Writer Jon Mooallem spent several weeks with Acworth learning about the BDSM business at Kink's Armory headquarters in San Francisco, and shed some open-minded light on the misconceptions of fetish play that the mainstream community holds true.
Mooallem's article reads as a sort of starter-guide for those interested in learning about the online adult industry, explaining Internet-focused topics such as secure billing and website competition, and touches on almost every aspect of the adult industry that the public could either be curious about, or has been misrepresented by other media outlets.
A main focus of Mooallem's article was the fact that Kink's employees, as well as those in many adult businesses, are college educated and are not “a bunch of sleazy guys that are drunk all day,” as Reena Patel, Kink's vice president of marketing, put it.
Mooallem was at the Armory during Kink's struggle with community members over the company's $14.5-million acquisition of the historic building, the opposition upset that the space wasn't being used for "positive" purposes. It took Acworth several weeks of discussion before he was able to prove to the community that he was not bringing an evil porn company into their neighborhoods. (Community members failed to realize that Kink had always been in their neighborhood, just a few blocks down the street from the Armory.)
This led to Mooallem's discussion of obscenity and the common misconceptions that the public holds in regards to BDSM play. Acworth told Mooallem that BDSM is often compared with rape or abuse, and that Kink's required before-and-after scene performer interviews — which play along with each scene featured on the website — are made with the sole intention of assuring viewers that what they're watching is consensual, planned and, most importantly, thoroughly enjoyed.
The mainstream public's acceptance of content like Kink's is discussed lastly in the article, admitting that events such as the Armory controversy, as well as the amount of media coverage regarding President Bush's fight against obscenity, only further spreads awareness of the industry's lasting existence.
In the article, adult industry lawyer Paul Cambria brought up the possibility that these events may have acted as an educational tool for the public.
Cambria revealed that acceptance comes when more people are exposed to the fetish lifestyle, and when these people see others — who appear just as "normal" as they do — living and enjoying that lifestyle.
"You say, 'Well, this is a part of America,'" Cambria told Mooallem. "Familiarity leads to acceptance."
