The Norma Rae of BDSM

Now that I have no regular day job, I've been working more at my night job, however, the night job is run illegally.

I signed an independent contract. My taxes are filed as an independent contractor. Essentially this means that I will not pay taxes when I get paid, but later when I file. According to the IRS: The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if you, the person for whom the services are performed, have the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result.

In terms of my dungeon, here are the answers to the questions the IRS asks to differentiate between independent contractors and employees:

1. Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job? YES
2. Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.) YES
3. Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business? YES there are written contracts, no benefits, no the relationship will not continue, and yes the work performed a key aspect of the business.


In other words, I am being treated like an employee, but am supposed to be treated like an independent contractor. Being as such would mean that I could set my own hours, set my own rates, run my own advertisement and work wherever I please. This is not the reality. Oh no. The reality is that I have to work a certain shift, the rates are set by the house, I can run my own advertisement if the contact information is the e-mail address that does not get directly forwarded to me, but rather filtered through the owner and I am not allowed to session outside these walls. It also means I have no health benefits, sick pay or holidays. All my taxes will be taken out at the end. I can, however, deduct almost everything from clothes, make-up, internet, cell phone, office supplies, etc.

Here's the problem. The Marxist wants me to confront my boss about these illegal practices. He wants me to ask why she is treating us this way and wants to demand that she change it. He wants me to unionize the other women I work with to all fight against her illegal and unfair practices.

I try and tell him most of the other women there do not know about this and wouldn't be motivated to do anything about or they do care and they don't want to do anything about it. I don't want to lose the only income I have (besides the dole, hells yes!) and she has fired people over less. I tell him I'm not sure I want to be the Norma Rae of BDSM. She has operated this way for years, everyone in town knows about it and to my knowledge no one has done anything to stop her. Why do I have to be the one? I don't want to make other women lose their jobs.

He counters with, its not just about you and the other women who work there, its also about all the other women who got fired or didn't make as much as they could have or got slammed with taxes because of the way things are run.

I tell him, I'm just not that person. He tells me my inaction will cause him to stop supporting me until I get another day job, which to me sounds very unMarxistlike.

Topology and Bondage

It began with a Möbius strip , an object with only one surface and one edge; such shapes are an object of study in topology. I'm sure you made a creation like this is in some class in public school that made an attempt at creativity. You take a strip of paper and twist it once and then tape the ends together. If you cut the strip along the middle, you are left with two interlocking strips of paper.

I would come home to dozens of Möbius strips littering the coffee table and couch. They got complicated with several strips and colored paper. The Marxist was leaving little pieces of paper on my pillow. Instead of flowers, he gave me Möbius strips--which I crumpled cruelly in my fist.

Then he discovered string. Books started showing up from Amazon solely devoted to knot theory. He became a kitten and the cats became men. All three played with strings. Once, before heading to the dungeon, I admittedly played cat's cradle with him, but only once!

Later, he needed Play-Doh to create more complicated knots, making doughnuts with hot pink Play-Doh and wrapping string around them. He would record these in his notebook with specially bought colored pens.

I told him that I needed to practice bondage on him for work. His eyes flash with excitement and says, "Awesome! I can't wait to study the knots you make." Honestly, I do not deserve such a partner.

When he gets back from vacation from NYC, he tells me that he has slept with his friend Anat (pronounced AH-nat). I told him he wouldn't have slept with her if her name was Julie.

The Marxist and me go to a fetish store

Alright, so I work in a BDSM dungeon.

I had a certificate to Syren , so I decide it's time to buy my first piece of latex. Although Syren is kinda known as the "K-mart of latex" it was where I had the certificate, so I drag the Marxist with me.

A lot of men have serious latex fetishes and since I didn't have any, I figured it was a good idea to get some. So I try on some skirts and admittedly, it smelled and felt a little like being in a balloon, which is really another fetish . But, it was very slick and promising and like totally transformed my ass. Meanwhile, A. wanders around and is very quiet.

After I place my order for a custom made micro mini with a zipper, I ask him what's wrong and he goes into this huge rant that BDSM is just a hobby for rich people. Dude, so is skiing. I pointed out that no one in my family has ever been skiing, whereas his family has, as well as other close friends of his. (Note: he's been upset lately because he just found out he can't go to Miss Kitty's since he lacks fetish wear. For those of you who do not know, fetish wear is generally expensive, but no more expensive than low end designers.) He tells me that you would have to have a certain amount of money to play and participate in BDSM. I told him that many people do play for free and I certainly don't pay to play. He said, Well, you're a girl.

Oh give me a break Marxo! Women are still getting, what $0.75 to the dollar vs. men's salary. Of course there are certain reasons for this that have little to do with my inferior female parts. I was told in a college philosophy class that there are three jobs that women make more money than men; not a small percentage, but a meaningful sum; they are 1) actress, 2) prostitute and 3) I can't remember the third one; but my point is that as a sex worker, I am always going to make more money busting balls rather than having them. Here are some mainstream jobs where women make more than men. But, in general, I'm not really sure why men earn more.

But then the Marxist would say, well, what is a wage? I think I will talk more about pathetic women low earners later.