International Fetish Day
Encyclopedia
International Fetish Day is a day supporting the BDSM
community. It originated in the United Kingdom
as "National Fetish Day" and was first held on 21 January 2008. The first International Fetish Day was held on 16 January 2009 (the third Friday of the year). The main purpose of International Fetish Day is to increase awareness and support of the fetish
community, whilst also opposing the new law criminalising possession of "extreme pornography
". It is also designed to encourage members of the community to be more open about their sexuality. The next International Fetish Day is to be held on 21 January 2011.
on 21 January 2008. However, International Fetish Day has taken over from it.
" at the same time. Purple is a colour widely used in BDSM circles. The main website says that, "By joining this fun 'National Fetish Day – Perverts Wear Purple' event, you as an individual will be joined by fellow community people all over the country in saying 'It's ok to enjoy what I enjoy' without damaging your 'vanilla' identity or integrity." There has been contention around the slogan 'Perverts Wear Purple' primarily to do with the fact that many in the BDSM community distance themselves from the 'pervert' label. Others in the community feel that using the word 'Pervert' is a useful reclaiming.
Member of Parliament
for Blyth Valley
, Ronnie Campbell
, accidentally gave his support to National Fetish Day, because he misunderstood the word "Fetish" and was not aware of the "Perverts Wear Purple" slogan. A local newspaper, the Sunday Sun
interviewed Campbell about his supposed support for the event by wearing purple. Campbell said, "I thought a fetish was a worry, like worrying about backing the right horse."
One of the people who publicised National Fetish Day, known as "Pierced Knight", claimed that,
Campbell wrote a letter of complaint to the Sunday Sun, claiming that they had been making him look stupid by "twisting and turning" the meaning of what he had been saying. He wrote that, "I would never have agreed to support anything that had the title 'Perverts wear Purple' and I do not imagine any other Member of Parliament would either."
The Sunday Sun published a response saying,
wrote in The Guardian
that:
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
community. It originated in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as "National Fetish Day" and was first held on 21 January 2008. The first International Fetish Day was held on 16 January 2009 (the third Friday of the year). The main purpose of International Fetish Day is to increase awareness and support of the fetish
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
community, whilst also opposing the new law criminalising possession of "extreme pornography
Extreme pornography
Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 is a piece of legislation in the United Kingdom that criminalises possession of what it refers to as "extreme pornographic images". The law was enacted from 26 January 2009...
". It is also designed to encourage members of the community to be more open about their sexuality. The next International Fetish Day is to be held on 21 January 2011.
National Fetish Day
National Fetish Day was first celebrated in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 21 January 2008. However, International Fetish Day has taken over from it.
Perverts Wear Purple
On National Fetish Day, one of the main aspects is that members of the community wear an item of purple clothing as a sign that they are a member, in an event known as "Perverts Wear Purple". The main benefit of this act is that it indicates that someone is a member of the community whilst being "VanillaVanilla sex
Vanilla sex is a description of what a culture regards as standard or conventional sexual behaviour. Different cultures, subcultures and individuals have different ideas about what constitutes this type of sex...
" at the same time. Purple is a colour widely used in BDSM circles. The main website says that, "By joining this fun 'National Fetish Day – Perverts Wear Purple' event, you as an individual will be joined by fellow community people all over the country in saying 'It's ok to enjoy what I enjoy' without damaging your 'vanilla' identity or integrity." There has been contention around the slogan 'Perverts Wear Purple' primarily to do with the fact that many in the BDSM community distance themselves from the 'pervert' label. Others in the community feel that using the word 'Pervert' is a useful reclaiming.
Ronnie Campbell MP
The LabourLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Blyth Valley
Blyth Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Blyth Valley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, Ronnie Campbell
Ronnie Campbell
Ronald Campbell is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blyth Valley since 1987.-Early life:He grew up in a family of eight brothers and sisters...
, accidentally gave his support to National Fetish Day, because he misunderstood the word "Fetish" and was not aware of the "Perverts Wear Purple" slogan. A local newspaper, the Sunday Sun
Sunday Sun
The Sunday Sun is a regional Sunday newspaper in North East England, Cumbria and the Scottish Borders, published in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Trinity Mirror...
interviewed Campbell about his supposed support for the event by wearing purple. Campbell said, "I thought a fetish was a worry, like worrying about backing the right horse."
One of the people who publicised National Fetish Day, known as "Pierced Knight", claimed that,
"I received an email from Carol Delaney, the secretary to Ronnie Campbell, Labour MP for Blyth Valley. She confirmed that Mr Campbell will be supporting this national day of awareness on 21st January. Using the tag line of 'Perverts Wear Purple' those that support this day will be wearing about their person something that is purple, like a shirt, a tie, a skirt, a hair band."
Campbell wrote a letter of complaint to the Sunday Sun, claiming that they had been making him look stupid by "twisting and turning" the meaning of what he had been saying. He wrote that, "I would never have agreed to support anything that had the title 'Perverts wear Purple' and I do not imagine any other Member of Parliament would either."
The Sunday Sun published a response saying,
"If you hadn't misunderstood the word 'fetish' and backed National Fetish Day in the first place, we wouldn't have had a story. We did not twist anything and contacted you four times to clarify certain points. In fact, you were still backing National Fetish Day — saying you would wear your purple tie or shirt — until our final call when we pointed out the event slogan was 'perverts wear purple'. Imagine the story we could have written if we hadn't done this? This paper respects you as a Labour MP with an independent voice. However, this doesn't stop us writing stories when you drop yourself in it."
International Fetish Day
The first International Fetish Day was held on 16 January 2009. In the United Kingdom, the day attracted some media coverage because of the forthcoming ban on extreme pornography, coming into force on 26 January 2009. Symon HillSymon Hill
Symon Hill is a British Socialist Pacifist Quaker Christian activist, and journalist.He is associate director of the left wing Christian think tank Ekklesia....
wrote in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that:
"People with certain fetishes now face the prospect of becoming victims of the government's sustained assault on civil liberties. In a knee-jerk piece of headline-grabbing, ministers have introduced a law on "extreme pornography" which comes into force this month. Rather than targeting the exploitative, abusive and bullying elements of the pornography industry, the law is aimed at sadomasochistic images regardless of the context. So low is the barrier that if taken literally it could lead to a couple who take a photo of their consensual (and legal) sexual activity being arrested for possession of that photo."