The Rubberman Guide

[lslv]

The only thing I'm going to warn you about is the risk that once you start working at that level, you're starting to play metaphysically, and that can have its risks.

That is true. Remember I started this because I was surprised that I could not already find "The Rubberman Guide". I am not saying I am going to write one. I might like too but in the middle of this dratted recession and with a 1000 different ways to work and not be paid?

My take on The Rubberman Guide would take seriously at some stage what you say. My short answer is that to a degree all religious/spiritual thinking is fantastical. It may/may not encounter truth. The sure answer will be gotten when we die. In the meantime a good answer is The Golden Rule and does becoming a Rubberman help that? For sure I think it can but equally there are rubbermen who are nothing but bullies. My golden rule is slightly rewritten: "in this life do not bully, do not lie". Now I would be lying if I did not admit I have become a rubberman. Rubber has a far greater impact on my life than I could ever have imagined when I donned my first pair of sheath briefs. Strangely enough the old latexa advert has proved to be exactly right "promises unimaginable pleasure". Through rubber I have known an unimaginable pleasure in this earthly life. That may be all there is to it and I will accept that. Maybe there is more? I can honestly say I do not know. But I know this, for me rubberism has never meant becoming a bully. Quite the reverse. It has enhanced submissive tendencies that may have been there anyway. I find it much more easy to surrender when in rubber.

[lslv]

. Both orgasm and pain induce endorphins and these are not unlike drugs which are taken to alter consciousness. Supposedly mediation, breathing and other practices can induce altered mind states.

I will buy that although it might shock some. The thing is religious mysticism (Xnian or otherwise, Pentecostal wild ness or the silence of a Merton) are about altered mind states. To my mind altered mind state is not frightening of itself. The question does it leave long term harm? Some drugs clearly do. Silent yoga seems unlikely to. Spending time in rubber restraint? For me the answer would be no harm beyond it becoming a very pleasant and calming habit. And never when in rubber have I been unable to return immediately to normality if the cause arose. So although the switch can be powerfully switched on, such that it seems like being in an overwhelming current, for me anyway, the rubber switch can as need arises be switched off. At the flick of a switch.

[Ataraxia]

Altered states of consciousness (ASC's) often result in an expansion of consciousness. It is transcendence -- you are growing. Think of it as sort of like expanding your vocabulary. The more words (states of mind) you have the bigger your ideas and concepts can be. You are able to grasp more because you can conceptualize more.

I suspect the thing that many people don't realize is that the overall effects of ASC's are very subtle and often take a while to manifest before they become obvious.

Also, keep in mind that these Altered States of Consciousness (ASC's) occur to everyone often and in myriad ways. Orgasm is the classic example of an ASC. A bit of daydreaming, for example, is actually an ASC. You do it when driving to work now and then. Falling asleep or drifting off into RubberSpace are other examples. They are not the MASSIVE, mind-wrenching kinds of ASC such as when you take LSD or similar.

Fetishamanism is the use of rubber fetish as a technology to achieve a variety of ASC's.

[Tom]

That's still quite superficial: I'm encouraging people to go further. That will of course mean that anything which is not passive is active, and what is active changes things around you.

[Shiva]

lslv with his reference to the Latexa tag line seems to be acknowledging a more traditional notion of rubber as a fetish... that is it is something which has become associated with and perhaps required for a strong positive mind body erotic/sexual experience. Having come to terms with his fetish... that is it's power to influence his sexuality he *submits* to this, accepts, embraces it and has turned rubber into a formalized *devotional* erotic practice. I am not passing judgment here. I am trying to describe where he is going.

In my reading about BDSM practice, it appears that most of it is driven by sexual energy or involves sex at some point and at some level. It seems that for BDSM practitioners vanilla sex... whatever that actually is.. is woefully inadequate and limiting. However BDSM seems to open up the possibility of all sorts of sense experiences which become mind body experiences... ir these practices had a more expansive meaning and are often framed in a power exchange dynamic or a control dynamic. Even lslv refers to the notion of submitting to a rubber fetish for the transcendent experiences it offers.

Does one submit to something when one avails themselves of its benefits or attributes? Do I submit to the taste of lobster when I order it in a restaurant? Or am I simply consuming something which tastes better than say carrots?

