Gabe and Chris talk to two radical kinksters–Puppy Trainer Chipper and Leather Boy Donald Shorter, Jr.–about the benefits and risks involved in living their kinkiest lives, and the psychology that makes fetish such a potent piece of our sexualities. What’s your wildest kink? Or something you’ve always wanted to try?
A Note From the Director, Adam Baran
In the past few years, as the internet has expanded knowledge and access to information in new and unchecked ways, discourse around kink and fetish has become fraught and deeply divisive. But the kind of uninformed old-school conservative arguments about kink that often pop-up on the internet are nothing new. In fact, at the first gay pride parade in NYC, organizers tried to exclude two specific groups: drag queens and leathermen. Both were seen as so shocking that they threatened the homophile push for civil rights and equality. As the queens and leathermen said then, “fuck that!”
Because of it’s long, at times strained relationship with mainstream queerness, it was essential that we do a kink-centric episode of Sniffies’ Cruising Confessions. We toyed with a lot of different angles and guests: Locked boys, human toilets pain pigs and other explorers of the outer limits of lovemaking were all considered.
Chipper and I have known each other for a few years. He’s a renowned pup and pup trainer, a title-holder from multiple leather competitions, and a sober sex advocate with a warm and funny vibe. Fresh off his most recent win at the International Puppy and Trainer Conference, Chipper arrived to the studio in full leather cowboy attire, and opened up about his kink origin story, his addiction journey, and how getting sober naturally led him to find affinity with puppies and trainers. Puppies are a common kink these days, but even I personally didn’t know much about the psychology behind why folks enjoy putting on pup masks and “pretending to be dogs.” Chipper truly enlightened both Gabe, Chris, and I during his delightful interview.
Donald C. Shorter Jr. joins us for the second half of the episode. A filmmaker, and good Judy of co-host Chris Patterson-Rosso, Donald’s journey as a leather boy began when he watched the Police Academy movies as a kid. Those movies often featured a running gag where the cops would end up in a leather bar with men in full BLUF (Breeches, Leather Uniform Fetish), and for Donald, the rest is history.
As Donald explains, his pursuit of a kinky lifestyle proved challenging as a person of color in a predominantly white scene. It was important we touch on his experience engaging with kink, fetish, and leather as a person of color, because the discourses surrounding the leather scene and race are often been uninformed and outdated. Donald beautifully articulates his POV on these issues, where he draws the line for himself, and then discusses what it means to be a “boy” in the leather/BDSM world.
All in all, our guests, hosts, and I had a terrific time taping this deeply insightful episode, which we all hope can bring understanding and appreciation for the diversity of tastes and fetish practices in our broad queer community!
The original title for this episode, swapped out at the last minute to be more reflective of the guests and their topics of discussion: “Kinky Boots The House Down Mama”.
Follow the hosts:
Gabe Gonzalez
Chris Patterson-Rosso
Guests featured in this episode:
Chipper (Unleashed BK)
Donald C. Shorter Jr