The Dominatrix
THE DOMINATRIX is a female archetype which operates on a symbolic mode of representation, associated with particular attire and props that are drawn on within popular culture to signify her role as a strong, dominant, sexualised woman linked to but distinct from images of sexual fetish.
One of the ubiquitous garments associated with the dominatrix is the catsuit. Historically, the black leather female catsuit entered dominant fetishculture in the 1950s with the Atom Age magazine and its connections to fetish fashion designer John Sutcliffe. The spill over into mainstream culture, occurred with catsuits being worn by strong female protagonists in popular 1960s TV programs like The Avengers, and in the comic super heroines such as Cat woman, in which the catsuit represented the independent woman capable of kick ass moves and antics, enabling complete freedom of movement.
On another level, the one piece catsuit accentuated and exaggerated the sexualised female form, providing visual access to a woman's body, while simultaneously obstructing physical penetrative access. You can look but you can't touch is the mechanism of this operation, which plays upon the BDSM practice known as tease and denial.
Other common signifying footwear of the dominatrix are thigh high boots, in leather or shiny PVC, which have long held a fetishistic status, along with the very high stiletto heel. Fishnet stockings, seamed hosiery, suspender belts and garter stockings are also popular accents in the representation and attire of dominatrices, to emphasise the form and length of their legs, with erotic connotation.
Tight, leather corsets are another staple garment of the dominatrix signification. Gloves, whether long opera gloves or fingerless gloves, are often a further accessory to emphasise the feminine role.
Materials such as PVC, leather and rubber latex, are amongst the most common to immediately take on the signifying work of fetish attire The body language of the dominatrix is frequently represented by the use of strong, dominant body language which is comparable to the dominant posturing in the animal world. The props she may brandish will strongly signify her role as dominatrix, such as bearing a flogger whip or riding crop.
Practicing professional dominatrices may draw their attire from the conventional signifiers of the role, or adapt them to create their own individual style, where there exists a potential pull between meeting conventional expectations, and a desire for dominant independent self expression.
Some contemporary dominatrices draw upon an eclectic range of strong female archetypes, including the goddess, the female super heroine, the femme fatale, the priestess, the empress, the queen, the governess, the KGB secret agent, to their own end.
Mistress Kristina - Yorkshire Mistress