Most of my reading about the BDSM arts reveals that most people seem to believe that their *kink* or interest in BDSM arts (in ehatever form or practice) originated very early on in their lives.. childhood is the time period most often cited. Many people note that even later in life they feel something is missing, they are not actualized and search around and discover the formal world of BDSM practices. And before they jump in peering at the genre they feel it clicks with their essential nature. Much of the BDSM arts is rooted in sense play, impact play and so forth... not unlike sex itself... which involves the intimate engagement of our bodies in search of a sexual experience, arousal and orgasm. Sexual experiences like many mind body ritual practices are just that... experiences of mono focus on some sort of goal achievement.

Can erotic / sexual experiences be more than simply erotic pleasure? I suppose it depends on the the mind involvement. What does one's mind typically do each moment? It processes information from the environment or it engages in non real thought... memories or fantasies... or projections of some future event. So we can choose to put out attention to what our body is experiencing. Latexa is telling you that slip these on and you will notice lots of good feelings. Why? Because the rubber experience is a very non transparent one... it is very *in your face* which demands your attention. All your senses... or more than usual are firing off telling your mind ME ME ME... Your sensory nervous system is under assault by these experiences in a typically pleasant way.. the tight compression over your entire skin...especially as in the case of Latexa, your genitalia... but it be your face and head. These are NOT typical experiences we associate with our clothing. Things we wear are meant to be transparent and maintain a sort of homeostasis for our bodies... they provide comfort... but little more. We have other things ton do that have our clothing take our attention. Fetish attire is completely the reverse. It DEMANDS our attention and it does so because it offers what are basically pleasurable ie non uncomfortable experiences. In fact many refer to this as *dressing for pleasure*.

This notion of that we can dress for something other than transparent comfort becomes the practice of fetish. We can then dress to provide a mind body experience with intent. It is not different than submitting your body to the hands of a masseuse. It is a purposive act of engaging many of the senses... mostly the pressure sensitive ones of your body's skin in what is closely associated with and analogous to the sexual experience. It's pretty hard to have a sexual experience with the involvement of the body's sensory nerves. But not impossible. The mind in its imaginary world can cause actuall physical responses in the body... erotic thoughts, wet dreams and so forth with produce physical responses. Many involved in the BDSM arts enjoy the notion of reprogramming or remapping the body's sexual responses... even getting one person to produce a response on command. Why this is desired is another discussion. But what we can see that the BDSM arts and fetish is clearly about engaging the mind body response and amplifying the mind body connection.

So a Rubberman's Guide... isn't this about saying...hey... rubber is a sense material you can tightly (in most cases) enclose your entire body in and it offers an mind body (and sexual like) experience of intensity you do feel with regular clothing. And it is precisely because rubber clothes have very specific menu of attributes not found in any other material. But not everyone will find this attribute positive.. Some will find them neutral or even negative. But most people seem to find compression on the skin a positive feeling.

This all is not that mysterious or even magical when approached rationally and clinically. It's hardly any different in process than understanding how the intake of alcohol affects the mind body. So perhaps we need to not redefine the terminology to be BDSM arts and science.

It's the mind body thing and getting to understand it... isn't it?

[lslv]

Shiva writes : Having come to terms with his fetish... that is it's power to influence his sexuality he *submits* to this, accepts, embraces it and has turned rubber into a formalized *devotional* erotic practice.

in reference to me. I think Shiva is spot on and that were I to write my own Rubberman Guide that is about where I would pitch it.

[Tom]

We keep it separate, then, because some of us recognise that and something else, which we've transcended. You can't transcend something you're subservient to, IMHO.

[Observer]

Are the two parallel threads, one secular, the other mystic, converging, or do the secular want to keep apart? I see common ground, but it might also be interesting to a religious mystic to see whether a secular mysticism can produce something effective, beyond the simplistic New Age sense of stasis.

Another dichotomy here that I don't see mentioned is the personal vs the social. For me the big challenge was how to be a rubberist as a *social* human being - because humans are social animals. It's something I've tackled head on and I think I can claim fairly that I did fairly well. However, others struggle with this aspect, while some others seems to not even be aware of it. The opposite of that are those to whom it came so naturally they never even had to try.

The social is tremendously important for the personal. Complete isolation drives most people mad. Prolonged isolation for a rubberist can be a dangerous thing. It seems that after a while, fantasies and desires become strange and sometimes very specific, or extreme. This makes finding a partner very difficult... leading to further isolation. This isn't good. On the reverse, meeting other rubberists face to face, talking to them and having experiences and "encounters" seems to ground you.

