Masks and Hood Fetish.

Now I was watching a documentary on TV the other day about the Venice Carnival.
That will be in Italy, and not the Californian beach for our American friends out there.

It seems it originally started out as a festival for Lent around the 1200's, and as Venice became the major powerhouse for trade to the middle east and Constantinople, the Venetian merchants got richer and more decadent and this religious festival became a 6 months celebration.

Well that seems like my sort of party!

The idea was they dress up in fancy costumes and they wear masks to hide their identities from each other, and also to hide from each other any social class distinctions.

So what did they get up to at these sorts of soirees? Lots of gambling and sex and orgies, according to Casanova. Not bad for a librarian, huh?

Well masks are a form of fetish to people, so as I have never done anything on them it got me thinking about them.

Whats so great about wearing a mask?

It's the anonymity. Just like a bank robber pulls down a stocking over his face. You can do all sorts of naughty things and never be found out unless you tell.
Now from a fetish point of view you can be the unknown dom/domme terrorising your victims and they never knowing it was you that did it, when you walk past each other in the street.

You can be the masked robber or kidnapper to tie up your victim to rob or ransom them. It adds atmosphere to your sexy games. It allows you to go into another zone where you can almost feel as if your fantasy is real.

Now from a sex point of view us girls sometimes like a bit of doggy sex action, as we can fantasise about who is giving us the seeing to. Don't get all stroppy if your girl does this as its not a reflection on anything you do/did, but its just like you guys fantasising about Jenna Jameson or the like. I know its not in masks but its the same thing really. The brain really is the most erogenous part of your body.

Now who would take all their clothes off and run naked in the street? Not very many! But add a mask (and a few beers too, more than likely) and the numbers jump up quite a lot.

Hoods on the other hand are intimidatory. A kidnap victim could be hooded or bagged IE a breathable cloth bag to prevent suffocation, popped over the head and they become bewildered and scared, and thus more malleable to the kidnappers will.
This also worked wonders on those prisoners the Americans have in Guantanamo bay

If you are into the scene and your Dom/Domme puts on their mask, have you ever thought why?

Well I guess it goes back to medieval days of the Executioner putting on a mask to hide his identity before he tortures or executes his victims. It was also a means of protecting himself and his family from reprisals from friends and families of his victims.

The mask is empowering too. I guess from both sides here too. The wearer and the non wearer. Now many of us don't like face to face confrontations. Its easier to shout and scream at them down a phone or email or text. You just become a faceless entity. A person in the mask knows who you are but you don't. You could throw caution to the wind and do or say things you wouldn't normally do, because you aren't seeing a face.
The movies Halloween and Friday the 13th brought in a horror feel. The faceless psycho never stopping or dying, was again intimidating, but in the end the hero/heroine takes the bull by the horns by standing up to the intimidation by fighting back.

Now back to a nicer note.

Well, the baddies always used to wear masks in the early movies. Then it all turned around when the superheroes of the comic books wore them, again protecting their anonymity. Then all the goodies started to wear them such as Zorro, the Lone Ranger, and Judge Dredd. They allow you not only to be faceless but to also allow yourself the chance to be good or bad depending on how you feel.

On a lighter note, get a beautiful face in a mask, and you really see how deep and colourful their eyes are or how full and kissable their lips are, or even how chiseled a cheek bone or jaw they have got.

So do any of you guys and girls out there in Bondageland wear masks and want to share the experience why you do it or like it?

Emma x