#00008 Lev

"PUNISH US, GODDESS OF LOVE" BY ANTONIA LEV In 1870, Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch wrote "Venus in Furs", a short novel about female dominance and submission. The book had such a powerful and long-lasting impact on mass culture that even the term "sadomasochism" was coined later. Today's sadomasochistic aesthetic includes such fetish accessories as knee-high boots, leather, furs and whips. This practice also rescinds the discourse of violence and the desire to cancel the so-called "European tolerance" in early 2020s Russia. LGBTQ+ propaganda is prohibited in the country and even a portrait of a gay or lesbian couple in a magazine or an innocent online marketing campaign can caus...View all