear rubber for many hours most days. My current goal is to reorganise my life so I can get back to the sate where I am enclosed in rubber for the more of the time than not being in rubber over a given month or so (as I managed in 2005), once I have achieved my current (non fetish) objectives. Rubber enclosure becoming my “jeans and t-shirt” plus business suit, even if not 24/7/365. As to what I would choose to do after that… Well I am not currently planning anything but watch this space.
Now all the above was mainly general – but how about how it effects my sociability. Well I must admit that I am on the horns of a dilemma. There is a part of my character which likes to be sociable with my many friends and be “out there” travelling and meeting with the people of the world. On there other side there is a very strong drive for me to be totally enclosed as much as possible and I feel more and more uncomfortable every hour I am not enclosed in rubber. This feeling is like a cross between holding your breath and living a lie/losing identity. When it has been days and I am stuck in a situation being sociable, I can actually start to feel grubby that I am just being what I think they want me to be.
So to be truthful, my rubber enclosed lifestyle DOES have an impact on important social and other aspects of my life when I get to the point when I am totally enclosed for the majority of the time. Up until now, this has tended to be a question of sacrifice, compromise and finding a natural level / limit to my time in TE. This level has been fairly easy to find so far, due to the difficulties and sacrifice to physical and psychological comfort in being in rubber for extended periods. But as I have found measure to deal with, or have acclimatised to these issues, I often wonder how much more difficult it will be to break out of my rubber enclosed life to deal with the social and other sides of my character…
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5 comments:
The mask thing really pushes social interaction to a completely different level. As bizarre as rubber is as a clothing material it doesnt interfere or impact on normal social interactions.. even those with those who you might live with.
Masks which conver the face and conceal all the nuance of facial expressions really DO change social interactions. You read and speak so much with your facial gesture. Even being familiar and initmate with a person does NOT remove the content in facial gesture.
Despite the fact that we each have different faces, our power of perception allows us to make sense of these nuances in the face.
Even clear rubber masks conceal and or distort the face and its ability to be read by an observer. The Natori masks from japan are incredible in their detail but completely devoid of expression and the wearer is unable to do a thing about it. Even these accurate anatomical masks are frozen expressions.
The content of communication CAN be limited exclusively to verbal language, but so much is lost. It is analogous to reading words in a script and hearing them spoken by a talented actor.
So the whole question of social interaction whilst in TE becomes all about others not being able to "read" the person they are interacting with. This is true with islamic dress and the reason why many people are uncomfortable interacting with those in burqas. In fact, most islamic women are encouraged to NOT interact with others... especially strangers and particularly men.
Another point about the face is that so much of our identity resides in our faces. Yes our bodies are individual, but when dressed they tend to be less different and more similar. Witness the uniform which everyone wearing one looks the same except for their face.
Now this objectification and loss of individual identity may be part of the appeal of intereacting as a TE person... as in... I want to become an object... without identity. But most people actually seek some sort of identity and want to be recognized for this. Ironically fashion trends and things like tattoos and piercings although they make a statement.. it is often lost as these statements end up like the uniforms of soldiers... trendies begin to look more alike than different. But they may, as a group be distingusihed from another group. A bunch of same sized persons in TE would look identical for all practical purposes... although as a group... nothing like the average John or Jane Doe. Also when people appear as part of a group... we assume that they behave in a similar manner. This is perhaps why rubberists and TE persons are lumped together with all other "deviants". It is seen as a fetish and in the minds of many.. it (fetishes is all interchangable...like styles of clothes.
It is not unreasonable for people to use the assumption that people who look like they are in a group... would share behaviors. Trouble is.. that assumption can lead you into a bad place.
No?
I can't get this software to post. Dark
Yes we do communicate through facial expression and while you are wearing a mask others are going to have limited or even zero ability to read your face, depending on the type of mask. I think I have already stated there are some sacrifices involved in striving to achieve my platonic ideal and social isolation is a big one.
When I started out as a rubberist (a long time back), I thought of myself as fairly self contained and even possibly tending towards being a loner – but this was when I had more than sufficient social interaction thrust upon me and treasured what privacy I could get. Isolation became an objective and preference at this time. But as part of my fetish oriented life journey, I have discovered that things are less clear cut and I came to crave some social interaction after any significant period of isolation (usually isolation brought about my enclosure fetish). For me, my social interaction while totally encased is limited to a small set of people or via the internet. As I would prefer to interact with a wider set of people, this requires significant personal “sacrifice” and “compromise”. “Sacrifice” - in that I cannot socialise to the degree I would like to, or maybe even the minimum amount that is healthy. This puts me in mind of the vows of silence undertaken by some sects who worship deities. My vow of being totally sealed is to the altar of rubber lifestyle (!). “Compromise” – in that I currently do not have the dedication to be pure to my ideal and do have frequently chose to remove my mask (and sometimes even the rest of my hood and suit) for a while, under the banner of social acceptance and communication.
Of course I can find it easy to “blame” society for disabling me from social interaction in my chosen form. But their ignorance and distrust is not being well served by us timid fetishist – who avoid being seen overtly in rubber, let alone fetish outfits. And of course, millions of years of evolution that finds it useful to be able to read people though their faces cannot be turned around in a day. But then again, humans can and do override their biological pre-programming every day through the model of socially acceptable behaviour.