Trying to find a partner who's willing to have sex/play with you while she's wearing a gas mask and a latex piggy outfit and you're in a latex Margaret Thatcher outfit with ballet boot because this is an integral part of your sexuality... difficult. If 10 years ago you had gone to a party and discovered that "holly molly, spanking someone's bum in a latex skirt is AWESOME!", perhaps your sexual needs would be simpler... and easier to fulfill.

Any good Rubberman Guide must tackle the social aspect of rubberism.

[lslv]

Trying to digest diverse views and bearing in mind this thought that The Rubberman Guide is not out there. Chapter heads

Introduction: why The Rubberman Guide - parameters

1 What is rubber? the material, a short history, a natural material, a tree sap, a lifeforce.
2 The origins of rubber fetish and the appearance of the Rubberman
19thc, Macintosh, a particular masculine identity, growth through the 1980s, leading to the common usage of a gay rubberman, explains this Rubberman Guide is pan sexual from and for the male. Diving gear as another entry point
3 Getting your gear, a practical tutorial, how to get started, types of vendor, typical first purchases, the role of lub v chrolination v talc, do you socialise in rubber? Clubs, munches and groups. Other areas of resource: printed and online. Practical downsides: allergies, skin irritation etc.
4 The Meaning of Total Enclosure. I think becoming hooded whether in isolation or as part of a suit is quite a moment. It is a new stage in intensity. It expresses a debate between the two masculine heads. It also energises the solo and social debate. Being in total enclosure is often isolationist. Being in total enclosure with others is extra-ordinary. Space to describe quite a variety in how people become hooded and accept total enclosure: being bagged, the straight-jacket, the catsuit.
5 Rubber gender bender? How it can confront previous patterns of behaviour, how the person comes before the gender when in rubber? What this can mean in concrete outcomes. Rubber's paradoxical nature. It is an insulator, a dampener, it is only sometimes translucent (in typical use). Yet it is a conductor which can energise the wearer.
6 The Rubber Vagina, a two edged chapter, Rubber in heterosexual relationships and the rubber as an all enclosing vagina. I am married and to be rubbered is an mysterious parallel to being inside her. The feeling is the same save that it is totally inverted.
7 The Rubber Master, Dominance, BDSM and homosexual rubbering. There is a certain association between these ideas although they should not be seen as normative. You can be a rubber master in a straight relationship. The thread of this chapter though is about how dominant the material can become. There must be areas for caution in this chapter. A discussion of rubber realism. The 24/7 aspiration / fantasy / or reality. Does rubber create a heaven or hell? Quite a discussion on rubber's relationship to fantasy.
8 Which would lead to: Rubberism: Rival or Sacrament. Tackling how something as strong as this extra-ordinary fetish can offer an experience varying from an immense if irregular physical pleasure like an after dinner port to an all consuming passion. And how those differing commitments can both create in relationships to others either a negative outcome of rivalry: "The rubber came between me and my partner". Or a shared bond not easy to foresee or imagine. Glueing its wearers together. Some of the great mutual rubber relationships that the age of the internet has described. Whether rubber can be related to something more than just a physical experience.

If I was writing this at these various steps of the way, several different answers might typically be given. Although often the rubberman does experience a commonality, (for instance is there really a lot of divergence amongst rubbermen over the importance of the hood?), this fetish does create a huge number of responses and if one becomes proscriptive about what the rubberman does or does not do, I think the guide would become a partial document. One way around this is to ensure there is plenty of and varied takes on quoted testimony from contributors. The author becomes more of a conductor of opinions than the utterly self confident (and centred) evangelist.

[Shiva]

The intersection between the personal and the social as Observer notes is another interesting phenomena for consideration. He correctly notes that humans are social and this may be necessary for a well balance psyche. I don't know that it can be demonstrated that absent social interaction and finding a *play partner* sooner rather than later will prevent a person from developing increasingly bizarre and unattainable (in the real world) sexual desires/fantasies. I'd like to see some studies of this thesis. One can perhaps expect that over time, partner or no... one's fantasies become more elaborate.

But clearly we do need social skills and social interactions to find a partner and have a sex life or a BDSM / lifestyle one. That of course applies to transactional relationships. But clearly it is possible that sex and some fetish / BDSM lifestyle experiences do not require a partner. Whether they are enhanced by the presence of one is another matter. Fetish as previously described is an autoerotic or personal experience that one has with one's own senses - mind/body. There are some aspects to BDSM fetish such as exhibitionism or voyeurism which by definition are social experiences involving others. But the mind body experience are distinctly un social... they are in the realm of the personal. One might think of many of the things which we experience personally... eating, music, art, yoga, for example where a partner is only a bystander to your own mind body experience.

