When burlesque performer Siouzie Swine (she/her) gets on stage, she wears a prosthetic pig snout, performs to metal music, and may be covered in fake blood she cooked up herself.
Elements of horror are essential to Siouzie’s persona, culling inspiration from grotesque films and concepts. Inspired by the meat industry, she sometimes performs as a butcher, wearing a clear apron and garters wrapped with raw bacon.
Her arguably most horrific act is a recreation of Francisco Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son” painting–complete with a fake babydoll, fishnets covered in spurting blood, and cross-shaped pasties. These acts of cannibalism are only a handful of the shock factors featured in Siouzie’s performance art.
The Siouzie character was born three years ago. Today, she is a beloved staple in XYZ: an X-Rated Cabaret, a late-night variety show highlighting burlesque, drag, and comedy. Oh, and BDSM is most definitely involved.
Siouzie is not a stranger to making audience members squirm in their seats – either because they are squeamish or strangely turned on. The kinky pig persona is a magnet for closeted freaks. Siouzie knows this and absolutely embraces it.
“No matter, like, what act you're doing, you're kind of selling a fantasy in some way, you know … [Theirs] might be this weird, sick, twisted fantasy of, like, this pig bitch eating a baby,” Siouzie said.
She lets the “swine energy” take over when she’s at Coyote Studios, the local nightlife landmark where XYZ is hosted.
Lots of people don’t like getting kinky onstage and prefer to play somewhere lowkey. Right next to Sam’s Bagels in Pico-Robertson is a khaki building with a concealed entryway and lawless parking lot. Inside is Legacy BDSM Studios, a woman-owned dungeon specializing in domme, switch, and sub services.
Legacy BDSM Studios has five stars on Yelp and is lauded for its discretion and charming staff. There are six different rooms for workers and clients to play: Castigate, Chamber, Dollification, Lucidity, The Avalon, and The Parlor.
Professional switch Dani Synclair (she/her) teeters the line between submission and domination within Castigate, a traditional dungeon. This dim room is big enough for group sessions, full of kinky furniture like a Saint Andrew’s Cross and a human-sized cage.
“My clientele is very vast … I have people coming in for me to top them or for me to be submissive,” said Synclair. “People with different fetishes, those who like impact play, foot play, and those who enjoy feminization. Then we have those who come in for roleplay. There's always a different fetish or kink.”
Before starting her career as a professional switch and adult content creator, Synclair was a receptionist. She had her first BDSM experience about 10 years ago at a Fetlife play party.
“It was like a whole body experience where you can hear the crack of the whip, you feel the contact point once it connects with you … ,” Synclair said. “I sought out different types of impact play in my personal life and then eventually started doing it professionally.”
Synclair immersed herself in this community, meeting friends with kink-related careers. Her connection to this BDSM circle deepened and she started frequenting play parties and working foot-fetish events. She’s now in her third year of working at one of L.A.’s most successful BDSM dungeons.
West Compton’s Sanctuary Studios is home to BDSM events like “Knotty Wednesday” and “Halloween Kink or Treat.” Sado Cyrus (they/he) and Sir Kaleb Ignited (he/him) are co-organizers of QPlaySpace (aka QueerPlaySpace).
Cyrus and Kaleb started dating six years ago and immersed themselves into the world of BDSM after attending a four-day BDSM convention in Ohio, enamored by scenes of flogging and rope suspension.
QPlaySpace is a community, self-described as “L.A.’s ONLY AntiFascist-QT/BIPOC-led BDSM Play Events.” Cyrus said that the group was formed out of annoyance.
“We just got so sick of going to all these different events and falling short, just not being comfortable for one reason or another, people making us feel bad about ourselves because we just don't fit their standards, or just not feeling like people are standing on their morals,” they said.
Every month, the couple rents space in Sanctuary Studios to host a play party. If attendees have sex at these parties, they are required to put down a puppy pad. Some partygoers engage in hardcore scenes like rope suspension, bloodplay, and fireplay. The riskier scenes require permission from the event’s dungeon monitors (DMs).
“I've noticed I'll go into vanilla spaces and not know why it’s completely different than it is with kinky people. I don't even know how to explain it, but it feels like kinky people [are] more sensory,” Kaleb said.
When participants need a break from playing, they head to the patio–where Cyrus and Kaleb transform the space to host vendors. Plus, it’s a spot to smoke and mingle with others.
While alcohol is only allowed on occasion, QPlaySpace is a 420-friendly group. The hosts said that alcohol leads to riskier behavior more often than weed, and their community is pretty in tune with their toking tolerance.
