Author(s): Chris Belcher

Biography

Chris Belcher appeared destined for a life of conventional femininity after she took first place in an infant beauty contest - a minor glory that followed her around her small, working-class town in rural West Virginia.  But when she came out as queer, the conservative community that had once celebrated its prettiest baby turned on her.  A decade later, living in Los Angeles and trying to stay afloat in the early years of a PhD program, Chris plunges into the work of a pro domme.

Branding herself as Los Angeles's Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix, she specialises in male clients who want to feel worthless, shameful and weak - all the abuse regularly heaped upon women for free.  But as her profile grows in both academia and in sex work, it seems inevitable that the two will collide . . . In this sharp and discerning memoir of class, sexuality and academia, we see through eyes of a pro domme-turned academic how power and desire can be renegotiated - or reinforced.