I adore when mainstream media covers anything alternative. You know the stories I mean. For example, we still read occasional articles about the ‘dangerous’ rave parties as if they’re something new to teens. Meanwhile, for truly happening youth that’s totally last century now. Nevertheless, a naïve take can seem fresh even if slightly distracted by the sights and sounds so commonplace on sites such as Latex Angel or The Pain Files.

Such is the case, with a series of articles by Brian Alexander on MSNBC called America Unzipped. He explores how America’s bedrooms aren’t completely replete with neat hospital corners on beds filled with old bores and tired snores. He throws open the door on what some might think of as the latest sexual revolution. While many of us know, it’s merely a revelation about what has existed for centuries considering we’re living the second millennium of human existence.

Nevertheless, I appreciated some of the stories he uncovered while visiting FetishCon in Tampa, Florida, USA. He recounts for example encountering a perfectly average man on the convention floor one day who he sees the next evening dressed as Little Bo Beep. A worthwhile meeting since he makes a point of how the guy makes it clear that his occasional forays into cross-dressing are a good way to meet women.

Having grown up in a small town, I’m well aware that those less acquainted with what they consider slightly unorthodox sexual practices are forever confusing dressing as a woman, with wanting to be a woman, or even wanting to sleep with men. Throw in occasional scenes from national news coverage of a gay pride parade and their confusion is cemented as the unsubtle differences between drag queens, heterosexual cross dressers and even transsexuals are completely lost on them.

Probably for me, the best quote he got was from a self-described lifestyle master. A real estate sales representative who enjoys administering pain to pleasure his girlfriend describes what fetish loving means to the well-adjusted couple, “What a lot of people in the vanilla world do not understand is that this entails an extreme amount of trust. It is a trust that goes beyond what a lot of people in everyday vanilla relationships have. Left and right, they are lying to each other, doing things behind each other’s back. A lot of that does not happen here.”

Overall, Brian Alexander approached the subject with respect avoiding the cliché of tongue and cheek reporting. This story and his others are worthwhile even if some folks will continue to believe that it’s hip to be square. He laid bare a world beyond their own and even if they close the dungeon door with a bang, at least they got a brief glimpse inside.