I really like the fact that the BDSM/kink community has munches. It’s a time to socialize with friends and gives the chance to make new ones. The munches range from small get togethers in coffee places to big turn outs in restaurants. Generally, they are all in “vanilla” spaces. Because of this, there are usually some rules for munch going people.
Since kinksters and ‘nillas are sharing, one rule is no fetish clothing. Wear regular street clothes. Collars though, are okay. Not long ago, b and I attended a munch. It’s one we have been to before. One of our fellow munchers shows up wearing a collar similar to this here. Now as I said above, munches are great for socializing with people you know and to meet new people. This because it is a relaxed atmosphere…..or it is intended to be. At least, that is my understanding. Collars we’ve seen at munches have been subtle, so there has been now problem in regards to staying under the radar as kinky in a vanilla space. But seeing this particular collar made b feel uncomfortable. To him, it was like a neon sign among our group saying, “Here are the kinky people”. He wasn’t cool with that at all. Some people don’t mind being “out”. Others do.
And then there are the ‘nillas who patronize these restaurants and pubs where munches are held who also probably don’t want to be around us BDSM/kink people. In turn, us being in full on fet gear is nonconsensually having the ‘nillas in our business. So the rules are for them as well as out. I understand this, even though it is a bummer we cannot co-exixt.
It is also because of this, we (b and I) find ourselves not being able to do much about this, except not to attend, which we really do not want to do. A discussion could be had on what is acceptable, but a lot of people will have many ideas about what is acceptable and we will just keep going round and round on it.
It would be nice if there were BDSM restaurants, (I’m not talking about play clubs) but there are not. So somehow, we (all of us) have to do something about this issue and make it work.