The secret sex-lives of Vancouverites
The annual Taboo sex show reveals our kinks and, of course, taboos.
The assortment of treats and toys at the Taboo Naughty But Nice sex show makes this gaggle of dildos and vibrators look as innocent as kittens and yarn. chrysaora/flickr
[culture editor]
Vancouverites aren’t known for being lurid or adventurous, whether it’s our anti-social behavior, inability to stay up past 1:00 a.m. or our lack of sexual freedom (we cordon off the nudists at Wreck Beach in the farthest corner of the city, where—surprise—only half the beach-goers are actually liberated enough to go au naturel).
So when the annual Taboo Naughty But Nice Sex Show comes around, we dig deep in our closets and put on our erotic costumes—figuratively and literally—and try to discover our kinks.
But if there’s anything this year’s Taboo (Jan. 19-22) revealed to me, it’s just what my taboos—not kinks—really are.
Unfortunately for myself—a woman who once considered herself pretty sexually liberated—there are many.
The travelling trade-show stopped over at the Vancouver convention centre, boasting performances and wares from vanilla to vixen, and everything in between.
Exhibitioners and exhibitionists alike had the usual fare—vibrators, pocket pussies, bondage costumes and fuzzy handcuffs.
And then there was the unusual; the male urethral stimulators, inflatable sheep (yes, like a blow-up doll, but a sheep) and full-body binding suits.
In a rare moment, I found myself totally intimidated by the variety of toys, costumes and accessories there were for singles, couples and more. More than that, I had never seen such a concentration of people who were going balls-out (pardon the expression) in expressing themselves sexually.
My cleavage-baring dress and heels might as well have been a nun’s habit and wimple.
For days following the Taboo show, I found myself wondering about the sex lives of the ordinary-looking people around me. Were they doms in denial? Did they own a self-masturbation toy that looked like an elaborate hamster-trap? Were they in polyamorous relationships? Or were they just attendees at the Taboo sex show who hammed it up for the only weekend of the year that Vancouver gets sexy?
The Taboo sex show can really tell a lady who thinks she’s sexually-liberated that there’s a lot more to, well, liberate.
Read the full-article on sexuality and Vancouver in the upcoming print edition, out on Feb. 7.