As for loss of individual identity, “Objectification’ – becoming an object without identity through the use of masks, that is an assumed intention, which I think is not necessarily true. Do I wear a mask to become and object or just to be totally sealed in? Is becoming an object a totally irrelevant by-product or a fortunate side effect? As for loss of identity – maybe the mask represents my chosen identity – an identity that I feel better suits my individuality / personality.
Here’s a quick test for myself – would I be just as happy in a totally clear helmet as I am in the mask I am wearing right now? Well I always wanted to try one of those clear fish bowl like helmets that astronauts use to wear. In fact I always thought they were hot. But always? Maybe I have so got used to hiding behind my mask, I would occasionally crave for the privacy and anonymity it provides.
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Things do change over time, but my original fetish had nothing to do with obscuring or equalising. But there is a danger of reductive reasoning in missing the bigger the real picture – but here I go anyway…The original important thing for me was the hermetic seal and the imperviousness of the material. We are talking plastics and rubbers (& leather if u push the point). Of course it is impossible to separate from the feel (& possibly smell) of such materials – which are unique and (many think) sensual or at the very least “slinky”. But being a visual type, I cannot separate the “look” from the equation – the key element being essentially shinny – whether clear or solid colour the materials in question are all shinny. All the above is very obviously a description of typical fetish material – but the point is that it does not illuminate transparent materials from the mix. Most of my early experiences were with glass clear plastic used in the family business.
I chose to describe how my fetish started, but of course you start to add things to your personal favourites as you go along. The whole “equaliser” aspect and objectification is something I have come to be interested in along the journey even if it was not the essence of the original fetish ideal. On the whole, I like the loss off identity as it does make it easier to remove yourself from the mundane world and be transported into the fetish mindset. Still I would love to try one of those gold fish bowl helmets, complete with air supply…
As for the WWW as the means for communication and community “approval” / understanding (or at least acceptance) – I guess that is partly why this blog is here for me. I was never one for diary’s or even blogs really – so part of the reason must be to avoid feeling alone. The other part was overtly stated as to promote the idea of realisation of fetish TE lifestyle. Basically most people can benefit from support when changing their lives or pursuing an ideal, and I guess I am no exception.
As for solitary confinement – I think that unless you have been subjected to it, many would be amazed how powerful a device it is even over a short number of days. My sympathy goes to those who did not choose it and did not deserve it.
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The shiny "thing" is another point of interest in the fetish community which seems to be quite universal... at least the surface texture seems to always be something "machine" like or skin like in "prefection".
Before the ascendance of plastics and even rubber as a clothing material... leather and perhaps silk or satin were the fetish materials of choice... I would assume. Again the attraction was the the perfection, smoothness of the surface???
This focus on the precision and perfection of the surface is clearly different from the texture of leather as a skin facsimile.. although both are fetish materials. As noted rubber, plastic and leather all have very distinctive smells unlike most other textiles which are without scent.
The perfection thing is what imparts shine. As a surface texture is removed it begins to assume a single planar barrier which of course reflects rather than difuses light. Highly polished and smooth surface under most light conditions reveal curves and form of the surface in a dramatic way be revealing the light source and reflections of objects in the environment. Our attention is drawn to the body's curves in tight shiny enclosure much more so than in loose dull textiles.
I suppose it is the obsession with the body form, its surface the skin which is at the root of the shiny thing. Our shape is hard to reveal when naked except with "dramitic" lighting... shiny skin reveals more curves without the lighting. Wet skin functions this way... in fact wet clothes do and this is a often considered "sexy" ... seeing wet clingy clothes.
The shiny thing is also a very unnnatural surface in nature... in living animals... which are covered in texture skin, scales, feathers, or fur. But marble sculptures can achieve a high polish texture... as can metals and paints, lacquers etc.
The shiny thing may be linked to again a fascination with machine like perfection of the human skin... no hair, no mloes, no beauty spots, no discoloration... only a uniform color... in a perfect one to one fit with no evidence of the human imperfection and even in an unatural or perfect color.
Feeling from the inside the shinyness is not an issue. It is all about how you envision yourself and even others you might desire in a sexual way.
It should be noted that super shiney surface also are super smooth and often almost frictionless. Friction seems to be a downgraded state from a perfect surface of no friction. Hair, and bumps even pores and oils all add to the friction of natureal human skin. Plastic, rubber and some leather can avoid this.
Second skin fetish as the "platonic" ideal again latches on to shinyness as the perfection of a barrier layer of the body's form... no ambiguoity.. no individual variances.. just the perfect skin enclosing your own body.
One can observe this obsession with the body in most of the fetish images of females in the genre. It is not that they are second skinned in rubber, but they uisually have these platonic bodies with tiny waists, long legs, tight butts, well shaped and large breasts... long thin necks and fingers and so on... Not the the ballet dancer's idea of perfection... more like the sex goddess.
To the fetishist, an iconic female body tightly clad in a shiny second skin seems to emcompass all that is erotic and desirable. The naked form is exposed (kinda)... every curve revealed... and a new scent ... not a human one replaces the idividual scent of the body. It is a transformative experience where you escape from the mundane and embrace or obsess on the perfect.
People who are into identity will shy away from worshipping a faceless form... but others will find that individual identity is not as important as the perfection of a total form which encloses and seals away the individual.
Does this make sense?
Yes! Or at least I can relate to the aspiration to this perfection - as attaining it may be too distant to easily imagine.
However, I wonder how essential it is that this ideal have some "perverse" element (to a conventional view point)or counter cultural aspect? I think many do thrive on this relative distance from "conventional" to help define their self and their pleasure...
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