Book
Pretty baby : a memoir / Chris Belcher.
Moving between the embodied world of the pro domme and the abstract realm of academia, a former sex worker, who branded herself as L.A.'s Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix, reveals how lessons from the classroom apply to the dungeon and vice versa, showing howpower and desire can be renegotiated--or reinforced.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781982175825 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 260 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : Avid Reader Press, 2022.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Belcher, Chris, 1985- Lesbians > United States > Biography. Sex workers > United States > Biography. Sexual dominance and submission. |
| Genre: | Biographies. Autobiographies. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show All Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | 306.74092 Belch | 31681010285104 | NONFIC | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
Moving between the embodied world of the pro domme and the abstract realm of academia, a former sex worker, who branded herself a L.A.âs Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix, reveals how lessons from the classroom apply to the dungeon and vice versa, showing how power and desire can be renegotiatedâor reinforced. - Baker & Taylor
Moving between the embodied world of the pro domme and the abstract realm of academia, a former sex worker, who branded herself as L.A.'s Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix, reveals how lessons from the classroom apply to the dungeon and vice versa, showing howpower and desire can be renegotiated--or reinforced. - Simon and Schuster
âAbsolutely not to be missed.â âVogue
âA muscular, canny memoir about labor and power and genderâ¦I couldnât put it down. What a fucking gorgeous book.â âCarmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House
A queer teen rebel escapes small-town Appalachia and becomes Los Angelesâs Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix in this searing and darkly funny memoir that upends our ideas about desire, class, and power.
The dominatrix is the id of American femininity. She says the words that we all wish we could say when we find ourselves frozen in the presence of men. No is principal among them.
So writes Chris Belcher, who appeared destined for a life of conventional femininity after she took first place in an infant beauty contestâa minor glory that followed her around a working-class town of 1,600 people in rural West Virginia. But when she came out as queer, the conservative community that had once celebrated its prettiest baby turned on her.
A decade later, living in Los Angeles and trying to stay afloat in the early years of a PhD program, Belcher plunges into the work of a pro domme. Branding herself as Los Angelesâs Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix, she specializes in male clients who want a domme to make them feel worthless, shameful, and weakâall the abuse regularly heaped upon women for free. A queer woman whom men can trust with the unorthodox sides of their sexualities, Belcher is paid to be the keeper of the fantasies that they canât enact in their everyday relationships. But moonlighting as a sex worker also carries risks, like the not-so-submissive who tries to turn the tables and the jealous client out for revenge.
As Belcher moves between the embodied world of the pro domme and the abstract realm of academia, she discovers how lessons from the classroom apply to the dungeon, and vice versa. Still, fear that her doctoral program wonât approve burdens her with a double life. Pretty Baby is her second coming out.
In this sharp and discerning memoir, we see through Belcherâs eyes how power and desire can be renegotiatedâor reinforced.