Despite the typical kinky taboos found at play parties, latex designer Rubber Bunny (she/they) causes jaws to drop when she enters a play party. She retired from her career as a chef and is now infamous for her latex specialty–specifically her striking and unorthodox style.
Rubber Bunny got her first taste of the scene five years ago when she tagged along with a friend to a BDSM event.
“She let me borrow one of her hoods … the rest was history. From there, it became my entire personality,” she said.
After her first introduction to the latex world, she quickly immersed herself into L.A.’s BDSM scene. Rubber Bunny meshed her “normie” life and latex persona almost immediately. Outside of BDSM, she is an L.A. native, mother, and full-time ceramics major at CSU Long Beach.
When La Frida Lohka (she/they) is onstage, she may be balancing lit candles on her head, touching herself till orgasm, or cakesitting. If you’re unfamiliar, that last kink is exactly what it sounds like.
Like many burlesque performers, Lokah can be found onstage wearing elaborate handmade costumes. In the early years of the pandemic, her shows looked a bit different. Lokah streamed online scenes to fans, showing off her wax specialty, and creating personalized content.
Lokah said that politics is a huge influence on their burlesque style. Each set of theirs is a response to fascism, religious confines, and Latine culture. Their aesthetic range spans from outfits honoring her Mexican-Guatemalan heritage to burlesque attire like bejeweled corsets.
“This is a predominantly white subculture. You know, it's extremely white. I definitely feel like me and my friend group definitely stood out more because of that,” Rubber Bunny said. “ … This isn't something that we're getting white washed out of.”
Cyrus and Kaleb of QPlaySpace have openly campaigned for a foundation called “Water for Mawasi,” a Palestinian initiative to increase access to clean water.
QPlaySpace said that venues have labeled their Pro-Palestine stance as “antisemitic,” resulting in retaliation, such as denying them access to their facilities.
Upon learning that Kaleb is trans, some venues have retracted their offers and cancelled his gigs. Beyond transphobia, trans and nonbinary folks also face fetishization. Kaleb said that some individuals consider trans people to be “a free-for-all” at BDSM events.
“Too often we'll have cis people thinking that our space is just a bunch of easy, desperate trans people that they can just prey on,” Kaleb said.
Stereotypes and stigmas do not dissipate when attendees enter a BDSM scene–which is why QPlaySpace prioritizes comfort, consent, and accessibility within their BDSM philosophy. This is part of why solo cisgender men are not allowed within their events.
Fetishization can be tricky to navigate when it’s the thing that gets you paid. Some of Synclair’s clients are White men married to White women–but book with her because they want to play with a Black woman. Synclair said that she is okay with being fetishized as long as it is “not negative.”
“There are people who come in specifically because they are attracted to dominant Black women. And then there are people who come in and won't work with me because I am a Black woman,” Synclair said.
One customer has called Legacy Studios on multiple occasions to ask which girls are on shift. Synclair said that it is a given that he will not choose her because of his prejudice against Black women.
Voicing your boundaries is necessary to safely play in the BDSM scene. Synclair refuses to have her ears touched or whispered into, whether that’s during a session or not. Siouzie forbids the use of her government name when she’s in character. Lohka only shows her nipples and “pussy” when she is paid the adequate amount (a premium beyond the cost of a pasties-only show). Rubber Bunny never reveals her identity, covering most of her face with latex masks. Any form of breath play is strictly prohibited at QPlaySpace events.
There is an exchange between professionals and their audiences or clients as described by Lohka, influencing how much a BDSM pro is willing to give.
“The audience wants to watch you explore yourself. It’s the ‘I want to see you, watching me, watching you,’” they said. Anyone’s erotic fantasy can be achieved through BDSM scenes and there will always be voyeurs, curious and eager to observe.
Burlesque is an art form that honors costume design and dance. Like any other art form, the performers gather inspiration from their upbringings.
Siouzie revisits the cannibalism concept during her taco-eating act to the tune of reggaeton. (Of course, she is eating an al pastor taco.) This addition to the Mexican horror genre is backed by Impacto MC’s hit, “Golosa,” which is about a woman who is both “a glutton and a slut.”
Since Siouzie has such a niche pig persona, she said that Latina typecasting is not something she typically experiences but definitely notices in her circles.
“I have a lot more material to pull from than I think the average person might,” Lokah said. “ ... I'm going to be quite frank, I love my culture. Please, let me be born Latine in every lifetime.”
