I posted about this on my twitter (sorry, I’m still going to call it that) a while ago, but just realized I haven’t mentioned it here! Over the summer, I had a very short visit to Chicago, and stopped by the Leather Archives & Museum.
It’s a bit more geared towards newbies, but there’s still a lot to learn for all. I was surprised to learn about how much women and trans people have been active in the leather community. I also didn’t realize that all the fetish bars called “Eagle” aren’t officially connected. That is to say, the name “Eagle” isn’t really a brand that is overseen by a single entity and licenses out the name. It’s just sort of an unspoken, agreed name for a fetish bar that happened organically over the years.
It was also nice to see the history and meanings of consent frameworks. As I understood it, “Safe, sane, and consensual” (SSC) came around first… but them some began to question the use of the word “sane”, especially in a kink context. It seemed far too subjective… piss play is very sane for many, but for others it may not be. So other frameworks were created. If I had to identify with one for myself, it’d be 4C’s (Caring, Consent, Communication, Caution).
The museum isn’t super large, consisting mostly of one large basement room space that has a few adjoining rooms. It could mostly be seen in 60-90 minutes. But for me, one of the most fun spaces was the library upstairs. While a single room, the entire back wall seen in the pic below is all gay pulp fiction. And if you follow this blog, you know I have an affinity for that. It was great to see some of these books in person after seeing many of them only as online pics! They also had an interesting item on display that I’ll be sharing about next week.
They unfortunately didn’t have have two books I wanted to see that I’ve run into on eBay, Queer Belles or Faggots Galore. But at their front desk, they were able to look them up for me on a public site that I didn’t know about called WorldCat, that will look up any book to see which libraries near you may have them! I found out those two books are at a college library near me. I may have to stop by!
While I was already in the Chicago area, I also stopped by the only real kink store I could find Men’s Room. The kink selection was very small, but it also offered a lot of clothes, underwear, campy gifts, and had a section for haircuts in the back (appointments recommended). And while not necessarily kinky, I also recommend Unabridged Books, which has a large LGBTQ section. While Men’s Room and Unabridged are near each other, the Leather Archives & Museum is in a different part of town, so plan accordingly.
