Today, Sex Week provided students with the opportunity to learn about erotic body modification. Elayne Angel, author of The Piercing Bible (described on the cover as “The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing”), gave a talk entitled “Erotic Piercings.”
(“Angel” is a popular surname for guest lecturers at Sex Week. Tomorrow, Yale students will hear from porn producer Joanna Angel, as well as Elayne Angel’s husband, Buck Angel, who is a prominent female-to-male transsexual porn star.)
Elayne Angel began her talk with a warning for those in attendance: “If you’re offended by sexual material and photos of genitals you should leave now,” she said, “because there’s going to be a lot of that.”
Her slide show cataloged a variety of piercing techniques. The piercing styles had distinctive names such as the “Princess Diana,” the “VCH,” and the “Prince Albert.”
As visual aids, Angel utilized photographs of genitals she had pierced in the course of her professional practice. She explained the erotic benefits as well as the health risks associated with each type of piercing. “Virtually any piercing has the potential to arouse,” she said. But she warned students that, when done incorrectly, genital piercings can cause permanent nerve damage and loss of sensation.
Next on the agenda was an “Erotic Bondage Suspension Performance.” The featured guest was Madison Young, a well-known producer of bondage, domination, and sadomasochism porn. The event was described on the schedule as “a multi-media rope bondage erotic performance and installation that investigates the multiple levels of identity with in the adult industry and the civilian and familial gaze upon an adult film star.”
The event was plagued by scheduling difficulties. Ms. Young’s co-performer, James Mogul, was replaced on the schedule by a woman named Eden Wells. The time of the performance was pushed back from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. And, in the hours leading up to the event, its location was changed twice — first to the gymnasium, and then to a private residence just off campus.
No word yet on why the event was moved.