With the extreme popularity of the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy came a greater openness to talking about the wide world of kink.
That world is a diverse and potentially dangerous one, but talk to a practitioner and they will tell you there is a lot of fun to be had under kink’s wide banner.
The key, as explained during the 50 Shades of Play seminar at the Taboo ... Naughty but Nice (Sex) Show over the weekend, is to play safe.
“There are lots of different ways to spice up your life, and you just want to do your research and not make dangerous choices,” explained Jennifer Vanderschaeghe.
The executive director of the Central Alberta AIDS Network Society (CAANS), Vanderschaeghe and fellow CAANS worker Jessica Kvisle presented the seminar four times at the three-day show. They took attendees through a bevy of options including using simple clothespins to elaborate rope “art.”
Their main message, though, was that communication is key and research is important.
“You want to make sure you don’t make bad choices in excitement,” said Vanderschaeghe, “You want to make sure you know what you’re doing. You want to be really clear that a lot of this could go bad, and you want to make sure you’ve done your research on making good choices.”
She said CAANS is a place where one can have real honest conversations about sex, and that the agency can do referrals for people interested in trying something new.
The Taboo show was in Red Deer for its eighth year, an impressive mark for a smaller community, said Luke Speerin, assistant show director and entertainment and production manager with CanWest Productions. This year’s show, with 62 exhibitors, was the largest ever, and featured varied entertainment from fitness pole dancing to one of Canada’s premier gender illusionists.
Speerin said people from all walks of life come to the show out of curiosity, or for a specific reason.
“The people in Red Deer are just up for a good time,” he said.
“The good thing about the Taboo show is it’s just not a dirty porn sex show, that’s not what it’s about ... It’s just more of an alternative kind of show.”
mfish@www.reddeeradvocate.com