One of the sexiest, most powerful, progressive, open-minded and inspirational characters in American history was a freethinking businesswoman named Victoria Claflin Woodhull. Newspaper publisher extraordinaire, mediumistic hypnotherapist and fearless advocate of “Free Love,” an important precursor to the feminist and sexual revolutions, as well as ethical hedonism, Woodhull was also America’s first lady broker on Wall Street (along with her sister Tennessee Claflin, mistress to Cornelius Vanderbilt). And in 1872, the first female U.S. Presidential candidate, before women even had the right to vote.

Woodhull’s independent thinking, dazzling personal success, journalistic “outings” of powerful sexual hypocrites like the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher and open advocacy of sexual freedom earned her multiple enemies in both conservative America and the sex-averse suffragist movement. Some of Woodhull’s stronger enemies managed to squelch her once-powerful voice in her own lifetime, as well as in the history books. Over the course of the 20th century, Woodhull was almost forgotten. American schoolbooks don’t tend to mention her along with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, though Woodhull was at least as important a figure in the history of women’s rights.

In recent years, Woodhull has made a posthumous comeback. Scholars have unearthed her story, sex-positive feminists have honored her as a role model and activist groups have taken up her causes. The Woodhull Freedom Foundation (WFF) has recently emerged with a mission “to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right by protecting and advancing freedom of speech and sexual expression [and] promote sexuality as a positive personal, social and moral value through research, advocacy, activism, education and outreach…fighting the political, social and economic forces driving and expanding sexual repression.”

As those of you who know me know, I’ve been fighting that fight for a while; my garter belts, g-strings and push-up bras are my battle fatigues in the War Against Sexual Freedom. This is my kind of battle – peace through pleasure – even though it can be discouraging seeing your husband imprisoned due to sex-based persecution. So it’s great to call in some reinforcements, such as a well-organized, highly focused new group like WFF, to “our side.” And when WFF Secretary Jim Rea, a longtime friend of the Block Institute, invited me to a fundraiser at Mistress Shae Flanigan’s Academy a little while ago, I was delighted to accept.

From the TV Academy to the B&D Academy

First I had a very different Academy soirée to attend; The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was having a garden party at the Television Costume Design Exhibition in Downtown LA’s fabulous Fashion Institute for Design & Merchandising (FIDM) Museum & Galleries. It was not at all an erotic event (ATAS events rarely are), but I had fun watching our favorite supermodel Malena Teves pose by the Chanel exhibit, and I ran into my old neighbor Dwyer Kilcollin, a cool blonde from Choate who is rapidly becoming a hot production designer in Hollywood. And of course, there were the lovely, flaxen-haired Grey Goose girls plying us with their deliciously addictive cosmos.

As soon as the TV Academy festivities ended, the B&D Academy party began. Cosmo-ed into party-hopping mode, we cruised over to Head Mistress Shae’s elegant and friendly dungeon, where we switched to red wine, listened to Jim and others talk about WFF and watched porn legend Nina Hartley‘s famous ASSets get spanked, whipped and caned for the cause of sexual freedom. Nina also received other erotic punishments, mostly from her kinky hubby Ernest Greene, including an intriguing variety of chopstick nipple torture which made her look like a delicious dish that some very exclusive Little Tokyo sushi bar might serve up in the back room to its prime patrons. Nina is definitely on the front lines in the war against sexual repression, putting her body on the line. And oh, what a body it is. Follow her bouncing bootie throughout the bloggamy…

We also ran into the brilliant and busy Carol Queen, director of San Francisco’s bustling Center for Sex and Culture, who we first met in 1994 when she performed “The Gentle Art of Fisting” on The Dr. Susan Block Show, using her partner Robert Lawrence as the happy fistee. Speaking of which, we have some fabulous, brand new fisting photos – featuring our friend (and star of our new release Eros Day X: Orgy for Obama) Natasha Skinski as the fistee with Tommy Lei as the fister – from later in the evening, which you can see when you Join the Bloggamy.

But back to the Woodhull fundraiser, which was winding up. So, with Jim as our accomplice, we kidnapped Nina and Carol and whisked them over to the Speakeasy just in time for our 11pm live broadcast of RadioSUZY1. Nina and Carol talked about WFF’s mission, and Max talked about being incarceratedfor his work in sex publishing, and everyone spoke out against the people and policies that are filling our jails and overflowing prisons with “sex offenders,” many of whom are just Michael Jacksons without the money or talent.

Joining us on the air was April Flores, a.k.a. Fatty D, celebrating her 6th wedding anniversary with talented director/hubby Carlos Batts. Together, April and Carlos beautifully embody the art of “Integration through Sex” (a phenomenon I first identified back in 1999 with The Future Is Sex). April’s marvelous, mountainous, all-natural boobs are as amazing as Nina’s trademark butt. Also on RadioSUZY1 and in the after-party: Mel’s friends exploring the Speakeasy and the Bonobo Way-loving people they found here. Curious Cat got into some hot titty-to-titty play with boobalicious April while Alex became enamored with my snake Evie. Total babe Jamie showed off her hotness, and various explorers played with my dildos and whips. A shy, cute guy named Chris got stripped, tied to the cross, whipped and spanked to the awe and amazement of some of his pals. Funny how our Bondage Cross (created by artist Mario Saucedo) brings out the kinkster in people who seem so demure. Lots more bare-bottom spankings rippled through the evening, inspired by Nina’s own ever-so spankable, world-class ass. Funny what instigates the erotic within us to come out and play.

Thank God and the Goddess – and pioneers like Victoria Woodhull — that we have enough sexual freedom in modern America to be able to play and explore these erotic alternatives without too much fear of losing our lives or our jobs. Support the new Woodhull Freedom Foundation to help us defend these precious, precarious freedoms, as well as expand our erotic horizons. Join the bloggamy to see the kinky after-party pics! And join fellow freedom-lovers on our new community BonoboWay – while it’s still free.