There are many aspects to BDSM practice which like sex are transactional... two or more participants share an experience or are necessary for it to take place. An example might be penetrative sex.... or sense play. But even here the BDSM world has come up with mechanical devices which can be substituted for the role that a human plays. Some people even *fetishize* these devices... and with them a partner may not be necessary... but it can part of the fetish.. mixing machines/things and people.

And then there are some experiences which are also seen in the BDSM world such as humiliation as a *fetish*. Here again, for humiliation to manifest there must be a witness to some assumed humiliating behavior and the behavior must be understood to be humiliating. For example, wearing a collar might seem on the face to be humiliating as it is associated with a pet under the control of its owner... Yet many in the scene do not see wearing a collar as humiliating at all and are actually quite proud of it. The reaction of surprise or shock or disbelief seen in others only makes the wearer more proud since they WANT to be identified as submissive or kinky and they are not humiliated by the association made by the observer. Why humiliation is erotic currency for some is a separate topic for consideration. But as it does apply to some it therefore becomes a social matter and often a non consensual activity in that someone's BDSM activities are *forcing* some reaction in non interested parties.

BDSM also includes the kind of social interactions such as public *play* or *scening*. I suppose this can be seen as analogous to semi public sex. Semi public play may feed the exhibitionist and voyeuristic needs of BDSM practitioners. Again why these are *needs* is not part of this discussion. It just is. That they are possible *needs* means that these sorts of things should be considered in the *practice guide* for the rubber person. Clearly one can engage in most BDSM activities without the need to have bystanders as witnesses. But not all. BDSM offers many mind body experiences.

One needs to consider what is served by social gatherings of like minded practitioners who meet but do not engage in any BDSM activities but rather normal social intercourse. For one, such interactions create a community. This does offer practitioners a means to find partners as BDSM practice is under the radar for the most part and not on display in public. It should be noted that people are becoming increasing comfortable and skilled at sending direct and coded messages that they are into the BDSM lifestyle arts. The example previously given of wearing a collar is an example. Seeing someone wearing this one can assume it is a fashion choice with no more meaning than *style* or it is a item wore to message others that the wearer is into the *lifestyle*. However for many these messages are not possible as many areas of society does not accept BDSM practice or the lifestyle. For people faced with this situation, purpose oriented lifestyle social gatherings are the solution.

If one considers BDSM practice as a personal private *journey/experience* very much like most conduct their *sex lives* it is understandable that this is not a social experience... aside from having the appropriate partner. Most people seem to prefer to maintain intimacy as a very private and personal experience... but even so there in no hardline... as even very private people show some intimate physical affection.. such as kissing in public. But even the kiss can involve a vast range of activities. BDSM often breaks down the conventional notion of intimacy... in engaging public play. Why? Is this more cathartic and transcendent?

It seems as if for the rubberist... the visual is high on the list of motivations for the practice... private and public. It's more than the feeling senses, but it is a visual experience... very much apart from the tactile. The practitioner will find pleasure in how they look encased or wearing rubber for whatever reason. This can be solved by a mirror or perhaps better by a person who reacts unlike a mirror. The rubberist who seeks dressing in fet gear often seeks to thrill, arouse, excite or evoke a response in the observer. And likewise, the rubberist will also be or can be thrilled, excited or aroused by seeing another wearing rubber.. both because they are attracted to the *look* and or they assume that the person observed is experiencing something that they identify with a like/need... an empathic experience. A social gathering of rubberists in their gear provides these sorts of experiences in a far more satisfying manner that seeing photos or vids. Real trumps memorex. But as we live in a digital/media world we are very accustomed to consuming virtual experiences where our imagination is forced to fill in the blanks. The lines are blurring here.

And the engagement of our imagination is very much part of BDSM practice. Practitioners are encouraged to nourish their fantasies... and then pursue them in the real world. This is a very universal practice not confined to BDSM practitioners. Everyone conceptualizes things they want in their lives and then sets about to actualize them in reality. We do thought experiments, mental planning and so forth... and then we might be fortunate enough to experience them if we want to. Some fantasies we probably don't want to realize and are better left in the imagination. And example would be a violent rape. This is totally non consensual and at best could only be simulated if there is a suspension of disbelief.


Does the social affirm and or amplify the experience? Is it necessary or a logical progression? Why or why not?