Chapter Text
As you all well know by now, I am intensely curious. It’s a rather common trait in my line of work, and is frankly the reason I’m so good at my job; one doesn’t get to write op-eds in The Militant for passively accepting things on their face. This often interacts with another aspect of my character.
I love sex.
Love isn’t the right word, exactly. I greatly enjoy sex, but I’m also fascinated by it, by how it mirrors or contradicts who we are outside of the four walls of the bedroom. It used to feel intimidating and scary, when I still thought I was straight and still thought sex was just him sticking an appendage inside me. Now, it’s liberating, freeing, and explorative. It’s spiritual and emotional in a way only a handful of things are.
My general curiosity and particular reverence for sex mean that I never sit in judgement of kinks, no matter how apparently revolting, discomforting, or bizarre. Many are not my cup of tea - most even - but it is not my place to police how people fuck, once everyone is happy and enjoying themselves.
However, my laissez-faire attitude to kink was severely tested recently. Allow me to introduce to you the world of Political Play.
Political Play is hard to define precisely. Some characterise it as a form of BDSM, as a theme of roleplaying, or as an entirely unique category unto itself. Strong arguments can be made for all of these, and I’ll try to synthesise them into a cohesive and sufficiently comprehensive synopsis.
Political Play is an umbrella term for sexual play that harnesses the deep emotional resonance of sociopolitical themes for greater sexual enjoyment. This includes race, misogyny, homophobia, nationalism, and even things that seem deeply unsexual like anti-communism. It is usually expressed with the well-established Dominant/submissive dynamics of BDSM at large, with one side of a given political phenomenon ‘overpowering’ and ‘defeating’ the other by means of argumentation, physical superiority, or seduction, with sexual intercourse sealing one party’s victory.
For instance, a common type of Political Play is that of the “strong alpha male” MAGA supporter defeating and suppressing the “weak and submissive” liberal or leftist.
Now you may say, “I understand the concept, but not your objection to it. Isn’t kink just kink?”
No, it is not. Kink is generally very act-focused: bondage, impact play, what have you. These can generally be enjoyed without too great a consideration for their place in society. There are certain kinks (such as consensual non-consent) which are more context-focused. Here, you cannot avoid issues like sexual violence and patriarchy, but can still ultimately resolve against those things in the real world, and engaging in a simulation of them with intent is almost like satire or parody.
Political Play does not operate in the same way. CNC is exceedingly common in these circles, and is arguably a cornerstone of the appeal. However, the themes and context of Political Play tend to reinforce the real-world principles that may make them so titillating. While technically any group can be Dominant or submissive, it tends to be an aggressively right-wing Dom with a leftist or liberal sub. As a socialist who subscribes strongly to Gramsci’s theories on social conditioning, I find this kink reprehensible. It buttresses the worst of our biases and I simply cannot countenance that.
In spite of that, my curiosity remains. I understood that I had but scratched the surface of this world when I came across the - disturbingly popular - Reddit communities that hosted this kink, and I needed to know more. Doing a little more digging, I eventually came across a forum website: ‘The Natural Law.’
The domain has existed for decades; my bets are that it was either for a Christian fundamentalist or a science fiction writer. Regardless, it was purchased from the previous holder on the 23rd of June, 2024, and took its current form.
The website has an introduction section which explains its ‘purpose and mission.’ It states that it is ‘open to [..] birthright masters, obedient servants, willful self-eliminators, partial converts, and angry ignorants.’ The natural law it espouses dictates - in short - that white men of proper physical form are the rightful rulers of all humanity. White women are to be servants, women of ethnic minorities are to be ‘bred white,’ ethnic men are to be destroyed, fascism and conservatism are inherently righteous, homosexuality, transgenderism, and anything related are not real, so on and so forth. It purports to host a platform for education which, if entered with an ‘open mind,’ will convince ‘even the most lesbian feminist socialista’ of the truth of its creed.
Needless to say, I laughed when I first read this. It’s positively ridiculous and shouldn’t be entertained. However, being the curious little cat I am, I went deeper.
The website lays out a roadmap for the various groups it identifies. Ironically, it presents these groups with some regard for intersectionality. The instructions for straight Black women are different from those for gay white women. I didn’t bother reading the ones that didn’t concern me; I headed straight for ‘defective [read: LGBTQ+] Hispanic women.’
As mentioned earlier, my membership of an ethnic minority necessitates impregnating to ‘bleach’ my bloodline. I am inferior to proper white women, whose pure genes earn them the right to be homemakers and wives. At best, I can be a servant and broodmare. Being ‘defective’ - lesbian in my case - carries a particular prescription: sexual conversion therapy. That’s right, I need to be fucked straight. Only when I’m straight may a child be raped into me, as I can have no improper beliefs before getting pregnant.
Following that lovely introductory paragraph, a multi-step plan was laid out for me to follow. However, most of it is obscured: I can only see the second step until I confirm that I have completed the first.
I decided that I would investigate this further by engaging in the programme until it becomes obviously unsafe and/or unconscionably depraved. Unfortunately for you all, I decided that I won’t actually start until tomorrow. So, until then, I’m Mariana, and this is the written revolution.